1/2 or whole Beef

Boutique beef raised just for you
For information on our program, view our FAQ page.   
If you haven't already, please see What Makes Our Beef Different

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 We’ve weaned calves in September and will choose the best candidates based on their genomics, actual performance up to this point, and appetite once we have them off their mothers and on feed. It’s a great set of calves again this year and we are excited to watch them develop. We had a nice big set of steer calves this year, so we have a great group to choose from.   We have enough qualified steers that we are confident we can meet the needs of our customers and should be able to expand our customer base this year.  So if you have been on the fence, please get in touch ASAP so we can be sure we are raising enough to meet demand. 


Costs:

The cost for the 2026 harvest will unfortuneately see an increase.   The live cattle market is booming due to a 70-year record low of cow numbers in the U.S., combined with high beef demand, and is creating an environment where it is not advantageous to hold and feed these weaned calves.   We want to continue to feed our family of customers, many that have been with us for over a decade.   For returning customers, our pricing will increase to $6.00/lb hanging weight, which represents us sharing the increased cost.   New customers, will be $6.50/lb.    If that cannot be in your budget, we completely understand. We will continue to evaluate our production methods to find the lowest-cost options to continue to produce the quality of product that you’ve come to expect from us, so that perhaps we can regain your business in a later year. We are anticipating that the cattle market will remain high for at least two more years, but there is no way for us to know at this point given the number of variables that can affect these markets.


What that means for costs is:
For a returning customer, a 400lb half would cost $2400 just for the carcass.  Add $200 additional if you are a new customer.   If processor's prices remain stable, that should be about another $600-700 for the slaughter, cut, and wrap on the half depending on how you have it wrapped and what additional processing you request.

For our Roseburg and Southern Oregon customers, we have a slaughter date set at Crystal Creek Meats in Roseburg.    For our customers north of us we have slaughter dates at Kalapooia in Brownsville, OR.  Slaughter will be mid-July to mid- August.

We will require a $200 deposit per half at the time of reservation.
If you have any questions about any of this, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.



"What am I purchasing in buying a carcass half?"

Carcass portions are sold based on their "hanging weight", which is the weight of the carcass after the hide, head, feet and intestines are removed.   It generally includes the weight of the edible offal such as kidneys, liver, and heart if they are saved.  

 We can sometimes do quartering as an option, but we can also often offer a smaller half if needed.   As there are several important cuts of which there are only one per half (Brisket and tri-tip are the two major ones that come to mind), logistically it can be difficult to fairly quarter a carcass unless the two parties can get together and agree on how the carcass should be cut to meet both their needs.   My opinion is that your limited options (because both quarters need to be cut identically) with quarters make it an inferior way to purchase beef.

Our half-carcasses are generally around 400lbs.   Some will be heavier, some will be lighter...If you have a preference, please let us know and we can generally accommodate you.   A 400lb carcass half would cost around $2400 for the carcass half.   We haul the cattle to Kalapooia or Crystal Creek meats (based on your preference) for slaughter and processing. 

The slaughter fee and cut/wrap charge is charged by and paid directly by you to the USDA-inspected Kalapooia Meats, or USDA-inspected Crystal Creek Meats.  Please understand that we have no control over these business' needs to increase their pricing as they are an independent business.   

So all-in, for a 400lb half you're looking at right around $3000 for a premium half-beef cut and wrapped to your specifications. 

How much product in a package do we get from a half? 

This depends greatly on how you have it cut.   Bone-in vs. Boneless?  what percentage lean did you request in your ground beef?  do you get the organs or not?   I usually figure with boneless product, 80/20 ground beef,  and not taking any of the edible offal (organs and tongue), the recovery of retail product in the package should be around 65% of the carcass hanging weight.



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Sounds good!   How do we order?

We raise one crop of steers a year, usually split between two harvest dates.   We have an existing customer base that have standing orders either on a yearly or bi-yearly basis.   When we wean calves in the fall (late September), we keep enough steers to satisfy the orders we have.    Since it takes right about a year from the time the steers are weaned until they're grown out for slaughter, we will generally keep some extra steers  to satisfy new orders we get throughout that year, but that beef is sold on a first come first served basis and once it's gone, we can't satisfy any more orders until the following crop.   So if you're interested, please call or email us and I'll contact you to confirm when we are choosing steers so you don't miss out.   I'm always happy to talk about our program and our beef and to answer any questions.   If you're local and want to try some steaks or hamburger, we can sell you some to try if we still have some in stock.

We request a $200.00 dollar deposit per half to reserve your beef.   The balance of the carcass cost will be due to us following slaughter once we know the carcass weight, and prior to cutting.   Payment can be made either by check or we can accept paypal  or venmo (may be a surcharge for credit card use).   Once you've reserved your beef, I'll keep you updated either by phone, text, or email (your preference) as we get close to harvest.   They generally are able to leave the carcasses to dry-age 2 weeks.   So if the beef is slaughtered the middle of July or August, then it should be ready for pickup the first part of August or September respectively  

What size freezer do I need?   We recommend a minimum of 10 cubic feet of freezer space for a half-beef of ours.  If you are purchasing a freezer for this, make sure you get a NON-self-defrosting freezer.   The reason for that is that self-defrosting freezers work by routinely heating up the coils in the freezer to eliminate frost build up, but in doing so it causes much wilder temperature fluctuations, which are not good for long-term storage. 

How will I haul it home?  Two 150 quart coolers will hold a half if you need to transport it more than a few hours (it will be well frozen when you pick it up).   We have customers that have to drive for two days to get their beef home in coolers and it does just fine.   If you are reasonably local to where you're picking up, it will handle a couple of hours of transport just fine inside an air conditioned vehicle.


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But I have no idea how I want my beef cut?

Everyone thinks of steaks, and hamburger, maybe roasts.   Some questions you'll want to know the answers to prior to calling to go through cutting instructions.  If you know the answers to these questions, it's a pretty straightforward process:

1.   How many people in your family?   If you have a family of three, you'll want three steaks to a package rather than two.   Do you like BIG roasts, or would a 3-4lb roast be good?  Do you use hamburger one pound at a time like my parents, or two pounds at a time like Megan and I?

2.  What beef do you generally eat?  If you just do steaks and burger and would never tackle a roast, don't have roasts cut, or only have a few cut with the idea that you'll try some.   One exciting thing about ordering a half-beef is it has the potential to expose you to cuts you aren't readily familiar with.   With the plethora of recipe websites available now, it's usually just a matter of typing in "recipe <cut of beef>" and it will provide you with a new culinary adventure!  Just realize that any primals/sub-primals that you DON'T have made into roasts or steaks or stew meat will be additional ground beef.   It's not uncommon to end up with 100lbs of ground beef even with utilizing a lot of the available cuts.      

3. Paper wrap or vacuum-sealed?   Paper wrap is generally less expensive and we've had good luck storing beef in a deep freeze (non-self-defrosting) for two years with no freezer burn.   An advantage to the vacuum sealed is that if you're short on time, you can pull a package out of the freezer, stick it in a sink of COLD water to thaw your beef out much faster than in the fridge. 

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