The news lately has been full of the discovery of Mad Cow Disease in Mabton, Washington State. The infected Holstein dairy cow was discovered in a slaughter house. We are not experts on this disease, but from what we have read, we feel we can pass on some reassuring news about our ranch operation. Here are some facts:

1. Our herd is a closed herd. (Cows get disease from infected cows which are bought into the herd from an outside infected area.) We do not buy animals from the outside. We breed and raise them ourselves. When we want to improve our heard with genetics from outside our ranch, we buy our bulls from a neighboring rancher.
2. Our animals eat grass, and only grass. They do not eat any supplemental feeds. (One way for animals to get infected is by eating feed which contained infected animal by-products. This does not happen here.)
3. Our animals live their entire life on the ranch. They do not go to a feed lot to fatten up. (Feed lots are where some animals are fed animal by-products in their feed.)
4. Our calves drink their mother's milk. They do not get milk substitute or "calf starter" like some dairy calves. ( Some calf starter contains processed animal protein.)
5. We do not use any fertilizer on our fields. Our fields are fertilized naturally. (Some fertilizers contain blood and bone meal.)
6. Our animals are harvested here on the ranch. They do not go to a slaughter house. (The slaughter house is where meat can become contaminated by infected machinery.)
7. Our meat is carefully cut and wrapped by hand at a local artisan butcher shop. (Some meat is contaminated in the large mechanized meat processing plants.)
8. Our animals are seen and cared for every day of their lives by Mike and Sally. We see to it that every part of the process of getting good food from the farm to your table is done in the most healthful and humane manner possible. We enjoy our animals and invite you to see for yourselves how we manage our ranch, our lands, and our cattle. We welcome phone calls and email inquiries from you on any topic of interest or concern.

Copyright 2002 - Chileno Valley Ranch