FREEZER BEEF SALES

HAPPY, HEALTHY COWS MAKE HAPPY, HEALTHY BEEF

Thank you for your interest in our grass fed beef, supporting small family farms, and eating locally! We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you. Our goal is to provide high quality beef locally with our herd of Hereford cattle. Our breeding program is designed to create desirable beef characteristics, selecting for traits like tenderness, marbling and ribeye size - without sacrificing balanced cow traits. The cattle are rotationally grazed on clean grass pastures and drink fresh water. Sea salt with trace minerals and bentonite clay are feed free choice for optimum cattle health. In the winter they eat local chemical free hay that we personally have cut and baled.

We produce a few grass fed/grain finished steers for those who prefer a grain finish, and they are offered free choice pasture as well as grain for the last 3-4 months. Our grass fed/grass finished steers are harvested at the end of the grass season, when they have had an entire summer of consuming fresh green grass.

We pride ourselves on raising healthy, content cattle, letting them mature naturally at their own rate without the use of hormones and drugs.

Our cows are loved and known by name, receive scratches and get the best care we know how to give. Happy, healthy cows make happy, healthy beef.

BASIC PROCESSING

BEEF FROM PASTURE TO FREEZER

Our Hereford steers average 1100 lbs live weight.
On average, steers dress out (or hang) around 63% of their live weight. A 1100 lb steer will hang around 693lbs (1100 x .63). A half is around 347lbs (693÷2).
As the carcass is processed some of the bone and fat is trimmed away, and some moisture is lost during the hang time. The yield of a carcass can be as much as 70-74% for bone in cuts and 50% for mainly boneless cuts (693lbs x .74 and/or 693lbs x .50).
This translates to somewhere between 513-347lbs of take-home cuts from the 1100lb live weight steer, depending on how you fill out your custom cut sheet.
You can fit around 35-40lbs of meat per cubic foot of freezer space of uniformly packaged meat. We recommend the chest style freezer over the upright, as the meat doesn’t fall out when you open the door.

FREEZER BEEF SALES

ORDERING FREEZER BEEF

Ordering freezer beef is easy; here is a quick rundown on the order process. You contact us about the availability of a steer. We confirm that we have a steer available and let you know when the next processing date is, as well as review with you the estimated costs. You confirm your order by mailing us a deposit of $200, which will be deducted from the cost of your steer. We will give you a custom cut sheet for the butcher, which you will fill out. We are happy to help you decide how to have your steer cut up, give you an example of a completed cut sheet, or you may contact the butcher for advice.

When your steer arrives at freezer camp, we will contact you and let you know how much he weighed in at, and what the remaining balance is for the cost of the steer. You may then mail us a check for the balance.

Your steer will hang 7-10 days at the butcher before being processed, during which time the butcher will need to receive your custom cut sheet. The butcher will cut up your meat to your specifications, and call you when your meat is ready for pickup. They ask that you pick up your meat within 7 days of the call. The butcher will freeze your meat, and box it up for you to take home. You will pay him for the processing fees when you pick up your meat.

You can fit around 35-40lbs of meat per cubic foot of freezer space of uniformly packaged meat. We recommend a minimum freezer size of 14 cu ft to fit a whole beef, about half that for a half beef. The larger size will allow you to more easily organize your beef. We also recommend the chest style freezer to the upright, as the meat doesn’t fall out when you open the door.

*We also occasionally have Dexter freezer beef available. Dexter cattle are about half the size of a Hereford, making it economical to purchase a half or whole steer.