Grass-fed Beef

We set our prices based on comparisons with similar grassfed products in this geographic area. We encourage you to comparison shop, and to contact us if you have questions.
It's simple: you pay us, we pay the processor, and we deliver the frozen beef, packaged as individual cuts, to you.
Please note that with bulk purchase you get what is in your selected portion, and usually about half of the weight is in ground beef. On the other hand, the bulk price is about what similar ground beef costs in the store, and you are also getting the choicer cuts at the same price with bulk purchase.

In more detail:

When we sell you meat in bulk: you buy half an animal (a "side of beef") or a quarter of an animal. We select processors based on demonstrated dedication to Animal Welfare. We encourage you to call us to discuss which cuts of meat you want for your portion of the animal. For example, you may prefer your steaks to be thicker or thinner than usual. Then, we take the animal and your instructions to the processor, who is responsible for the next steps.
^*We use the term "animal" instead of "cow" because cows are usually older with tougher meat: what you want and what we provide are "steers" and "heifers", which are younger and tastier. The type of animal is Bos taurus and Wikipedia has a very nice discussion of the problem with the word "cow" as the singular for the plural term "cattle".

What happens next? The animal is treated gently until it is time for slaughter, which is carried out humanely. The carcass is then "aged" in a cool room for usually about two weeks to develop tenderness and flavor. Then, the meat is cut to your specifications, wrapped, flash frozen, and delivered as arranged.

How about special parts of the animal? Different peoples value different parts of the animal. Some cultures value the cheeks, some the tongue, some the stomach, and so forth. Other cultures simply cannot stand these same parts of the animal. Lots of people like the liver, tail, tongue, and/or soup bones. We will be happy to work with you on your animal. If you have an interest in parts of the animal that our other customers probably do not want, please let us know and we will try to arrange for a friendly donation of parts that otherwise would go to waste.

How about the quarter-animal portion? Who gets the front and who gets the back? This is important because most people want the steaks that come from the back half of the animal. If you buy a whole side (half an animal), you get all these. If you want only a quarter, we will negotiate on your behalf with whomever bought the other quarter on that side so everyone gets a fair share of what she or he wants.

We prefer payment by check or money order because it is less expensive for you. If you prefer to pay by debit or credit card, we will ask for a 3% convenience fee because that is what we have to pay the card processing company to execute your transaction. Please feel free to let us know if you have thoughts about this matter.

^* Why, you may ask, is grassfed beef so expensive? The answer lies in the arithmetic: a conventionally raised calf can be ready for slaughter at 15-18 months when given hormones and then finished (that is, raised to slaughter weight) on grain starting at age 9 to 12 months old. The same calf without hormones has to be finished for about 24-30 months on grass and even so will wind up weighing less than the grain-fed calf. Since cattle are sold by weight, the grassfed animal will bring less money despite requiring care, space, and grass for a much longer time. Concentrated animal feeding operations are very efficient, but they reach their efficiency by packing animals together so tightly that routine antibiotics have to be given to prevent disease outbreaks. Grassfed operations keep the growing animals right where they were born, with plenty of access to pasture, fresh water, and clean air, and without artificial growth stimulants like hormone implants and routine antibiotics in their feed. This is less efficient. Therefore the price is higher. If you have a different understanding, please do let us know!.

Grassfed beef is said to have, and probably does have, better nutrition and health benefits than the usual grain-fed beef. The Web is full of sites that will recite these advantages without saying where they got their information.

We have put together a scholarly review of the literature that reaches the same conclusions. ("Scholarly" means it includes the scientific basis for everything it claims and tells you where you can go to look at the science so you can decide whether you believe each point or not.) It also suggests that beef in general, and grassfed beef in particular, is much more heart healthy that was previously thought. Grassfed beef also sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so much that it reduces this greenhouse gas when soil sequestration is taken into account. By contrast, grainfed cattle increase this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

^*What, you may ask, about animals that get sick? Excellent question. The USDA National Organic Program (which is the regulatory framework for all certified organic operations in the United States of America), requires that animals do receive antibiotics and other appropriate care if they become ill. The grassfed standards require the same. These animals are then sold as "conventional", not "organic" or "grassfed". Fortunately, animals that are raised under the healthy conditions of grazing wide-open pastures usually do not get sick. For example, we do not apply treatments for worms but do rotate the cows through different pastures so that they do not return to the same area within 30 days. The worm life cycle is about 30 days, so any worms that may have been dropped in manure will have died by the time the cattle return.
In the future, some of the calves may require antibiotic treatment for illness and will no longer be certifiable as organic or grassfed, and will not be sold as such. We track our animals individually and will be able to tell you the full history of any animal in which you may be interested.

The closest suitable processing facilities are in Arkansas and Colorado, according to our wise and helpful consultants at ATTRA. Our cows and their offspring are fully free-range and eat certified organic hay. Most of their calves are now certified organic. (A few were born too soon after their mothers arrived on our farm in late 2017, so they are certified grassfed but not certified organic.)
When we talk with potential customers, we find that many people want grass-fed beef but don’t care as much about organic certification as long as they know where the meat came from. Please let us know if you have suitable processing facilities or other opinions on this matter!