Meadowood Farms' animals are raised on grass, grass, grass.

Our pastures are green, and are managed by grazing and mowing -- we used no pesticides or herbicides.

Our lambs and steers are well-fed, healthy, stress-free, and receive no hormones or antibiotics.

The Grazing Seasons

The core of our farm is our pastures;  the quality of our farm products revolves around our pasture management program.  Here we talk about seasons: early spring, late spring, summer, early fall, late fall, winter. All of our seasons are based on what stages the pastures are at. When the lambs are born, when the calves are born, when milking starts … it’s all based on when the grasses and clovers grow.

So it’s best if we start our story with early spring, because that seems to be the beginning of everything. The weather is milder but there’s very little forage growing. The lambs are born in late March, and are out on the fields with their dams by mid-April.  The fall-born calves are weaned from their dams in early spring, and cows and weaned calves go out to the fields in separate groups.

By May (late spring), the pasture has really started to grow, perfect for the nutritional demands of the lactating ewes and young lambs and steers. At that point we are also starting our milking and making our yogurt and cheeses.  The spring flush is an intense, green, growing period, when grass and clover growth greatly exceeds consumption by the animals. It starts in early May and lasts for a blissful month. We start rotational grazing and thinking about taking in our first cut of hay. We are also composting the winter’s manure, training our young show cattle to the halter, and starting to sell our meats and dairy products at the Farmers’ Markets.

The summer is all about maintaining animal growth and pasture quality through the heat and dry of the season.  All the grazing groups must have fresh vegetative forage, water and salt, and shade.  In a hot and dry summer, it can be a real challenge!

Early fall, starting around Labour Day, is another blissful period.  The pastures rebound, and are once again lush and green.  The calves are born in this comfortable, plentiful period, and the lambs' growth really takes off.  During this period we "stockpile" some of our pastures, meaning we let them grow without grazing or mowing, so that the grasses are available for grazing during late fall.

In October, because of shorter days and cooler temperatures, pasture growth really slows down.  At this point we start utililizing our stockpiled pastures, trying to manage them so they are available for grazing well into November.

Wintertime is ... well ... long.  The snow often arrives in very early November.  The ewes and cows will stay out on pasture until Thanksgiving, if the weather allows it.  They will either graze stockpiled pasture or be fed the hay that we've harvested over the summer.  The ewes are bred in early November so that lambs are born in early spring.  The cows are bred in late November so that calves are born in early fall.  All animals are under cover at the barn through the winter, and are fed free-choice hay.

Meat Processing

All of our meat is processed at a USDA-inspected facility in Taberg, NY, just north of Oneida Lake.  Cuts are individually vacuum-packed and flash frozen for quality assurance.  Our lamb and beef cuts are available year-round -- look at our "How to Buy Our Products" page to see where you can find our meats.

In the fall we also begin taking orders for whole and half lambs, which can be custom cut to your specifications. This is a great way to have your freezer stocked with the lamb cuts you enjoy.  A Whole Lamb order has two “sides”, and so two of everything (i.e., 2 legs, 2 loins, etc), and contains about 50 lbs of cuts, while a Half Lamb order has one “side”.  The price for a Half-lamb order is $160; the price for a Whole-lamb order is $290.  Call us or email us for an order form for Whole or Half Lamb orders.

 We at Meadowood Farms are proud to supply our neighbors with delicious, tender, and healthful food.  Drive by our farm on Ridge Road in Cazenovia, and you’ll see our animals doing what they do best:  grazing and growing.