Longlesson Farm Angus

Longlesson Angus could certainly qualify as a "mom and pop" operation, as Bob and Melanie do all the haying, pasture maintenance, and fencing, as well as attending to the breeding, herd health, and calving. Our animals are easy to handle and have great dispositions. We farm 450 acres, which is more than enough to supply quality forage in pastures and hay ground for our herd. Our philosophy in raising cattle has been "fit, not fat". Our calves gain weight easily on good pasture and hay, and cattle maintain excellent body condition through the winter with a minimum supplement of grain. We believe in humanely raising our cows on good pasture with ready access to clean water. The cattle groups are rotated between fields, so that the pastures naturally rejuvenate. We are happy to be part of the movement toward sustainable agriculture in the northeast.

The majority of our cows are bred A.I. to the best bulls in the Angus breed. This spring we have 18 calves from breedings with S/S Objective, Mytty in Focus, GAR Retail Product, GAR Predestined, and BC Matrix, as well as 10 calves from our herd bull, "Diesel". We select bulls on the basis of calving ease, growth, and carcass quality, but keep an eye on maternal qualities as well.

Using artificial insemination, we time our calves to come in the fall, September and October, or in spring, from January through April. Having two breeding seasons allows us to make sure that heifers are big enough, at least 2 years of age, when they have their first calf. We've found that calving at younger than 2 years increases delivery problems and calf mortality. We have an "ICU" adjacent to the barn where pregnant cows stay as they near their delivery date. This allows us to get the moms into the barn for delivery, and ear tag and tattoo calves easily and with a minimum of distress to the mother. A special run-in shelter for the little ones guarantees winter calves a warm dry place to curl up when weather is bad.

The Angus breed is unique in its ability to carry fat within the muscle. Marbling equates with tenderness, and makes the Angus breed especially suited for the pasture-raised beef market. We believe that in this time of questionable mass production, the future of local pasture-raised beef is bright. Our goal is to produce breeding stock, feeder calves, and eventually freezer beef especially suited to this market.

If you are looking to add animals to your herd this year, or are thinking of raising a calf or steer, please visit our Sales Area. We will have some bred cows, heifers (open and bred) and young breeding bulls for sale. This page will be updated in the summer of 2008 as pregnancies are confirmed. We welcome visitors to the farm, so if you are in the area, please call and come by!

Please click here to view our Sales Ring