Farm to Table ~ Part 1

Welcome to our Farm to Table Series!

We are so excited to walk you through the process of how we raise our animals here on the farm, process them and then bring them to you!With the beef, the very first step started 2 years ago! We have lots of mama cows here on the farm, and every year, they have a new baby calf. Heifers (girl calves) are put into our mama cow program or sold to be cows on another farm. Bull calves (boys) are then moved into the beef program. They are raised on the finest grass we have, moving very frequently from one paddock to the next, as they gain weight and enjoy the grass! All of the cattle on our farm are moved this way, but the steers get special treatment, since they will be used for beef. Also, all of our cattle are 100% grass fed and finished, so they eat only grass and hay for their entire lives.     

Fast forward 2 years... The steers are now what we call "finished" or ready to be processed. We make an appointment with the processor and haul the animals there (roughly a 2 1/2 hour trip). After processing, the beef hangs for 10 days to age and tenderize. After hanging, the beef is cut into specific cuts or put into ground beef and everything is packed and frozen. Next week we will show you how the meat comes back to us from the processor, including  how many of each cut (ribeyes, roasts, etc.) come out of one beef animal.We hope you enjoyed this peek into the farm inner workings, and we look forward to sharing Part 2 with you next week!