Beau and Shanen are some pretty amazing people that are turning the Southern part of Iowa around. If you’re from an agricultural state it’s understood that most farmers are from a generation of farmers. Land gets passed down from generation to generation to continue on the family farm. For cattle ranching, starting from scratch is difficult and cost prohibitive; most cattle ranchers either work for someone else or have had the operation in the family for several generations. This is where the Ebersole passion comes to play.
For those of us that live in urban areas and that purchase beef already cut up and packaged, it’s difficult to understand what a cattle rancher does. In the United States, there are basically two types of cattle producers: purebred and conventional.
- Purebred cattle producers produce breeding stock for area commercial producers. They are concerned with developing and merchandising a product that will improve the quality of offspring produced by commercial breeders.
- The conventional producer is in business to produce beef for the consumption of the world’s population. They will sell their calves at weaning or shortly thereafter.
Beau and Shanen Ebersole are conventional cattle producers of Maine-Anjou cattle moving towards an unconventional (grass fed) operation. In order to pay their farm loans, Beau currently has a full time job working at a large cattle ranch. This leaves Shanen to do most of the cattle work throughout the week. This family works hard!! When Beau and Shanen first started on their ranch, they would raise their animals, and after their mama cow would calf they would sell them at the sale barn. This means they would sell them to larger producer who would then take them to a feed lot. A factory farm.
Shanen is a real foodie and loves her animals. It pains her to have to take her beautiful calves and sell them to a feedlot. A life without pasture and fed solely on grains. This is when Beau and Shanen made the conscious decision to try and market their beef locally. She wanted to raise them and pasture them on her land. Now remember, their land wasn’t handed down. They have bills to pay and it’s only for that reason that these calves are sold at the sale barn. What is incredible about this family is that in 2 short years she went from selling her first pastured beef to selling 12 head of grassfed beef last year. this year, she has an even bigger goal. She doesn’t want to sell any of her calves at the sale barn. She wants to finish them on her land, on her pasture, on her grass, and sell them directly to the consumer. Directly to you and me!!
We have a strong desire to help people plan & afford HAPPY HEALTHY BEEF. That is why we have designed this Pay-As-It-Grows plan.
You can reserve your beef up to 9 months in advance & make affordable payments each month until your beef is delivered. This allows us to care for our animals & pay our bills while your beef is growing. Call Shanen & we’ll help you design a plan that will work for both of us! We’re always open to ideas!
Shanen does ship and has customers in various states! The shipping is quite affordable and the nourishment you will receive is priceless! Remember that some of the health benefits of eating grass fed beef is the omega 3 content that it has!
The Giveaway!!
In order to show her gratitude and enthusiasm to show everyone the great tasting, Happy, Healthy, Beef that she raises she has agreed to a giveaway!!
Remember I said Shanen is a Real Foodie?! Well guess what? She is offering 2 of my readers an Ebersole Cattle Co. grassfed beef package including…
- 2 lbs of grassfed ground beef
- 1 package of grassfed beef sticks
- 1 quart of rendered beef tallow!!!!!
How exciting is that?! Beef Tallow, YUH!!! This is all about Shanen, so here’s what you need to do! Also, to those of you that do order beef from her, she is offering a 5% discount to all of my readers!
How To Enter:
- Leave me a comment why family farmers like Shanen are so important to the health of our families.
- Become a fan of Ebersole Cattle Co on Facebook
- Follow Ebersole Cattle Co on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. (copy and paste)
@dianabauman @greenranchmom Grassfed Beef Giveaway including rendered beef tallow! #giveaway
#realfood http://shar.es/muQjb - Follow Shanen’s personal blog for a closer insight into her life as a ranching mama, Green Ranching Mom
Every comment must include an email address – it’s ok if you comment with your blog account as long as I can get to your email through your blog! The giveaway ends May 10th and is open to the Continental US only. The winner will be chosen by random.org.
Ebersole Beef is the best I have tasted. Thank you for the good reminder to contact Shanen and getting my beef ordered!
Diana, I admire your support of Ebersole Cattle Co. Their dedication to raising cattle in a healthy, sustainable and humane manner gives good reason for all of us consider the beef we are eating. Those cows look very happy, and I am certain that your efforts in the blogger community will inspire more people to rally to Ebersole's support!
Diana, thank you so much for introducing me to Ebersole Cattle! I've been immersed in her blog since you posted and I am instantly in love with their dedication! I plan on contacting her soon to order beef.
~Kelli @ Smidgen's
I am trying to move more in the direction of 'real' food. I love that the animals are free to roam & graze. This is far better than factory farming, where the animals are forced to feed & live in their own filth. I love how the family cares for their animals, as well as the community & they do what they can to make it affordable.
I follow on Twitter & tweeted: http://twitter.com/talynma/statuses/12895960009
I am a their fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/-Giveaways-Freebies-Coupons-Oh-My/116019628418967
I follow her blog via Google Friend Connect.
I admire beef raisers like this because they're a strong part of the movement away from mass-produced meat and into ethics
[email protected]
I tweeted
http://twitter.com/EvanFMFF/status/12897397406
[email protected]
Diana, I truly admire this post! What a great giveaway and a great way to get the word out about Ebersole Farms! These cattle farmers are the ones we NEED to support!
BTW…I met up with some Iowa bloggers yesterday in Iowa City, and Kate (www.whatkateate.com) said we missed a good time in Des Moines the night before. I had no idea that event was going on! I must have missed the email:)
I became a fan of their's on facebook!
I am now a Google Follower of Shanen's blog!
Ranchers are important because I love grass fed beef-I'm done with feed lot beef forever!
Jana
I followed them on twitter.
jana
I subscribe via google reader.
Jana
I'm a facebook fan. cleochatra at gmail dot com
I would love to know more about them and their site. (hope I didn't miss it) We are trying to find an economical way to purchase beef. Do they have a price list?
Grassfed beef is what we eat, so I support family ranches who help to feed my family.
cleochatra at gmail dot com
I twittered!
cleochatra at gmail dot com
I am following the blog.
cleochatra at gmail dot com
This type of food needs to be more readily available so future generations can be healthier than we are!!!
Did #2
Did #3
Did #4
Anything that can reduce the degree of separation between the public and their food sources is good. To do so in this fabulous manner is just so great! I grew up raising just a few cows for our own family and it was the best.
I became a fan on FB. Well, FB changed it to a Like instead of Fan. Same thing. 🙂
Followed and tweeted on twitter. 🙂
What a great story Diana. Good effort!
I would love to find a local source for grass-fed, properly raised beef. I really enjoyed reading your story!
I ditto what Christine said love farmers like this
This is wonderful and I followed Ebersole Cattle Co. on facebook!
Without independent family ranchers like you, we may never eat real beef again! Thanks, Ebersole!
I joined the fan page on Facebook
I followed on Twitter and tweeted:
http://twitter.com/bpedaci/status/12927027204
I now follow the Green Ranching Mama blog via Google Reader.
This post is the perfect example of why I love you so much! These farmers are the polar opposite of all the wrong that is factory farming. These animals are clearly well cared for and it can only mean their meat will be healthy and not riddled with disease and hormones.
fan of Ebersole Cattle Co on Facebook
erin neu
follow and tweeted
http://twitter.com/erunuevo/status/12927737584
Follow Shanen's personal blog
Oh, I admire hard-working, honest ranchers who sincerely care for the health of their animals and the health of those the animals sustain.
I am going right now to subscribe to their blog.
[email protected]
Well, guess I can't subscribe to her blog. It seems to be facebook only and I don't have time for one more thing like facebook. 🙁
[email protected]
Any farmer who feeds their cows grass and makes a living is one more farmer proving it can be done! Soooo necessary! Thank you!
following and tweeted
FB fan – or at least the new "like" button…
Let me explain why I love this so much. My Uncle and my mom's Uncle and Cousin own their own "Meat Market". They grow and raise all of their own Cattle, Chickens, Pigs and so on and sell it.
I love it! The beef tastes so much better then anything you would buy at the store. I grew up on this considering they were our neighbor.
Now, living in Orlando it is so hard to find.
But I am going home for my twin sisters wedding and I am going to stock up….LOL
Very Nice giveaway, Dianna…It is always nice to live by such amazing food and talent.
Followed on twitter.
Followed on FB.
Follow their blog…Thanks again for the opportunity! 🙂
I'm now a fan on facebook. Local farmers willing to go the extra mile to raise healthy, grass-fed animals are the farmers of the future. Blessings on her ranch! I'd love to try some of her beef!
[email protected]
I am blessed to get meat from a from a friend but they are moving and then sadly I will no longer have my source. The difference in the meat is huge. Great giveaway, thanks!
What a great story. I love that they are making a go of being sustainable farmers and direct to consumer. Please remind them to join the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense fund if they aren't members. The cost is worth every penny as they navigate being in the real food business.
These farmers are the lifeblood of our nation, without them we will continue to decline in our health, economy and self-sustainability. We need more and more farmers like Shanen and Beau!!
Lisa
Lrimerman at comcast dot net
I am a fan of Ebersole Cattle Co. on Facebook.
Lisa
Lrimerman at comcast dot net
I subscribed to Shanen's Blog.
Lisa
Lrimerman at comcast dot net
Small local economies are the future of this country!
Connections between neighbors are how our money should flow.
Your farm photos are wonderful! Thanks for sharing this part of the heartland with us!
LL
this is the way we should be eating – from local farms that we know where our food has been/where it has grown up/ and exactly what it has eaten – this along with CSA is def the way we were inteded to live!
It is so important to have cattle ranchers of this type that put nutrition first. There aren't enough of these types of ranchers that's for sure! I can't wait to try some of their products.
I am following her on facebook
subscribed to the blog
I am going to give her a call this week to see about some meat. Thanks for reminding me I have been meaning to do this.
Just became a "Like"er on Facebook…gharkness @ gmail.com.
Followed on Twitter and tweeted about the giveaway. gharkness @ gmail.com
I spoke to Shanen yesterday morning about some beef (very enjoyable conversation). Ranchers like Ebersole Farms are very important to the health of our nation because these are the only places we can get real food that hasn't been adulterated with hormones and antibiotics.
left off my email previous comment: gharkness @ gmail-dot-com.
Thanks for pointing me to the personal blog! I'm now subscribed on the RSS feed. gharkness @ gmail.com
I became a fan of Ebersole Farms on Facebook! rachlynne77 @ gmail.com
Friends and I have been discussing sharing a grass-fed cow as we do not have a deep freeze. It is very important to support these cattle farmers. Beef that is rich in Omega-3's and hormone-free is so important to our families' health! rachlynne77 @ gmail.com
Awesome! I just tweeted about the giveaway @yogagirl.
Keep up the great work of promoting naturally raised beef!
Kim
Yum, I'd love to try their beef! It is important to have families still doing this to offer healthy alternatives to overprocessed meat. scg00387 at yahoo dot com
http://twitter.com/DesMoinesDealin/status/13037186191
scg00387 at yahoo dot com
Growing up in a farming community, I know how different grass-fed beef tastes, and also how important it is to support small-farming industries. My husband and I would love ot have the chance to try Shannen's beef.
This is an awesome post. I am so happy to find out about Ebersole. I'm going over to their website right away to check them out.
What a horrible thing it would be if small-farming industries such as this were to die out! Our population doesn't know what "real" tastes like these days. Thank goodness for small producers fighting for a good way of life.
I'm a fan of Ebersole on Facebook!
I follow Ebersole on Twitter and tweeted!
I follow Shanen's personal blog!
Family farmers are great! We eat grass-fed beef from my sister-in-law mother's cows. The taste is so much better than feed lot cows. Family farmers are preserving the "real" way to raise healthy, nutritious beef. If it weren't for family farmet raising quality beef, we wouldn't eat beef! I can't go back to grocery store beef.
matt4melis at hotmail dot com
Follow Ebersole Cattle Co on Twitter and tweet
http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/13619202067
matt4melis at hotmail dot com
Follow Shanen's personal blog
matt4melis at hotmail dot com
I just watched Food Inc for the first time, and I've realized more than ever the importance of family farms. The current factory farming of our meat is causing many problems for our health, food safety, etc.
email in profile
Following Shanen's personal blog.