You are what they eat

Grass-fed cattle, like these at Meadow Haven Farm north of Sheffield, have higher levels of vitamin E, vitamin A, folic acid, beta-carotene, and fatty acids such as Omega-3, Omega-6 and conjugated linoleic acid. Allan and Jeanne Sexton bought the farm seven years ago as part of Allan's quest to grow the best quality food he possibly could. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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SHEFFIELD — Allan Sexton’s passion for good food led him from Chicago to the black dirt of Bureau County.

No, Sexton, a retired veterinarian, wasn’t looking for the latest restaurant. He was looking to make good food, on the hoof, as it were.

“In veterinary medicine, we see that food is the basis of health,” he said. “All disease starts with a deficiency of some mineral, and then progresses from there; so I want to raise the highest quality food that I can.”

So about 12 years ago, Sexton and his wife, Jeanne, began a hunt for the best location for their dream. It took five years of driving and soil testing, before the Sextons bought 210 acres on the south shore of the Hennepin Canal north of Sheffield.

Today, the Sextons and their partners, Jeremy and Cheri House, raise organic, grass-fed cattle at Meadow Haven Farm. The Houses live on the property, while the Sextons, who still live near Chicago, are building a house nearby.

While Sexton began the farm on the best quality of soil he could find, there was plenty of room for improvement, and they are working to bring the minerals back into the soil.

“We’re burning out our soil with the chemical program,” Sexton said. “Long-term, it will not be viable. I’ve seen the number that 26,000 acres a day in the world is going back to desert. It takes awhile to turn it around, and if we don’t get started at it, we’re going to have a food problem.”

Sexton said he has seen the difference in the improved soil in the animals throughout the years. The first year, they dealt with some foot rot and pinkeye, and last year, there was only a single case of pinkeye.

To feed the herd, they grow a lot of hay, a mixture of alfalfa and different grasses.

“The cows, if you give them a choice, will eat 100 different plants every five days,” Jeremy House said. “You can fatten cattle faster than the way we do it. But ours are out there, and they have access to the plants we have out there. And the plants Mother Nature has out there, and each one has different levels of minerals, nutrients and vitamins. So that goes right into the meat. On top of that, our soils have a lot more minerals and micronutrients than the standard, conventional farm.”

Sexton said the grass-fed beef is much more nutritious, with more vitamin E, vitamin A, folic acid, beta-carotene and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. It also contains more CLA.

“Only ruminants can produce this conjugated linoleic acid, one of the most potent anti-cancer compounds ever found,” Sexton said.

At this time, Meadow Haven Farm sells only quarters and halves, directly to the consumer, with the meat slaughtered and custom cut at the Sheffield Locker. House estimated the meat to cost 30 to 50 percent more than conventional beef.

“We’re not set up for individual cut retail, but at some point I think we’ll probably get into that,” Sexton said.

In addition to the hay, they grew some wheat and corn at the farm this year. They are expanding into organic poultry, both layers and broilers, which are also raised on grass.

Both Sexton and House said their neighbors have been great, although curious, about their organic neighbors.

“They laugh,” Sexton said, laughing himself. “I would expect them to.”

“Sometimes I think they don’t think I know what I’m doing, and they might be right; and sometimes they don’t think I know what I’m doing, and I may know what I’m doing,” House said.

Both men used the phrase “Let food be your medicine” to describe why they value farming organically.

“It may be more expensive than regular food, but it’s awful cheap medicine,” House said.

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