Larry and Michelle Rasco, Pflugerville

Larry and Michelle Rasco, Pflugerville

Written by Staff Thursday, 03 April 2008

Rasco Farms Longhorn Kattle Ranch, 20423 Ed Acklin Road • Manor, rascofarms@yahoo.com • 484-2745

Q. Why did you want to become a farmer?

A. [Larry] I lived on a farm all my life. I was working for Freescale for 15 years, and just got tired of it. I had all this land out here and wanted to do something with it. So, for us to actually do that, I had to commit myself and leave my job. I’ve been doing this for about one year now. I’ve grown up on a farm, but this is my first time doing this as a business.

Q. How did you get into ranching longhorns?

A. [Larry] If you’re driving down a country road and see a pasture full of cows, you don’t think twice and drive right past them. If you see a field full of longhorns, everybody is going to stop for a second and say, “Look — longhorns!” Longhorns are beautiful animals. They come in multiple colors, different horn shapes and different sizes. We first bought them for pets, but when they started producing calves and bull calves that we just didn’t need, we thought that maybe there would be a market for their meat. So we started asking around about the meat and learned how lean and healthy it was. We had [Michelle’s] brother who lives in California, do a survey to see what types of meats people desire, and he got really good responses. So we shipped him the meat to see how it would sell in California and it did really well. This last November we started trying it out here in Texas. The response out here has been OK, not as good California because people out there are more health conscious. We still get a lot of people in Texas telling us they like their meat a little fattier.

Q. How do you care for your cattle?

A. [Larry] The longhorn cattle are a hardy breed. They’re not like the European breeds, which are like everyday stock animals like angus or heifers that need a lot of attention. The longhorns don’t need as much attention because they naturally were developed over 500 to 600 years ago when they were set loose by the Spaniards here. They’re almost like antelopes. They can take care of themselves. They’re a little smaller than your beef breeds because their physique is designed to travel, and they developed large horns to protect themselves from predators. The beef breeds are not made for that. They’re bigger, stockier and fatter and they desire a lot more attention than a longhorn would. That’s why a longhorn doesn’t do real well in a feed lot, where they take commercial breeds to fatten up before slaughter, because they don’t handle being stocked in like that well. Their meat is much leaner and has less fat.

Q. Is it expensive to raise longhorns?

A. [Larry] It takes a lot of land to keep them grass-fed. In the winter when the grass is dormant, we have to rely solely on hay. We don’t buy corn or fattener feeds, so we have to make sure we have a large amount of hay. It takes a lot of money to keep them healthy and happy, where we won’t have to pen them up and feed them corn and fatteners.

Q. What will you be selling at the Pflugerville Farmers Market?

A. [Larry] We’ll be selling just about anything you could find at the Central Market like ribeye, ribs, tenderloin, brisket as well as organ meat like heart and liver.

Q. What are some of the benefits of buying products at farmers markets?

A.[Michelle] At the farmers markets, you’re going to find meat from animals that were fed naturally, you’re going to find natural vegetables. If you have a lot of allergies, if you’re struggling with a lot of pollens in the air, you’re going to find food solutions at the farmers markets, and you won’t have to spend so much on medication. [Larry] I think in Austin, a lot of people are interested in the treatment of the animals. They want to know if the animals were stuffed in a pen to be fattened up, where it’s all nasty and uncomfortable. So a lot of people like that our animals all roam free and are pulled off the pasture when it’s their time. They live a pretty good life here.

 

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