Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1488721
72 | SIGNATURE MONTANA e McCafferty Ranch has solved its winter-feeding issues and brought a new type of beef to the table with its sprout-finished beef. "We've created a new type of beef," says Joel McCafferty, third- generation rancher on the McCafferty Ranch, located in the foothills of the Lile Belt Mountains near Belt, Mont. "e sprouts create a good tasting beef that is comparable to grain-fed and has the health benefits of grass-fed beef." e McCafferty Ranch beef are grass-fed and finished on barley sprouts mixed with straw for 120 days before being harvested at less than 30 months of age. Barley sprouts are protein-rich, and the straw provides fiber to balance the feed ration, says Megan Gondeiro, McCafferty's daughter and fourth generation of the McCafferty Ranch. "is unique finishing feed lends to a superior grass-finished beef that is well marbled, tender, and has depth of flavor," says Gondeiro. "e health benefits of the fodder diet can be seen visually on our animals – they look like athletes – and that health is translated into the beef product we provide to our customers." e McCafferty Ranch began finishing grass-fed cale with barley sprouts in 2016, aer they built their first hydroponic fodder system. "We saw our first hydroponic system in 2008," recalls Joel. "I thought it would be good feed to faen beef." McCafferty used that first system as a basis for the design of their own hydroponic fodder system, using wood to heat a 40-by-60-foot barn and growing barley sprouts in flat trays stacked on shelving and watered with a gravity water system. "We did everything wrong the first time," recalls McCafferty. "ere were too many problems with the first system to be able to produce enough product to faen the beef profitably, and we were doing all the labor ourselves." New Ideas, Technological Advancements Solve Winter Feeding Problems Hydroponic Fodder Feed Brings New Beef to the Table TEXT BY SHANNON RUCKMAN PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED Logan Gondeiro and daughter June, along with Joel McCafferty check cows on a summer day on the McCafferty Ranch, where cattle are grass-fed and sprout-finished in pastures in the foothills of the Little Belt Mountains near Belt, Montana.