People often comment that it must be very hard to take my cattle to be processed into beef, and my response is always the same: they live an absolutely perfect life here and then they have one bad day. But it’s a day that fulfills their destiny and purpose.

Tomorrow Salisbury and Tartar will leave us and come back as amazing Dexter Beef in a couple of weeks.

Yes, I have a lot of feelings about it. I saw them come into the world, or met them within hours of birth. They are both as tame as can be with wonderful dispositions. I’ve loved on them just about every day for the past 27 months.

So, yeah, I hate to see them go. But I’m also really proud to be producing great, healthy food humanely. I put the word out that they are available yesterday morning and was sold out within three hours. I’m not surprised because good beef has become incredibly expensive; even poor feedlot, antibiotic and hormone-laced beef is outrageous now.

If you missed out on these guys, you can reserve for the future by sending me a note. Stroganoff, who is an angus/Dexter cross, will be available in July and then I have two older cows going in October.

I’ve put the trailer in their pasture so they can get used to it and they are getting extra treats and rubs today. Right now I’m feeling heaps of gratitude, and looking forward to a stocked freezer just in time for grilling season.