E-mail us
Our Products | The Farm | Livestock | Recipes | Links
You can find our products at local Farmer’s Markets and on the farm. Farmer's Markets: April through October– Fluvanna Farmer’s Market at Pleasant Grove, Tuesdays from 3 to 7pm May through October– Farmer’s in the Park, Meade park in Charlottesville on Wednesdays from 3 to 7pm Scottsville Farmer’s Market on Thursdays from 3 to 7pm   On the farm: November through March- Thursdays from 3:00 to 6:00pm and Saturdays from 10am to 1pm Or by appointment. Just call or email us. We would love to meet you! Located 7 miles East of Scottsville on Route 6, or West River Road.
LIVESTOCK Both purebred registered Murray Grey cattle and St. Croix sheep are available for purchase as breeding stock.
St. Croix Sheep  |  American Murray Grey Cattle
St. Croix Sheep St. Croix sheep are an attractive, hardy, medium-sized, polled (hornless), white hair sheep. Their hair coat is smooth in summer, and thicker with mixed hair and downy undercoat in winter. They naturally shed their coat, and never require shearing. Mature rams sport a lion-like mane that may fall down to the knees. Mature rams weigh up to 200 lbs, and ewes up to 150 lbs. Birth weights for twins average 7 lbs. St Croix sheep are active and vigorous without any tendency to be wild. They demonstrate greater resistance to internal parasites than do both wool sheep and most other hair sheep breeds. The ewes can breed back one month after lambing, and ewes can produce two lamb crops per year. Ewes usually bear twins, with some singles, frequent triplets, and occasional quadruplets; lambing rates vary from 150-200%. Carcass composition of St Croix is similar to that of Rambouillet, but the St Croix have a 23% higher carcass yield due to smaller bone and less fat. The meat is tender with a mild flavor. As an unimproved breed, the St. Croix has slower growth rates than many meat breeds, which have been selected for rapid growth and large body size.
American Murray Grey Cattle PLEASE NOTE: Due to drought and economic conditions our beef will no longer be sold retail style, please inquire about quarter and half sides of beef. We chose Murray Grey cattle for our primary beef cattle breed for its gentle disposition, mothering ability, and efficient grazing ability. The Murray Grey cattle are the first on the pasture during the summer and the last to seek shade. They are efficient converters of grass to muscle and yield a high quality lean meat. In the late 1960s, American cattlemen were desperate to find larger, more efficient animals than those which the purebred Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn producers were offering at the time. To fill this need, American stockmen imported many dual-purpose draft and dairy breeds from Europe and the Murray Greys from Australia. The first Murray Grey semen was imported into the US in 1969 and the first live animals followed in 1970. The American Murray Grey Association was founded in September of 1971. The early Murray Grey breeders in the United States resisted the industry trend to select only for frame size and worked to retain the temperament, calving ease, feed efficiency and carcass quality for which the cattle were so highly regarded in Australia and New Zealand. After an initial rush of interest in the 1970s, the smaller frame size and lighter carcass weights pushed the Murray Grey breed to the sidelines of the American cattle industry. A dedicated group of Murray Grey breeders across the country defied the industry trends and continued to breed the easy calving, efficient, cattle with excellent eating qualities. A greater percentage of Murray Grey cattle carry more of the tenderness and marbling genes than cattle of any other beef breed. Progressive Murray Grey breeders are testing their cattle and proving time and time again that Murray Grey cattle are the best source for the highest quality eating beef in America.
GO TO TOP OF PAGE
Our Products | The Farm | Livestock | Receipes | Links © 2008 Wild Oats Farm
Web Site Design by saveasart.com