Lazy A Cattle Company ages cattle longer, naturally
The Lazy A Cattle Company on Highway 27 between Prairie du Chien and Eastman recently completed a new facility for backgrounding calves for natural growth. (Photos by Ted Pennekamp)
Kyle Bode and his wife Angie, the owners of Spring Lake Restaurant, buy all of their ground beef from Lazy A Cattle Company. The smoker is in the background.
By Ted Pennekamp
Seth and Ryan Adams along with their wives Katie and Megan, the owners of Lazy A Cattle Company between Prairie du Chien and Eastman, take pride in the fact that they raise their beef cattle differently than most.
Lazy A specializes in locally grown, home raised beef, but what sets them apart is that they age their cattle longer, and with no implants and no artificial growth hormones in order to promote natural growth.
For breeding purposes, bulls with high marbling and a large ribeye area are selected. Ryan said their primary breed is red angus with a Charlois influence that helps produce a superior natural growing animal. The calves are fed dry hay and corn silage and given time for their bodies to grow naturally, said Seth. They then eat grass the following season as yearlings. Seth said the yearlings have access to free choice hay and are also fed a corn ration in the finishing pen.
“In this way, you are more likely to have a prime animal rather than choice or select,” said Seth.
“Prime takes time,” said Ryan.
“Aging our cattle longer and naturally produces consistency,” said Seth. “All of the beef we take to the locker is hand selected by me or Ryan.”
Lazy A has approximately 80 beef processed annually, with 50-60 of those processed at Eastman Locker for several customers who can buy 1/4, 1/2 or whole beef.
Ryan and Seth attend 125-150 cow-calf fairs each year and have spring and fall calving, said Seth. Ryan noted that Lazy A owns 460 acres and rents 1,000 acres of pasture and fields.
“Spring and fall calving allows us to have market ready beef available at all times,” said Seth, who also noted that Lazy A has recently completed a new facility specifically for backgrounding their calves for natural growth.
Seth said their customers or other interested persons can follow the progression on the Lazy A Facebook page.
Of their numerous customers, Seth said Spring Lake Restaurant a few miles north of Prairie du Chien is their biggest. He said Spring Lake buys a full beef every two weeks from Lazy A.
“About four months ago, we started buying all of our ground beef exclusively from Lazy A,” said Kyle Bode who, along with his wife Angie, own Spring Lake Restaurant, which is located at the intersection of Highway 35 and County N.
Steak wise, Kyle said Spring Lake buys fillets, New York strip, ribeye, top sirloin and Porterhouse that come from Lazy A as well.
“Our smoked Lazy A brisket tacos are a sellout as a once-a-month special,” said Kyle. “They sell like wildfire.” Kyle noted that Angie makes all the house gourmet sauces from scratch. Another popular special at Spring Lake is known as Porter Haze.
“We avoid frozen ingredients and buy local as much as possible,” said Kyle. “It’s a nice four-mile per leg triangle from Lazy A to Eastman Locker to Spring Lake.”
“When people buy beef or steaks at a grocery, they often don’t know where they came from,” Kyle continued. “I know exactly where mine come from.”
