Questions for any beef ranchers or farmers here.

[coltdude]

Why do cows sometimes crawl up on high rocks? Do they think they are mountain goats or something? Do milk cows ever get stuck up on rocks too?
I always think of bovines as flat-land or rolling green hills animals.

I ask because cattle are getting stuck up on rocks in this 1971 "Roundup", Holden ranch, Lassie episode. They get stuck in quicksand to boot.

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[L84Cabo]

"What's that Lassie? Timmy fell down the well...AGAIN!?"

I swear that kid was in the freaking well every other week. How long before you just let him stay there? I mean, he CLEARLY was not learning his lesson...probably because they kept yanking him out.

 

[coltdude]

But what about those rock-climbing cows? Do cows really climb up into rocky places and get stuck or is that pure Hollywood jive?

 

[whomer]

Cows are used to 'farm' land that cannot be farmed by a tractor. Sometimes it gets pretty steep. Take a ride on HWY 19 some time. No, they don't get stuck.

 

[Lazyfaire]

If they get milked twice a day they won't wander to far away.

If they are ranged they go where the grass(food) is.


ps. and Timmy was an idiot!

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's because they actually enjoy being tipped over.
pretty sure

 

[Lazyfaire]

Had a conversation awhile ago with someone who just couldn't believe that a dairy farmer can tell one cow from another (besides the ear tag). I couldn't help but laugh. Dairy farming now is so computerized that the farmers can track a specific cow, what time they get milked (2x/day), how much milk they produce, and any specific changes/medicines/medical issues. Cows really aren't the brightest of animals but they know they'll feel better after a 'trip' to the barn!

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Been raising cattle the vast majority of my 77 years. Never once seen one stuck on a "high rock", or even a low one for that matter. Cattle are pretty sure footed. I've seen them walk into and out of places where I'd be hesitant to take a horse. When that happens we just send the dogs in to flush em out. Have seen cattle stuck in deep mud, but never on a rock.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's just a little bit closer to being able to jump over the moon is why.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

It's just a little bit closer to being able to jump over the moon is why.

Don't let anyone BS you about cows not being able to jump. I've got a bull that can clear a five foot fence without touching it when he's got the right amorous motivation and enough room to get up a good head of steam.

Disclaimer: this isn't my bull, just a random video I grabbed to demonstrate a point.

 

[Hop Sing]

When I got up this morning I never expected to research timmy falling into a well. Anyhoo, the dumb kid, in fact, never fell into a well - not even once. Got into a lot of other trouble but no well.

Lots of links to that subject, but here's just one.

Is there actually an episode of Lassie whereby someone deduces from Lassie's barking that Timmy is trapped in a well?

The catchphrase "Timmy fell down a well", originating from the TV-show Lassie, is a common idiom in popular culture played for humorous effect, especially when deducing that fact from Lassie's bark...

movies.stackexchange.com

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Well Timmy may have never fallen down a well in Lassie...

But if you have ever dealt with cats , a excellent question to ask is :
Why did you push Timmy down the well..?
Andy

 

[Member 52301]

It's just a little bit closer to being able to jump over the moon is why.

Dang!

YOU are good.

Love it!

Cate

 

[PaulB47]

I've chased the neighbor's cows out of my alfalfa field. I can report that cows can clear an ordinary 3-wire fence if they are motivated enough.

 

[HaveGun]

What I want to know regarding cows is where to find midwest beef out here.

Grew up in Idaho and never really liked steak. I had no idea what the big deal was about America's fascination with steak.

Then I moved to Iowa and my future wife invited me over for ribeyes and sweet corn with her parents. They gasped when I asked for steak sauce. They didn't have any, so I decided to try and choke down steak without it. Took a bite and was rewarded with an amazingly flavorful, delicious, and tender piece of meat that I had no idea existed.

In the several years I lived there, I would go to the local grocery store and treat myself to a couple of ribeyes at least once a month. Just delicious!

Then I moved back here and bought an expensive and delicious-looking ribeye at the grocery store. Grilled it up the exact same way my father-in-law taught me and that I had mastered in Iowa.

It was flavorless and tough.

It the few years I have lived here, I have bought a dozen ribeyes from different sources and they are all awful compared to the ones in the Midwest. I have tried T-Bones and New York Strips. Awful.

I went to the butcher shop of the local Rosauer's and the butcher was a very cute girl. I learned that she was from Wisconsin and she shared my frustration with the mediocre steak out here. She said that it had something to do with how the cows in the midwest are raised in stockyards and fed corn rather than allowed to roam free-range and eat weeds and whatever else they can find.

Made sense. The most delicious deer I have ever eaten was shot in the middle of garbanzo bean fields and had a belly full. The worst was one in sage brush country.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

@HaveGun There are a lot of variables that can determine how your steaks tastes. Steak is one of those things that I am willing to invest in because I enjoy it so much. That said:

Grade - I only buy Prime grade beef. This is a big determining factor in the quality of your steak. It's not the gold standard though. A producer has to choose to have their beef graded by the USDA to receive a Prime grade. Joe Farmer down the road may have excellent beef but doesn't want to pay to have it graded

Cow feed - As your cute butcher mentioned, a cow's diet will greatly impact what they produce. I love raw milk and you can clearly distinguish when they're on grain vs pasture. Corn, alfalfa, pasture, etc are going to effect the way the beef tastes. Those feeds come at dramatically different costs to the farmer, so you're going to pay for it at the store

Preparation - This is a big variable and largely impacted by preference. Rather than deep dive into my personal preferences, Kenji Lopez Alt is an MIT grad turned chef. You can read his science-based approach to selecting cut and grade, pre-seasoning, cooking method, etc

For disclosure, because I ask anyone who says they like steak - Ribeye, 2" thick, 128.5 degrees (Thanks sous vide), and I'll humbly put my steak up against any $80 restaurant steak you go out for

 

[HaveGun]

I have tried every expensive cut of meat in this area up to including Prime and even Wagyu and none of them taste as good as the average ribeye in Iowa.

I had one ribeye last year that I found locally that was close. Rubbed in butter and garlic salt, and thrown on a hot charcoal grill like usual, but this one was very good. Haven't been able to re-create it since.

If you have never had a quality ribeye from the Midwest, you have no idea what you are missing.

I took my wife to this place in the middle of nowhere, Iowa and it has the best steak in the entire state. Rube's Steakhouse. You select the steak you want and cook it yourself on their grill. Amazing.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Cows are a lot like Mountain Goats, they can go pretty much anywhere they want, especially the non milk cows or the younger ones not finished for butchering!
As to steak quality, it's all in the proteins, Grass fed will give a more flavorful and even steak, where Corn will give more Fatty proteins at the expense of quality! Finally, how the beef is Finished up before butchering, a lot of savvy ranchers will feed on grass through out the season, then switch the feed up for the last 3 months to corn, thus building the foundations of a great cut!

 

[arakboss]

They definitely are not flatlanders. The cows that feed in the forest behind my cabin travel around on very steep terrain. They traverse through lots of rocky ground and fallen timber just to find a few blades of grass. They wear paths through the forest that make the mule deer jealous. And they can really jump too.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

I have tried every expensive cut of meat in this area

I understand this disappointment and am disappointed FOR you. When I first moved out here, I was very frustrated with the lack of quality beef. I even returned a couple prime grade cuts because they were unacceptably tough.

If you haven't already, I would encourage you to read up on wagyu. It's one of those contested terms that isn't tightly regulated and has lead to a lot of overpriced beef

Just a starting point