Featured Business Highlight: Timber Ridge Cattle Company

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timber ridge logoWe are honored to highlight Timber Ridge Cattle Company – offering all natural, Flax-Fed Beef from their renowned farm in Osceola, Iowa.

A Perfect Solution for Any Situation

As a mom, our life revolves around hungry kids. Our lives are busy from wake to sleep and we need healthy, portable snacks to feed our family.

We can all relate to the day when the babe doesn’t want to sit and eat a meal but grazes all day long. Or when we’re nursing and need a quick protein snack. Or when we’re trying to lose that baby weight and need a lean, low-calorie, high protein pick me up.

One of the best solutions I’ve found is flax-fed beef from Timber Ridge Cattle Company in Osceola. Convenient. Healthy. Portable. Kid Friendly. Delicious and direct from the farmer.

About Timber Ridge

timber ridge pete cindyTimber Ridge Cattle Company is owned and operated by Peter and Cindy Woltz. They are the sweetest, most generous, hard-working souls I know. Not only do they greet you at the Downtown Farmer’s Market with the biggest, warmest smiles, but their 90% lean beef sticks, summer sausage and jerky is the best we’ve tasted.

Since our family discovered them six years ago, their beef sticks and summer sausage have been a staple in our household. My daughter has been enjoying them since she was 1 and we eat them almost daily (often multiple times a day!). We both love the original stick but they offer several other yummy flavors like BBQ, Ranch and others.

They are so convenient, super portable and I love knowing where my food comes from. Most beef sticks I find (even at whole food stores) have sodium nitrite or MSG in the list of ingredients and that’s another reason we love these. Have I convinced you yet? 

One of the most reputable things I love is that Pete and Cindy are committed to making their farm and practices different.

Why We Feed Our Cattle Flax Seed

timber ridge Lottie and CalfIf you have been cruising the Timber Ridge site or following our Facebook page, you have certainly come across the term “flax-fed.” You might be wondering what exactly that means and why it is so important to our products.

Well, the easiest explanation is that flax-fed means our cattle and hogs are feed a diet that includes flaxseed. Flaxseed is a so-called “super food” that holds health benefits for both the animals and the humans who consume the final product. Flaxseed is full of omega-3 essential fatty acids which hold a whole list of health benefits including lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, improved brain function, and it has anti-inflammatory properties that reduce symptoms of arthritis.

There’s really two main reasons we feed our livestock flax-seed: it’s healthier for the animals, and it’s healthier for our customers. All the benefits of flax-fed beef and pork come down to those two factors:

Health Benefits for our Livestock

The introduction of omega-3s via flax seeds has been shown in several studies to help improve the health of calves and cattle. Kansas State University has been conducting studies for the past 10 years on the subject. During the studies, the scientists found that feeding cattle flaxseed helped reduce inflammation and the need for antibiotics. In cows that were fed a corn-based diet, it helped offset some of the side effects.

At Timber Ridge, we understand that corn-based diets can negatively affect the livestock’s health so our cows and pigs are fed only flaxseed feed and graze the fields for the rest of their meals. It promising for the industry as a whole, however, that flaxseed can reduce symptoms of a corn-based diet.

Health Benefits for our Customers

Have healthy cows to begin with is a great start to providing the healthiest product we can. Healthy cows mean no antibiotics or other treatments that can be eventually passed onto the consumer. Flax-fed beef has much more benefits that just happy, healthy cows.

The meat that is produced from flax-fed beef is much leaner in saturated fats and higher in omega-3s. We had our beef analyzed by Iowa State University and the research found the samples to contain five times the omega-3s and 25% less saturated fat than corn-fed beef.

Less saturated fat is awesome, but it’s the addition of omega-3 fatty acids that really sets our products apart. Omega-3s have been shown to improve humans’ health in a variety of ways. Perhaps the biggest way is that they reduce inflammation. Inflammation in the body is believed to be the root cause of many diseases including arthritis, heart disease, GI disorders, and even cancer. Reducing inflammation through a diet that is rich in omega-3s can significantly reduce the risks of chronic diseases.

Overall, flax-fed beef and pork is a healthier alternative for both the animals and humans involved and that’s why we built our business around it. So now, when you enjoy one of our seven flavors of beef sticks or a variety of our jerky or summer sausage, you can know you are making a smart food decision.

timber ridge FMBoothConnect with Timber Ridge

Connect with them via their website and be sure to Like them on Facebook. Contact them via Phone: 515-314-2478 or email: [email protected].

Until the Farmer’s Market begins in May, you can order from their website, or purchase their beef sticks in a huge variety of flavors at any local Hy-Vee store.

Happy Snacking,

A Busy Mommy

 

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