Frequently Asked Questions

Do the cows really eat grass their whole life?
Our cattle are grazing on green forage for the entire year. In summer, they eat native annuals and native perennials. In winter, they eat a planted pasture mix of winter annuals.

Do you raise every beef animal?
We wish we could!  About half of the animals we process are born on our own ranch (Cold Creek), the other half are sourced from friends, neighbors, and ranches in the local region.  Any animal we do not raise is certified by affidavit to meet the same all-grass, hormone/antibiotic/steroid free specifications we uphold with our own.

Where is the processing done?
The processing is done right on our ranch in our very own state-inspected packing house. Since the stress of the cow is one of the top factors of how meat will taste, we ensure that our cows endure as little stress as possible. Having the processing done on our ranch, so we don't have to transport the cows anywhere, cuts down on their stress significantly. 

How do you weigh the shares, by the cow's weight or just the meat?
Weighing the cold carcus is 20% higher than what you would actually receive, so we weigh by just the packaged meat total.

Do you deliver? For the most part, we only deliver to the farmers' markets we attend (see them by clicking here). We will occasionally deliver on a case-by-case basis depending on type of delivery and schedule. 

I see you offer other meats like lamb and chicken, are they from your ranch?
The all-natural, hormone free chickens we offer are from our neighbor Josh Koehn.  He and Double Check Ranch have partnered up to coordinate resources. 

I've heard you have to cook grassfed beef differently, because of lower fat content. Is this true and how do you recommend cooking it then?
Yes. Here are our recommendations along with some of our favorite recipes! 

You say you are "Subsidy Free."  What do you mean?
Our philosophy on subsidies is that they are unjust and ineffective.  They tend to build a corrosive relationship between citizen and state that simply encourages poor business and (often) poor stewardship.  To that end, we do not solicit, nor have we accepted state monies (except on one rare occasion; details available).  We do solicit private or voter-approved grants to help us accomplish important projects (improved animal handling facilities, improved riparian management, etc.) but our general rule is to stay off the public dole if at all possible. Now, would we passively destroy our life’s work and livelihood through this principled stance?  Maybe.  However, withering away over principle when the “competition” is gaining public assistance is self-defeating and won’t put the runaway horse of public subsidy back into the barn.  We would, if absolutely necessary, seek and/or accept a state program.  We might even mitigate our guilt by claiming that we are simply “clawing back” some of our hard-won tax dollars.  But we’re not withering so far and haven’t felt any such need.   

There is an argument to be made that we are unintentionally accepting a “soft” subsidy by grazing our cattle on 10,000 acres of public-land.  There’s a point here, but here’s our response:  a) while it is true that public agencies generally charge a lower grazing lease-fee than proximate private land alternatives, it is likely because private leases have typically much higher productive value (which is why they were claimed first!).  b) if, in a counterfactual thought experiment we could imagine the hundreds of millions of public acres suddenly converted to private ownership, is there any reason to believe that these new private owners would be likely to charge significantly more on these marginal landscapes than the state currently does?  We think the market forces would push these newly available lease-lands to a price point at, or even below the current government rate.  Any economists willing to model this have my full blessing...