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Naturally-raised Beef and Veal
Gladhour Farm meats are carefully grown the way
you would want your steaks, roasts, and burgers to be. The cattle have fresh air, sunshine,
green grass in summer and hay in winter, a mineral supplement that includes kelp and vinegar
and salt, and cool water from a deep well (the same one our household used for drinking for
many years) during their lives. They have plenty of exercise. I walk among them and talk
to them and look over their condition nearly daily. In summer, when grass is abundant, they
move from one green pasture to another approximately every week. When they are calves, the
vet comes out to give the usual calfhood vaccinations to protect them from the most common
and awful cattle ailments. From that point, their natural immunity is usually sufficient to
keep them healthy. If an animal gets an ailment, because of weather conditions for example,
s/he is treated at that time, but most animals are not given any antibiotic throughout their
lives, and none are routinely fed antibiotics in their feed to increase growth. In addition,
hormones—which are used in some feedlots for growth enhancement—are never used. Certified
organic for row crops, Gladhour Farm
tries to keep all GMOs off the premises. Therefore, on the rare occasion that a small amount
of grain is used for a training aid or energy boost for a short period of time (this is not
routine and is used for relatively few animals), oats or non-GMO corn is used. Most GF
cattle’s life-diet is grass and hay only (after weaning from cow’s milk).
Meat safety is a worrisome issue these days. Since these animals never eat "feed" containing
animal products, BSE risk is virtually non-existent (as it is believed that BSE results from
ruminants ingesting animal products as food in their diet). Since they do not have hormones
other than their naturally-produced ones, the concerns about hormone effects on human growth
and reproduction do not come into play. Since they do not routinely receive antibiotics,
Gladhour Farm animals’ meat does not contribute
to the potential problem of humans encountering antibiotic-resistant bacteria when they NEED
an antibiotic. And the health benefits for the consumer of grass-finished meat over grain-finished
meat have become more widely known since Jo Robinson’s reporting
(see www.eatwild.com).
When a Gladhour Farm animal is scheduled for meat,
the animal is taken to a local processor who has a USDA inspector in attendance. The animal is
inspected immediately upon its death. Both locker plants have been in business for many years
and have good reputations in the community with local meat consumers. The slaughter is done
in the approved manner and the carcass is carefully handled to protect from contamination.
The carcass is dry-aged by hanging in a controlled-temperature cooler for a number of days.
When you pre-order, the meatcutter cuts YOUR order to YOUR specifications regarding such things
as thickness of steaks, number to a package, and preferred roasts. The ground meat is generally
lean as these animals are typically "clean and lean" on grass. The meat is packaged, weighed,
and frozen, and then is available for pick-up.
All that said, and given that the humans are doing all that is within our power to make Gladhour
meats a premium product for your nutrition and enjoyment, there are individual factors to take
into account when you consider your meat purchase. Like handwoven scarves or handmade pottery,
each animal that makes up "hand-grown" meat is an individual and is unique. Breed, size, age,
and sex are variables that make flavor and tenderness differences that exacting palates may be
able to distinguish. In addition, the weather conditions throughout the animals’ lives will
vary from year to year, and grass composition and nutritional value will vary somewhat in
accordance with the growing conditions provided in a given year. While animals are handled
humanely, sometimes one may experience stress or on the other hand one may be of a very
unexciteable temperament, and those factors may affect each animal’s individual taste. The
locker plant handling the meat will age it according to their policies and facilities.
Dry-aging for 14 days or more is preferred in a premium product for tenderness and taste,
but such long aging brings with it a certain amount of carcass dehydration, along with the
enzymatic relaxation of muscle fibers. So an optimal hanging time is desired and usually is
one of the choices of the locker itself.
Gladhour Farm is constantly seeking to make its
meat the BEST in dining pleasure and healthy nutrition for its customers and is pleased with
the working relationship with the lockers who process its meats. Occasionally, local buyers
will have an opportunity to compare packages from alternative animals and be asked to evaluate
flavor, texture, and tenderness preferences in relation to the rest of the meat purchase.
While participation is voluntary, this is part of our ongoing efforts to bring the best to
your table. The aim is always for high quality nutrition and excellent taste and tenderness;
since there will never be absolute consistency in "hand-grown" animals, buyer feedback is
welcomed/requested. A Gladhour Farm
meat purchase supports a small family farm and a local, family-run locker business, and we
thank you for your support!
Typical orders that may be available are the following:
1. Animals may be ordered ahead by whole or by half.
You may buy the animal live and deal with transporting and processing yourself and pickup of the
meat, if you prefer. When ordering a whole animal, the buyer may be asked about interest in
alternative processing, wherein the animal is killed on farm (making for very low stress on the
animal itself). In this case, the pricing will be done on the “hanging weight” as the animal
will not be weighed live ($2.55 per pound; deposit due when order is made and scheduled;
remainder to GF when the hanging weight is determined by the processor, and buyer pays the
processor directly). This is the best price and is great for those buying large quantities
or able to go in with friends for the whole animal.
Otherwise, GF will handle all that for you--raising the animal, transporting to a USDA-inspecting
processing facility, and, so far, attending slaughter and cut-up days to insure that your order
meets your specifications. (This latter has been the preference of most meat buyers up to now,
who pay GF for the entirely-ready order and just meet at the processing locker for pick up at a
scheduled time.) Depending on the size of order, pricing is available for live weight, hanging
weight, or take-home weight. There is a price break for halves and wholes, based on the fact
that GF will not have meat left to pay for storage. If the size of the half or whole is of major
importance, please note that when ordering as the size of the animals vary quite a bit. Full
Dexters are smaller, in general, than Dexter crosses, but some of the Dexter crosses—especially
those with rare-breed dairy genes--should have a special taste less commonly available.
Note: “Harvest” is usually between June 15 and November 15. Grassfed animals are best made
into meat when they have had time to gain on good grass. Although meat may be available at other
times of the year, generally an order of half or whole should be made BEFORE June 15 and left to
the discretion of Gladhour Farm for the scheduling with the processing plant.
2. A Large Sampler approximately 30-40 pounds
(or less often a “split side” of up to 75 pounds) of beef is sometimes available for $5.50 per
pound. It includes an assortment of packages of meat frozen and ready for your freezer. A
portion of ground (around 10 to 20 1-lb pkgs), 1 pkg of liver, possibly short ribs and/or
brisket, approximately 6 pkgs of steaks and 3-6 pkgs of roasts (but remember that these are
small animals—this quantity will approximately fill a large ice chest). The meat in this sampler
may be either wrapped in white freezer paper or clear shrink-wrapped as well as labeled for ease
of choosing dinner (wrapping depending on which locker facility processed that animal). These
prices do not include any applicable taxes or shipping/delivery charges. The meat has not been
injected with a solution for either added weight or added flavor--what you get is the real meat
taste of fully grass-fed meat. Similarly, a smaller sampler of veal (around 20-30 pounds) is
available for $11 per pound.
3. Occasionally, specific cuts If interested in
this option, call for pricing and availability.
4. Grass-finished beef jerky at
$1 per ounce (check WalMart for similar price).
Varying package sizes from .58 lb.
Pre-orders (with $100 deposit at time of order for small order; half the expected price for
a large order; other special circumstances may apply) can be made now for the next beef harvest.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:
I. A 52-60 pound bundle at $5.50/lb that includes the following:
1. 28 pounds ground
2. Round steak
3. Sirloin steak
4. T-Bone steak
5. Ribeye steak
6. Filet mignon
7. Arm Roast
8. Rump Roast
9. Chuck Roast
10. Sirloin Tip Roast
The steaks are cut approximately 1” thick and are mostly 2 to a pkg. The roasts are approximately
2-lb roasts.
II. For $130, approximately 22 lbs with the following (weights rounded):
Filet Mignon (.5 lb)
T-Bone Stk (1.8)
Rib Stk (1.9)
Sirloin Stk (1)
Cubed Stk (1.1)
Stew Meat/ShishKaBob (1.1)
Soupbone (1.6)
Liver (1.5)
12 lbs (in approx 1-lb pkgs) lean ground
Steaks are cut ¾” thick; sirloin one-to-pkg, cubed 4-to-pkg, rest of steaks 2-to-pkg.
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