Beef
Q. What kind of beef is the Ancilla herd?
A. The herd is a mixed breed of Black Angus and Salers.
The Salers (French: race de Salers or La Salers; plural: Les Salers) is a breed of cattle which originated in Cantal in the Massif Central of France.(Wikipedia)
Angus cattle, known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world, are a breed of cattle commonly used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland.
Angus cattle are naturally polled and solid black or red although the udder may be white. The native color is black, but more recently red colors have emerged. The UK registers both in the same herd book, but in the US they are regarded as two separate breeds – Red Angus and Black Angus. Black Angus is the most common breed of beef cattle in the US, with 324,266 animals registered in 2005. In 2014, the British Cattle Movement Service named Angus the UK’s most popular native beef breed and the second most popular beef breed overall.
The breeds were mixed to produce a smaller calf for a more manageable birth, by the cow.
Q. What is the diet of the cattle?
A. Cattle graze in our pastures that are planted and maintained by our farm directors. Their diet consists of pasture grass until three to six months prior to market. Ancilla Beef & Grain Farm grows its own hay, corn, soybeans, oats, alfalfa and triticale.
Q. Who processes the beef?
A. Manley Meats (canned meat)
Storing
Q. What is the shelf life of the canned Holy Cow beef?
A. Generally, three (3) years from the processing date on the can.
This picture is an example of the “lot” number stamped on the bottom of the cans: the first line #52 – represents the processor’s state inspection number; the 2nd line with the 5 digits – BO135. It always will have a B, the next digit is the month – this is October for this can (1 – 9 for Jan – Sept then O for Oct, N for Nov, and D for Dec), the next two digits are the day of the month (in this case October 13), and the last digit is the year – in this case 2015. So the can shown is good thru September 2018.