Tag: cows

Timber Ridge to Fuel North Wapiti Iditarod Musher

Flickr user Arthur Chapman

Some of the most rewarding aspects of our business are the personal relationships we have been able to build with our customers. We participate in the Des Moines Downtown Farmer’s Market every summer and have gained some new customers that we now consider friends. From these relationships, amazing opportunities have grown.

One regular farmer’s market customer, Shelly Lewis, told us that she was taking a trip to Canada to spend some time with her friend, Karen Ramstead, as Karen trained for the Iditarod – the world-famous sled dog race in Alaska. We sent some of our regular and mustard beef sticks along with a couple bags of our beef stick “Bits and Pieces” for Shelly to share with Karen. Shelly reported that Karen “LOVED” the beef sticks and asked if we would be interested in being her beef stick sponsor for the Iditarod. We were flattered and excited for the opportunity!

Karen is the owner/manager of North Wapiti Kennels in Alberta, Canada where she breeds, raises, and trains purebred Siberian Huskies for long distance racing. Karen has been competing in the 1000-mile Iditarod since 2000, with her first finish coming in 2001. She was the first Canadian woman to complete the race and one of the few teams that races with purebred Siberian Huskies.

This month Karen is heading up to Alaska to start preparing for the 2014 race that starts March 1. Part of the last stretch of training includes preparing the “drop bags” of supplies for the race that will be delivered to checkpoints along the trail. Each bag will include beef sticks and “bits and pieces” from Timber Ridge. Our beef sticks are a great fit for the race because they don’t require refrigeration, are all-natural, and pack a heavy dose of protein in each serving. The sticks are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids which supply essential nutrients.

Look for Timber Ridge beef to play a key role in fueling Karen during the Iditarod.
We will be sharing Karen’s progress both on our Facebook page and here on the blog. You can also keep up with Karen through the North Wapiti Kennels Facebook page, her North Wapiti Kennels blog, or enjoy the humorous Facebook page of her “Wayward Iditarod GPS” device as Karen and her team travel along the trail.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: beef, beef jerky, beef stick, cattle, cows, dog sledding, family farm, huskies, Iditarod, jerky, local farmer, musher, sled dogs, sledding, sledding dogs, sponsor, Timber Ridge, Timber Ridge Cattle Co

A Word About Winter

This last month I exchanged some e-mails with our producers regarding the toll this winter had on them and their operations. Michelle Heater was able to get some, but not all of the responses in the March Newsletter. So I thought what a perfect item for the first blog post on the new website for the Iowa Food Cooperative!

Sophie Ryan sent word from Horsefeather Farm:

With all the snow we had this winter we did as much indoor activities as possible like catching up with paperwork (still not done, will I ever be ?), going to workshops (PFI and Moses Organic Conference in WI), enjoying ‘webinars’ and movies (thanks to Netflix!) and doing some french folk-dancing with friends, making cheese (great Camembert , cream cheese and cheddar), homemade summer sausage….

We worked a little more on our part time job with the post office and had to enjoy plowing through snowy roads with a little 4WD. We got drifted in quite a few times but who needs to go to the store to get milk when you have your own cow at home!

Draft horses doing some logging.

Draft horses doing some logging.

Kevin did take the time to enjoy his team of draft horses and hitched them to go on sleigh rides and do some logging. He was pretty excited to try a different way to hitch the horses, one in front of the other instead of side by side (requires special attachments with pulleys) and the horses had to learn to stay in line instead of being side by side. Worked a little better when they got tired!! So that way he was able to drag out logs from places hard to get to with a wagon, bring them by the house and then cut them up and stack them. Nice Job.

Now all the snow is melted and we are waiting for the warm weather to uncover our potted peonies and then back to serious work.

Sophie.
www.horsefeatherorganicfarm.com

I also heard from Jean Weisshaar of  Weisshaar Family Farm:

This winter was definitely a hard one. With so much snow and the fact that it came early really challenged us with feeding all the cows & calves. Usually you put them out on the corn stock field after harvest, and this will feed them for quite some time. The snow covered all the food and we had to start feeding them with hay and corn stock bales. We have had to purchase quite a few of both to keep the heard fed & healthy.

The mud is always a bummer as it is difficult to get around on foot and in the tractor. Pregnant cows have an especially hard time negotiating the mud. Most cattle producers calve from mid February through the end of march, but fortunately we pushed our calving season back to May & June, so hopefully it will not be as wet.
It is hard to tell what planting season will be like, it is much too early.

Jean Weisshaar
Weisshaar Family Farm