Frequently Asked Questions

No, our beef is considered corn-fed – which we think is the tastiest kind!

The full story is a little more complex than that. Our herd of cows and calves feeds on grass pasture during the summer. Late in the summer the calves are started on oats, corn and hay as a supplement to their mother’s milk. After weaning, the calves are fed twice daily on a diet of grass or alfalfa hay, ground ear corn, and silage (the whole corn plant chopped and fermented to preserve all of the nutrients). All of these are our home-grown ingredients.

As the calves grow, their diet changes to meet their needs. A protein supplement is added and the proportion of hay and silage is slowly reduced to favor corn. This allows the animal to grow quickly and produce a juicy, tasty product that is high in protein, iron, and zinc. 

Nope, we do not use growth hormones on our cattle.

We do provide routine vaccinations to keep the animals healthy and prevent many diseases that could sicken or kill them. If a particular animal needs it, we will give it antibiotics and high-quality veterinary care. Depending on how the animal recovers, we will either follow posted withdrawal periods before harvest or remove it from our publicly available beef.

You bet! All of the beef we sell were born on our farm in Vinton, Iowa. Brian checks on each group of cattle multiple times a day and provides round-the-clock care during calving season. Many of our herd cows have nicknames and some are retired show animals who love to follow us around hoping for a treat.

Beef calves spend their first summer grazing in our lush green pastures, then move to large lots with plenty of space, sunshine, clean bedding and shelter from bad weather. They have constant access to clean water, from the same well our family uses.

Our farm uses best practice, low-stress handling techniques designed by Temple Grandin whenever we work with our cattle. All our animals are fed before we sit down to eat, and always given the best care right up to harvest.

We process our beef through the Newhall Locker and the Gilbertville Locker. You purchase the beef from us, paying by the pound after the animal is harvested, and then pay the locker a processing fee. You can choose the package sizes, steak thicknesses, and cut options you would like.


Check out our Beef Prices page to estimate the cost of your order.

We sell beef in quarter, half, and whole increments. A typical steer will weigh 700 to 900 lbs dressed weight (meaning weight after harvesting). So, a half of beef would weigh about 400 lbs. Of that 400 lbs, about half is edible beef (the rest is bone, cartilage, etc). If you purchase half a beef, you will get about 200 lbs of meat. Of that, there will be about 100 lbs of hamburger, and the rest will be steaks, roasts, stew beef, and so on.

200 lbs of beef will usually fill a medium-size chest freezer. (Note that these numbers are estimates and the customer’s individual cut order may cause this to vary.) Check out our Beef Prices page to estimate the cost of your order.

Beef is available from May through October. We have 3 – 5 beef available each month. Contact us to request beef.

No, the locker will split the half of beef so that you get half of both the front and back cuts.