Please see the Home Page for animal availability.
You probably already know the benefits of natural grass-fed beef, but if you would like more information then we suggest the EAT WILD Web site.
Processing Plants
Ralph's in Perkins
Walke Brothers between Catoosa and Claremore
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture inspector inspect the animal and determines the age when it arrives at the processor and then inspects the hanging meat before it goes to the cooler.
Extra Lean Ground Beef
When you purchase 1/2 animal you can have it cut the way you want.
If you want extra lean ground beef you must not grind the short ribs or the brisket. These two cuts account for most of the fat in ground beef.
If you want ultra lean ask the processor to grind some of the round roasts. You must have this information when you talk with the processor to get the product you want.
Extra-charge for deboning (only applies to customers ordering 1/2 animal)
Processors normally charge to debone the T-bone steak and or the Rib steak (Rib eye). This can amount to $30-$40 for deboning 1/2 animal. If you don't want this extra charge be sure you tell them you just want the normal processing.
Standard cutting instructions
We will give the processor the cutting instructions for customers ordering 1-25% Share.
Steaks T-bone, Rib and Sirloin are cut 1" thick, 2 steaks per package. Roasts are packed 2-3 lbs each. Brisket and Short ribs are not ground. Round steak is tenderized. Ground beef is packed 1lb per package.
Note: if you order 1/2 animal and the above instructions will work for you we can give the processor your instructions when we deliver the animal. Just let us know prior to harvest date.
Organs
We do not normally save the organs. If you order 1/2 animal and you want the organs we need to know before the harvest date.
Discount for referring new customers
Beginning June 1st we will offer you a discount of $15 for each 25% Share a new customer orders that you have referred to us. It is important for us to know who is helping to spread the word about our Grass-Fed Beef.
Oklahoma Food Coop members
We do not sell directly through the coop but we support your work. We will make a donation to the coop when members buy from us the first time. Just let us know when you order.
Age of the animal
Our animals average about 18-24 months of age before they reach harvest weight. Occasionally one will go over 30 months of age. When an animal is over 30 months the processor is required to remove some of the bone that would be normally left as part of the T-bone steak. You will be given credit on your invoice for any extra boning charged by the processor related to the age of the animal. (The USDA does not consider the animal to be of less value until it reaches 42 months.)
Antibiotics and Growth Hormones
we offer two groups of animals.
First group - animals raised by Santa Fe Cattle Co.
These animals are never implanted with growth hormones or injected with antibiotics; however, they are vaccinated to help protect them from disease.
These animals are only available during certain times of the year and must be ordered in advance. To help cover the extra expense of production there will be an additional charge based on hanging wt.
Your Invoice will be designated as a
"Santa Fe Cattle Co. animal"
Second group - animals raised by other producers.
Your invoice will be designate "first available animal". Santa Fe Cattle Co. completes the grass-fattening process. The animals are always on grass! This grass fattening process can be from 6 months for a young animal to 45 days for a 2 year old animal.
Santa Fe Cattle Co. selects animals that have a low probability of being previously implanted with growth hormones by the other producer and animals that would have been on grass their entire life. It is possible these animals may have received antibiotics at some point in their life but they will be free of any detectable antibiotic residue in their blood stream. While the animals are at
Why is the fat Yellow?
Beta carotene is an anti-oxidant and vitamin C precursor, and gives grass-fed beef a rich yellow colored fat rather than Crisco-white colored fat. Grass-fed beef contains up to 5.5 times more beta carotene compared to grain finished beef and cattle fed fresh growing grass contained up to 11 times more than cattle fed dried forages. In fact, the levels of beta carotene can decline dramatically during grain feeding (97%; from 10.2 ug carotene/ml blood plasma to 1.7ug/ml). (Short-term Grain Feeding and its Effect on Carcass and Meat Quality. Proceedings of the
In addition to being richer in beta-carotene, meat from grass-fed beef is also higher in vitamin E. The meat from pastured cattle is up to four times higher in vitamin E than meat from feedlot cattle. It is also almost twice as high as the meat from the feedlot cattle that are given vitamin E supplements. In humans vitamin E is linked with lower risk of heart disease and cancer. This potent antioxidant may also have anti-aging properties. Most American diets lack sufficient amounts of vitamin E. "When fed on grass, cattle take in around 15 times more vitamin E per day than they do on a typical concentrate diet, and levels in the meat can be between two and three times higher as a result." (Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research; press release July 17, 2002)
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a nutrient found in the fat of ruminant animals that feed on green grass. Researchers are excited about CLA because it is anticarcinogenic at much lower dosages than are many other naturally occurring anticarcinogens. It is effective in laboratory animals at dietary levels as low as 0.05 percent. Grass finished beef has three to five times the amount of CLA as grain fed beef (French et al 2000).
The American diet is greatly deficient in Omega-3s. Only 40% of Americans consume adequate levels of these essential fatty acids. These fats (EFAs) are formed in the green leaves (specifically the chloroplasts) of plants. When an animal grazes on greens, its diet is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Pasture raised grass-finished beef has three to six times more Omega-3 fatty acids than grain finished beef. However, every day that an animal is in feedlot confine-ment, its reserve of Omega-3 fatty acids diminishes. About midway through the 20th century Americans switched from eating grass-finished meat to grain-finished meat resulting in a diet that is high in saturated fat and low in Omega-3. www.mercola.com
Want to save fuel?
We estimate we use less than 25% of the fuel to produce our beef as that coming from a "feed lot".
