As the majority of American beef is now finished in CAFO's (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), the quality of meat has deteriorated. Healthy Omega 3 fats are destroyed when cows are switched to high carbohydrate corn-based diets. Authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) and recent articles in Time Magazine (“The Real Cost of Cheap Food” 8/11/2009 and “Save the Planet: Eat More Beef” 1/25/2010) have awakened Americans to the troublesome issues this system has caused. Industrialized food production has reduced the quality of the food, jeopardized safety, and placed the very animals we eat in an untenable environment. When a pound of hamburger is comprised of meat from as many as 300 animals, the risk of getting contaminated beef rises astronomically. In order to maintain healthy animals, feedlot cows are routinely fed antibiotics. Growth hormones push the animals so they may be "harvested" at a younger and younger age, often as young as 14 months. In addition, there is strong support for the idea that many of our human health problems trace to what we feed the animals we eat.

The carbon “footprint” of a CAFO is amazing. Corn, an intensive user of fuel and petroleum based fertilizers is brought in by the train load. Manure from the feedlots must then be trucked further and further away from the CAFO for distribution on farmland. Run-off must be carefully monitored to protect watersheds.

Here at Longlesson Angus we believe in raising our animals humanely on a diet that is natural and beneficial to the cows, and consequentially more beneficial to us, the consumer. Cows graze throughout the growing season, moving to fresh pasture each day. In the winter they maintain their weight on excellent hay harvested from our own fields, with only supplemental minerals and salt. Antibiotics are only used when an animal's health requires it (ie. pink-eye, laceration), and no animals that have been given antibiotics are marketed until the required hold-out period has past. We use no growth hormones.

We do not harvest our beef before 24 months. At that age, the Angus breed naturally develops marbling. Marbling is intramuscular fat that translates into flavorful tender beef. Beef that is 2-3 years old has a full "beef" flavor, quite different from that sold in the grocery store. In addition, you are getting 100% purebred Aberdeen Angus. Did you know that Certified Angus Beef (CAB) only requires a black hide? There is no longer any requirement for Angus in the pedigree!