Statesville Record & Landmark (link no longer available)
By Bethany Fuller
Sam Dobson whistled while he walked onto one of the grass fields where he grazes beef cattle.
“Come on,” he yelled to the grass-fed herd at the bottom of the hill.
The Angus and Hereford cattle seemed to think about coming up for a moment before they started running toward Dobson.
Following the herd is Dobson’s gray donkey Jack, who Dobson said keeps the herd of small-framed cattle in line.
Growing up, Dobson said, the area was his playground. Now, it is one of the fields he uses to “finish” individual cows for processing.
The field and the cattle are the two components of the farm Dobson wants to feature when customers come to purchase hormone-free, antibiotic-free, grass-fed beef. Dobson has been and continues to be a supplier for Hickory Nut Gap Meats in Asheville. But in July, he started marketing a portion of his meat locally.
“I think a good local food system will be as important as a school system and recreation to the area’s quality of life in the future,” Dobson said. “I had a lot of people calling wanting to know where they could get the beef (locally).”
He and his wife Sherry have sold the beef at the weekly Pecan Park farmers market and at his home off Dobson Farm Road.
“I realized when I started going up to Asheville how big this local food thing was,” Dobson said. “People are so interested in putting a face with where their food comes from. We were able to have that connection with the consumer.”
The field where Dobson was standing once held the crops that his family grew to feed their dairy herd. The family still runs the dairy to this day. In fact, Dobson said, he had to start milking after attending to the beef cattle.
The field is now filled with grasses and clover from around the world. Dobson said this particular field is where he brings the cattle to be “finished off” before being sent to Mays Meat Processing in Taylorsville.
He points to each sectioned-off part of the field and talks about the different grasses — Sudan, brome and rye. The grasses are on a seasonal rotation cycle.
“We brought all of these high-quality grasses to produce a higher quality of beef,” he said.
Dobson grew up in the dairy business. His family currently milks around 90 head.
More than four years ago, he was participating in a statewide agriculture leadership program, and roomed with Jamie Ager, who operates Hickory Nut Gap Meats.
Dobson said Ager told him about the big market he supplied, and said he couldn’t always meet the demand. Dobson said he decided to try to be one of the suppliers.
Dobson said he quickly discovered the attitude toward the beef cattle was different from the one he always used at the dairy.
“Growing up, the dairy cows were like your brother and sister,” he said.
Part of the learning curve in expanding his focus from dairy to beef cattle was learning that the size of the cow mattered.
Smaller-framed English cattle breeds are better for grass feeding, he said.
Dobson pointed to one of the Hereford cows, and its well-rounded shape.
“That’s going to make a good tenderloin,” he said.
It does take a lot of land, but it has helped diversify the farm, Dobson said.
He said he is finishing a couple hundred head of beef cows each year.
Dobson said the grass-fed beef has Omega-3 and is a lot leaner with less saturated fat.
“It is a higher-value thing,” he said. “I think it is the future.”
For more information on the grass-fed beef, call Dobson at (704) 437-2562 or e-mail him at [email protected].
