‘Oreo cows’ facilitate regenerative grazing

WASHINGTON — Michael Vittetoe raises Belted Galloways at his farm — Long Creek Pastures — just east of Washington. The cattle are known for their iconic appearance: black shoulders and backsides, but with white encircling their midsection, resembling the color palette of a certain mass-produced cookie.

The breed originated in Scotland, where it thrives despite low-quality pastures and unfavorable weather. That durability — combined with favorable temperament and relatively easy birthing — made it the perfect candidate for Vittetoe’s operation, when he started raising “Belties” in 2018.

“They’re a pretty hardy animal in terms of what they’re able to take in and convert over to beef,” he said. “The reason I picked them had to do with grass-finishing, you want an animal that’s going to be able to gain weight on grass … and also, they catch your eye pretty good, with the way they look different. And so, since I’m doing everything by direct market, I wanted something that was going to catch consumers’ eyes.”

Operating on 70 acres of pasture — some of it rented, the rest owned by Long Creek — Vittetoe typically moves the animals to different feeding areas about once a day in the summer.

It’s part of a practice called regenerative grazing, in which the grass-eating livestock are used to balance the local ecosystem. Rather than mow a field down to its roots, the cattle eat some biomass, stomp down other parts, and move on relatively quickly to greener pastures. In their wake, the grass grows back faster, fueled by the animals’ naturally produced fertilizer.

Plants stomped into the ground, meanwhile, decomposes in the soil, supporting the land’s smaller life-forms.

“They stomp that grass, and then that is able to by cycled through, to feed the insects and the biology and whatnot, feed the critters below ground, instead of just the critters that are above ground,” Vittetoe said. “Whereas, you take off a cutting of hay, and there’s no hoof impact, so there’s nothing left to kind of feed the feed the biology. It’s kind of a shock to the system.”

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Vittetoe’s herd — just under 50 head — is grass-finished. The cows never chow down on fattening corn, although they do sometimes get hay when pastures become unusable over winter or during droughts, and they get chances to eat cereal rye grown as a cover crop for Vittetoe’s corn and soy. Otherwise, the animals dine on a seeded mix of summer-growing grassy plants.

The process takes longer than typical beef production, however. Where grain-finished cattle typically go to market in 18 months or less, depending on breed, feed specifics and a little luck, Vittetoe said a grass-fed cow typically took around 30 to fatten up.

Slower production makes the approach less lucrative for Long Creek Pastures than a confined feeding operation might be.

Still, Vittetoe said his method wasn’t just for sake of conservation, or even for pursuing a passion project. It still makes economic sense.

Rented pastures cost money to access, as does water, labor, and sometimes hay, but inputs are far lower than they would be for daily grain feeding. Long Creek Pasture also doesn’t suffer from fertilizer or pesticide expenses: regenerative grazing takes care of those issues, and the outdoor environment makes for little risk of disease among the herd, saving on veterinary overhead.

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“I’m not just like, raking money in hand-over-fist, but I’m holding my own, I’m not losing money,” Vittetoe said. “It’s not what I’m using to put my kids through college … but at the same time, I’ve got to be careful to not get it to the point where I’m way upside-down on it. But that’s kind of just how it is in farming, you always have some of those risks. So I guess your comfort level with taking some of those risks is relative.”

Also helping Vittetoe’s operation is his selling process: Long Creek Pastures markets directly to consumers, rather than restaurants or grocery stores for resale.

That means he can access clientele who specifically seek out — and will pay more for — sustainably grown, grass-fed beef that’s not always available on retailer shelves.

“Some people are looking for it, and they have a hard time finding it,” he said. “Having something that’s what people are looking for, it’s a fulfilling way to do business, by providing that type of a product that people otherwise aren’t able to get.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com