From the Fields: Sabrina Summerfield, ​Solano County cattle rancher

By Sabrina Summerfield
Solano County cattle rancher

We’ve had a steady year. We sell directly to consumers. There’s been continuous interest in local and high-quality beef. There were some quieter times during the year, but interest is ongoing, and we’ve been able to meet a lot of new customers this year. 

Customers are essentially purchasing interest in the animal because we sell quarter, half and wholes. Because they are financially investing money into that animal, we allow them to also harvest any offal for their orders. There’s a lot of cultural meals that folks love to be able to make, but they aren’t always offered at the grocery store. We’re able to offer that when we harvest.

We recognize that buying beef in bulk can be an initial hardship. It’s an investment, even though it’s more economical overall. That’s where the sales have been this year. We’ve been having a lot more vendor fairs where we sell our product at local farmers markets. It’s important to our communities to understand where their food comes from and how their food is being raised and grown.

In our farming practice, the cattle have access to spent brewer’s grain their entire lives versus the last 30 to 60 days of their lives, so it allows for a thorough marbling pattern within the muscle tissue to get that great meat flavor. 

This season has been favorable weatherwise so far. We had good rain in the fall. As for water, having water rights to the natural pond on our property and implementing rotational grazing allows us to keep our pastures healthy and retain moisture naturally. 

We’re getting things ready for the season, checking fences for any holes as the wet weather comes and checking for safety before the cattle go over to the other parcel. Our property was affected by the 2020 LNU Lightning Complex fires, so there’s times when we need to go up there with our ATV or fly the drone to see if there’s any down trees.