STILLMAN VALLEY — When Stephen and Andria Brass decided to make a change on their centennial family farm in 2010, they looked to the past to chart a course toward a better future.

The couple had grown tired of carving up the land and relying on chemicals to do what should come naturally on the farm near Stillman Valley, where they grew corn and soybeans. They weren’t big fans of the factory farming model, where chemicals and machines reshape the soil in ways seen and unseen, depleting it of valuable natural resources. While modern farm practices may be tried and true methods for many farmers, they wanted to try something else: a healthier approach to tending to the soil, something farmers had done for centuries before chemists’ formulas did the work of Mother Nature.

In short: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.

That’s when they decided to pivot from grain to grass and beef up their farm and switch from crops to cows. Today, nearly 150 head of Red Devon beef cattle graze on nearly 100 acres of rotating grassy pastures at Brass Family Farm, providing an alternative to people who want to steer clear of grain-fed beef.

“I never liked using all of the herbicides, chemicals and fertilizers,” Stephen said. “With the heavy tillage and the industrial model of growing grain, I never felt like I was improving the ground, and felt like I was doing something that wasn’t natural. I was thinking about health and nutrition, and thinking about what our future children would want to do. Would they want to continue going down the corn and soybean industrial model? I didn’t see a bright future in that, and I thought animal agriculture was a better route to go to improve the land, and we can include our kids in that.”

After buying four cow-calf pairs from a friend, the Brasses made their big switch during the 100th anniversary of the year Stephen’s great-great grandparents, William John and Lavina Brass, bought the land 3.5 miles north of Stillman Valley in 1910. It took a couple of years for Stephen and Andria to get ramped up to start selling meat, but now they have packages from eighths to wholes, as well as brisket, liver, and soup, rib and marrow bones, sold through their website — all from cattle raised on a diet free from grain, GMOs, hormones, steroids, drugs or antibiotics.

The pastures have about 25 different species of plants, giving the cows a diverse set of natural nutrients. Whatever they don’t get from the grass, they get from a cafeteria-like mineral bar, which has 16 different minerals served separately. Cows are conscious about what minerals they need, Stephen said.

Comparing this system to a single block with multiple minerals, Stephen says: “The problem is that, if a cow is deficient in potassium, she’ll keep licking that block until she gets enough potassium,” Stephen said, but “when she gets her potassium, she probably has too much sulfur, so she can’t regulate what she needs. By having all of the minerals individualized, she can go there and tell herself, ‘I need some copper today,’ and take licks and then go to something else.”

One way that grass-fed beef is healthier, Stephen said, is the higher presence of anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fats (“good fats”) in the cattle, which research has linked to better heart and brain health; where the grain-fed method can result in higher, more inflammatory, Omega 6 and 9 fats.

The chemical-free practices also pertain to the scratchers cattle use to keep flies away; instead of using insecticide, the Brasses use essential oils such as lavender, cedarwood and citronella to ward off the pesky pests.

“Whatever you’re putting on the animal eventually gets absorbed into the meat,” Stephen said. “People who are seeking me out are concerned about how their food is raised and what’s going into it. They’re looking for a nutrient-dense, high quality product that’s raised with no grain. In my opinion, it has a richer, more complex, robust flavor, and a cleaner, healthier product.”

The differences between grass-fed and grain-fed beef are a matter of health not only for humans, but cows, and the Brasses enjoy educating visitors on their farming methods. They have an annual Pasture Walk in the fall where they share how their herd is moved, fed and kept healthy. This year’s event was Oct. 18.

The Pasture Walk meat-and-great began three years ago when customers became more curious about their farming practices. Instead of juggling myriad private tours and interruptions to their work routine, the Brasses set aside one date to open to the public.

“They want to see where their beef is coming from and how it’s raised, and without them coming here there’s a disconnect in their mind,” Stephen said. “They’re curious, and they want to see more of the behind-the-scenes.”

When William John Brass started his farm in 1910, it included beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs, alfalfa, oats and corn. Walnut trees were native to the property, and when Stephen started the beef selling business, he named it Walnut Grove Farm – a name that he’s phasing out for the more personal Brass Family Farm name (the signs outside the farm still have the Walnut Grove name).

When John and Richard operated the farm, it scaled back to just grain and hogs, and eventually just grain after Richard suffered a severe spinal injury in 1990 that left him paraplegic, and his uncle Morris Anderson, who farmed with Richard, suffered a stroke around the same time.

His father’s injury thrust Stephen into playing an adult-sized role in the farm operations when he was just 10, helping his father in areas where his disability prevented him from working. The injury didn’t stop Richard completely though: He made modifications to his equipment and assembled lifts and special controls to help him keep the farm going.

Richard’s perseverance left a lasting impression on his son, with faith and technical aptitude keeping him going for another 25 years before his death.

“What sticks out in my head is the perseverance that my dad continued to exhibit,” Stephen said. “He had his farming accident when he was my age, 45, and being in a wheelchair and paraplegic from the waist down, and having a young family at the same time, not many words would describe how difficult that would be. For him to persevere and continue to do what he loved, and to make it through the best he could by overcoming the daily struggle — his perseverance is one thing that sticks with me to this day.”

Though Andria’s a full-fledged farm girl these days, her roots in agriculture didn’t run as deep as her husband’s. She lived a city life before marrying Stephen, and her connections to agriculture growing up came from visiting a great-uncle who owned a dairy farm in southeast Wisconsin. She also saw firsthand the importance of healthy soil at her father’s flower shop in Loves Park.

“I grew up around plants, and that’s our green thumb connection,” Andria said. “I love growing perennials and vegetables. We keep a garden, and someday I’ll have a bigger one.”

Stephen and Andria’s three children – daughter Adalee and sons Rhett and Wyatt – help their parents on the farm, moving posts and fences and dragging the mineral feeders and scratchers. The couple has even brought a half-dozen hogs back to the farm, and the kids are taking care of them.

For the Brasses, transparency isn’t just a marketing word, it’s the heart of how they farm. They believe people should know their food and the farmers who raise it: how the herd is treated, what minerals they’re given, and whether they take shortcuts or use chemicals.

By being more open, Stephen and Andria see themselves not only as caretakers of the land, but as guides helping people reconnect to the food and the farmers behind their meals.

“Part of our goal is to educate people on why we do what we do and how we do what we do,” Stephen said. “My average customer is an educated customer who’s done their own research as to how beef is raised from the feedlot model to the organic, grass-fed model. Transparency builds trust and I try to educate people on why they should buy grass-fed versus grain fed. That transparency helps them and helps make the best choice for them.”

Go to brassfamilyfarm.com to learn more about the centennial farm, and to order meat from its store.