The cycle of life begins in the dirt.
Simple really. The microbes break down the nutrients and minerals in the soil. They die. Their rapidly decomposing bodies release those nutrients and minerals in formats easily assimilated by the roots of the grasses and legumes in the pasture.
The cattle bite off the plants, roll them up and swallow them whole. Later they lie down someplace comfy and begin chewing their cud, (regurgitating what they’ve eaten) producing many gallons of saliva and swallowing that mess into their first stomach. There, in that huge fermentation chamber an awaiting microbial community, yup some of the same folks you’d find in the soil, digest the otherwise impossible-to-digest grass and legume fibers. Then they too die. Their rapidly decomposing bodies releasing nutrients and minerals in formats easily assimilated by the cows gut.
About 80% of what goes in the front end of a cow comes out the back end of a cow and falls to the earth. Yup, you guessed it. Into the outstretched arms (so to speak) of dung beetles and other critters that haul it down into the soil to feed that first microbial community we mentioned. And so the cycle repeats itself. If you want healthy beef to eat, they have to eat healthy grasses, legumes, and grains grown on healthy living soil.
To read more about the impact cattle have on our soils, go here. READ MORE
