Welcome to KDE Farms

Say hello to the happiest Grass Fed Highland Cattle I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with!  They are living their best lives out in their fields just north of the Twin Cities in Hugo MN on a 3rd generation family farm.

At first glance the rolling hills look like your average small family cattle farm, but then you realize there’s no barn, you see horns on the cattle and can’t find a feed trough. Welcome to KDE Farms, where they raise grass fed Highland cattle, meat and layer chickens and produce some fabulous maple syrup. You can jump right to their online shop if you can’t wait.

Walking the Fields

Visiting these down to earth farmers earlier this Summer, I fell in love with their farmland- and the way they raise their animals. These docile Scottish Highland cattle can take three years to finish off. But they balance out their keep with having a double coat that is water proof and down-like, eliminating the need for a barn. And they’ve naturally developed to thrive off of grass.

This leads this kind of farmer to maintain their land in a way that conventional farmers (usually) don’t. Because they are feeding their ‘product’ from what they grow and not what they purchase, grass fed cattle farmers blend their knowledge of raising healthy grass with raising healthy animals. And, as Brian and Roberta Ehret can attest to- that all starts with healthy land.

Farmer Brian checking the “Feed”

The Family Farm

Brian grew up on the same farmland, within a family that valued nurturing the land and the animals they raised. He was excited at the idea of coming back to farming after inheriting some of the family land. They built their home 23 years ago and brought their first cattle home 15 years ago. The Ehret’s are proud that its been a 100% grass fed operation since the beginning. 

Like many modern farmers, they both have ‘day jobs’ as well. Roberta is a Kindergarten teacher and Brian is a Solutions Architect with Phillips-Medisize. He enjoys using his physics degree in both spaces. Farmers are always asking the ‘what if’ questions like any good scientist…Brian sees his farm as a kind of lab where he gets to work with Mother Nature to provide a superior product- in a sustainable way. 

KDE is built on three interdependent ideals: Sustainability, Innovation, Stewardship.

Sustainability

Scottish Highland cattle are a more sustainable breed to work with, being able to produce well-marbled and highly-flavored meat (so says my meat loving hubby- full disclosure I don’t eat red meat) by eating from a pasture. The land that they graze on is naturally and sustainably maintained. They fertilize with manure and add some natural supplements, but the original seed wasn’t organic, so they aren’t certified organic- yet.

Chicken Tractors on the move

Both the cattle and the chickens fertilize the land as they graze, helping sustain the biodiversity in each field.  I love being able to raise our own backyard hens and have seen first hand the direct impact they make in our small closed loop system. Basically, intensive rotational grazing is when you let animals graze a small portion of the fields at a time, letting the other parts regrow for another round of munching.  This is powerful land management; the U of MN even hosts grazing schools for farmers.  Brian and Roberta hope to win a U of MN extension grant that will help them lay out a plan for “Intensive Rotational Grazing”. This kind of grazing takes into account all the hills, water sources and grass/prairie plant diversity on their land.

I love that our U of MN works with  local farmers who want to
make better use of their land and are working towards a sustainable future!

Innovation

Moving to the meat chicken part of their farm, they have been working on crafting just the right ‘chicken tractor’ to house their flock of grazing guys. Chicken tractors keep the birds safe out on fields, allowing them to move to fresh grass (and fertilize more square footage) every few days. The couple is currently finishing their last batch of broiler chickens for the year.  “We have raised 800 broilers this year,” Brian explained, a new high number thanks to another chicken tractor.

Stewardship

As we perused their land, the pride they have in the way they’ve stewarded their acres is apparent, and well deserved. They truly love their land and want it to be productive for generations to come. This has led them to build their business slowly, making sure the land can handle the amount of cattle as they grow. Brian’s upbringing within a farming family gives him the perspective of land over time, and how to keep implementing what works, and leaving behind what doesn’t.

Grass Roots Education

Brian and Roberta have loved being at local farmers markets because of the one on one time it gives them with their neighbors. “It’s a great way to introduce and educate neighbors about what we do- and why we do it,” explained Roberta. After a few years at both the Mahtomedi and Stillwater Farmers Markets they were able to begin offering a Grass Fed Beef CSA. They must have gotten their message across 😉 But still enjoy talking with customers so much that they added the Scandia Market this Summer as well.

Grass Fed cows *tend* to produce leaner meat with more antioxidants, omega-3’s, CLA, TVA, trace minerals, and vitamins according to this article and many others. Without getting into all the hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals NOT given to these animals  because of the way they are raised. Add to the equation the much lower impact on the earth and I think you’ve got a Winner Winner Beef Dinner!

How does Grass Fed Really Rate?

So let’s take a look into the Big White Cow in the room: is grass fed really better for you, the earth or the environment? Well, turns out a Washington Post writer wondered the same thing, as you can read in this well thought out ARTICLE  The article quotes Temple Grandin likening grain to cake and ice cream for cattle and how they love it, but just like us, diets shouldn’t be mostly made up of treats! Personally, I will always side with a small-scale local farmer who I can visit (yes, you can set up a time to tour the Ehret’s farm) and who knows their animals over a mass producing corporate farm.

Happy Cows

These cattle are HUGE! And I’m not going to lie, at first I was a little leery of getting too close. But farmers Brian and Roberta work hard to maintain a low stress environment for these grass guzzlers. As Brian mentioned, “The fences are really more like suggestions- they could plow through the fencing, but they don’t because we keep them happy by growing them really good grass.” Well, I for one would like to say thanks for taking such good care of the cattle that they have no need to try to break through the fences 😉

You could see the kindness in their big brown eyes! These are well loved animals living their best lives! Since he’s got the grass fed beef part down, Brian is getting into pigs now too. They purchased 2 pregnant Mangalitsa pigs this Fall and will start offering pork in their CSA options next Spring- which I am quite excited about!

Right now, they are putting the finishing touches getting ready to take orders for their CSA options  They are ready to start taking orders now, giving you time to decide on the roasts, steaks, chops and chicken dinners you’ll cook up.

So, go ahead and Dig In, and remember you are what you eat, and you are what you eat eats too!  I’ll challenge you to ask yourself about the meat you eat…did it have a good life roaming the hills and eating what nature intended it to before making it to your table?

-Michelle