Fresh Beef

We've harvested our second steer on the farm on April 1st (522 lbs hanging weight), we're working on getting into a cycle of harvesting two steers a year, one approximately every six months.  We're selling half of the steer, which helps us cover our processing costs, and utilizing the other half for ourselves and extended family.  This time our cut order included a prime rib roast and ~5 lbs of jerky slices to make ourselves.

We use Farmer's Helper out of Harrisburg, Oregon for mobile slaughter and processing.  They're simply the best to work with in our opinion; they're reliable, honest, work quickly, and do an excellent job with the cut-n-wrap.  Mobile slaughter allows the steer to be dispatched without stress of being hauled in a trailer somewhere, and we can be there when it goes down. 

How do we finish our beef?  Well, we don't grain finish since we prefer leaner beef and a healthier meat product.  In our opinion grass fed is simply better for the steer and our diet.  We get our hay locally from a nearby farmer, so the grass fields they harvest are nearby to our own pastures where our beef graze on spring grass.  We know what's in the bales and how the hay was grown.

We also harvest at 18 months regardless of steer size, it's about the quality of the meat rather than quantity.  We're not in the production beef cattle ranching business, we're simply homesteaders producing our own meat the best we can.

Our next steer harvest will be in December on the 2nd, and we'll have a half beef to sell.  It sells by hanging weight per pound, plus processing fees (kill fee and sort fee, cut-n-wrap we include in our price per lb).  As an example, a 1/4 beef from steer of 506 lbs hanging weight would cost $443.70 (126.5 lbs x $3.30/lb + $16.25 kill fee + $10 sort fee).  The actual amount of meat from the 1/4 will be around 100 lbs (less the trimmings).  Let us know if you're interested in a 1/2 or 1/4, if available.