BEEF SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
How - What - Where - When
Timing
Quantity
We harvest each year in late October. Processing, dry aging and packaging takes approximately three to four weeks. We target shareholder pickup for the week of Thanksgiving.
Final quantity in your half or whole share will vary due to specific animal size. Our grass fed beef is on average 1000lbs at time of harvest +/- 100lbs generally. On the hoof live weight converted to in the box finished product is approximately 36% of the live weight. On average a half share produces 180lbs of finished product in the box and a whole 360lbs of Beef.
Pickup
Beef shares are boxed and flash frozen at our butcher. We then pickup those boxes, individually packed by animal with the shareholders names on them. Inside is their beef, custom cut to their specifications. These boxes are transfered into our state of the art deep freeze trailer. Weeks ahead of pickup which is targeted for the week of Thanksgiving in November we will confirm with you the date range available for you to pickup your beef. You will have a few choices of locations to pickup from including Colorado City, Arizona, Enterprise, Utah and Henderson, Nevada. A half share fits in two well packed and flash frozen 18x18x18 boxes. A Whole share fits in four of these same boxes.
Pricing
We price our beef in whats called wet hanging weight. This is the weight of the animal after processing before dry age and butchering. A half includes a front quarter and a hind quarter. A whole includes all four quarters of the animal. As an example, a 1000lb live weight steer will wet hang at approximately 600lbs. A half share would be the purchase of half of that, 300lbs. Using our 2023 pricing for this example which was $6.50 per lb wet hanging weight. This half share would cost $1,950. On average the difference in weight between the wet hanging weight and the final product weight of the beef in the box after butchering is 60%. In this example on average this half share purchase of this 1000lb on the hoof live weight steer will net the shareholder 180lbs in their boxes. This pricing includes all costs to raise, transport, process, butcher and package the beef. In this example based on our 2023 pricing this works out to an average of $10.80 per lb in finished product in the box. Keep in mind the box includes everything from Ribeyes ($18 per lb on average today in the supermarkets) to Hamburger ($7 per lb on average today in the supermarkets). Exact pricing each year will be set mid summer based on current market pricing fluxuations in livestock and beef. We strive to have this figure set for shareholders no later than mid August. Should a shareholder wish to forfeit their share upon this annual pricing announcement, they may do so without any monitary expense, as we have a waiting list of clients who will glady pickup their share for the year.
Deposit
We do not require a deposit to reserve your annual beef share. Ranching and livestock production can be a fickle thing. As ranchers we prefer to shoulder the up front burden of animal acquisition cost and the cost assosciated with getting the animal through its growth period to become grass fed, grass finished beef. During this period there can be many potential perils for an animal due to the unexpected health or accident potentials that exist in all life. Because of this, we prefer to not receive any monetary compensation for animals until they are in the box ready to be delivered to you as your beef share. In the unlikely event an animal reserved for your share was to suffer any of the many unforseen perils to life that exist during their time on our ranch, and there was not a suitable replacement available. This makes the process of explaining to a shareholder that we wont be able to fulfill their beef share reservation for the year much easier for all parties involved. We have thankfully not had to do this to date, and we hope we never do. However should the need ever arise we would feel much better knowing the risk was on us, not on our shareholders.
Payment
We accept business or personal checks, cash and electronic payments including Zelle, Paypal and Venmo. Payment will be made when you pickup your beef in November.
Ranch Visits
We understand that many shareholders find value in seeing their beef on the ranch. We share that same enjoyment. If you wish to visit the ranch to see your beef in their herd doing what steers do. Please reach out to us and we will gladly setup a day for you to come by and visit the herd. This can be especially fun for children who have never experienced the natural ranch enviroment. June through September is the best time period to do this. Its an easy day trip from any of the surrounding major cities including Las Vegas, St. George and Cedar City. Our Ranch is located just 4 miles southwest of the town of Enterprise, Utah inside the Dixie National Forest. For backcountry pilots, this may also be accomplished via air, as we have a backcountry airport on our ranch that is 2450' long. You can look this airport up for more infomation using airport designator UT91. Prior permission to land is required as the airport is only suitable for backcountry aircraft and pilots proficient in backcountry operations, as it is a dirt runway surrounded by rising terrain.
Cut Sheets - How you Want your Beef
When beef are processed and butchered. It is the cut sheet that tells the butcher the details of how you wish for your beef to be cut. How thick the steaks are, ribeyes or rib roasts, what roasts and cuts you wish to have vs. what you wish to be added to the ground beef. We have what we call the standard cut sheet. This is a prefilled cut sheet that has selected the most common steaks and roasts to be kept and the others ground. 90% of our customers use and prefer this standard cut sheet. At times clients have custom cut desires, we can happily accomodate that. Please select if you wish to use the standard cut sheet or a custom cut sheet when you submit your reservation. For those wishing to utilize a custom cut sheet, one will be sent to you via docusign about a month before harvest to fill out and return. Just about anything you can dream up is possible and very few requests cost extra. A few that do carry additional cost is more than 50% of your share made into hamburger and running any cuts through the slicer/tenderizer. Each of these carrys about a $50 upcharge from the butcher for the additional time required beyond their normal processing.