What is special about the way cattle are raised in the United States
Having just arrived, everything feels new to me. We are in the Midwest of the United States, in Plymouth, Nebraska, where farms are everywhere. Very few Chinese people live here; it seems like I am the only Chinese person in the whole town. Ross Wollenburg is my fiance, and March 23, 2013 is our wedding day. He is the son, grandson and maternal grandson of farmers, and manages three or four farms. As for me, I have just arrived and do not understand much; the only thing I can do is follow him driving around from farm to farm doing farm work. Since it is still winter, apart from the cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens roaming free, there is nothing much in the fields, just a bare stretch. This place is somewhat similar to Inner Mongolia back home, but the houses they live in are a bit better, all built from fine wood, because there are many trees here; unlike back home where there is a lot of rock and houses are built with reinforced concrete. Here, the houses are about three stories tall, including the basement. Every household has a basement, because tornadoes happen quite often here, so it can serve as shelter.
My husband really enjoys farm life. He gets up early every morning to feed the cattle and sheep. I have noticed that the cattle here are all kept outdoors, and what is worth mentioning is that no matter the wind, rain or snow, the cattle stay right where they are, unlike back home where cattle are led out to graze and brought back to sleep on a nine-to-five schedule. What they feed the cattle is not feed but straw, plus iodized salt and trace elements such as zinc, sodium and calcium. Ross says these trace elements are like cookies fed to the cattle; a cow's body has the same needs as we humans, needing all kinds of nutrients replenished, and beef raised this way tastes better too.
It snowed yesterday, and I saw the cattle on each farm penned in fields where the wheat stalks had been cut in half, occasionally eating the leftover stalks. There was no shelter from the wind at all there, and a thick layer of snow had piled up on the cattle's backs. The key thing is that the cattle showed no sign of unease at all, just staying there obediently. American cattle really are different, so tough.
I have not written this well; it is purely a casual note. If you like it, give me some encouragement, and I will keep writing more, just as a bit of chit-chat. Being able to share my American life here is an endless joy. Today is my sixth day in the United States. Bye-bye.