Why Preserve? |
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So now you know the fascinating story of the Pineywoods, but why is it important to preserve this ancient breed? It comes down to the future of agriculture. Once a specific gene pool is lost it can never be recovered.
The genes carried by the Pineywoods have been selected by nature for survival, not by humans for feedlot compatibility. They are naturally resistant to parasites, horn flies, pinkeye, and a multitude of other diseases which over-bred conventional cattle must be medicated against. The uphill battle of fighting nature with man made medicines is not getting any easier. While Pineywoods cattle don't fit with conventional beef mass production practices, they are ideal for small scale, local meat sourcing. Even further, their genetics could be used to help crossbreed resistance back into conventional cattle. The Livestock Conservancy has recently moved the Pineywoods from critical (very bad) to threatened on their conservation priority list. This is good news, but we still have a very long ways to go before they are comfortably out of danger of extinction. This creative video from Slow Food USA says it better than we can. Click here for the link to the video, SLOW FOOD ARK OF TASTE VIDEO.
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The most effective way to preserve an agricultural breed like the Pineywoods is to use them agriculturally, as they were originally intended. Many people ask me, how can you preserve the breed if you're selling the
beef? For one, it is not possible to keep a living, breathing, mooing farm animal in a museum like state of 'don't touch'. That is not practical for anything other than a hobby. However, in farming, if an animal proves it is useful agriculturally, then there is much incentive to breed, house, feed, and care for it. The trade-off is that the farmer will dedicate herself to this herd's needs and in return she will make a living too. Additionally, the majority of animals go back into breeding programs, it's only the steers that become beef. The Pineywoods are fantastic in an agricultural setting: low impact on the land, high disease resistance, easy calving, good mothers, and delicious lean beef. It's important to put these attributes to use to help preserve and popularize this old-timey breed. Here are some different ways you can help: Purchase grass fed beef from us by following this link for more information. The most popular choice, it not only gives you a delicious meal, but helps support the Farm and all the work we do towards preserving these cattle. Purchase breeding stock If you have land, perhaps you'd like to raise some Pineywoods yourself. We offer breeding stock almost every year. Check with us for details. |