Beef Fundraiser
Would you like to improve your diet and help the environment at the same time? Choose to support your local Conservation District, the environment and improve your diet by ordering our locally grown, grass-fed, grass-finished beef.
Why Buy Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished Beef?
Grass-fed beef is a great source of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a fat that has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a number of immune disorders. Grass-fed beef is also a great source of the beneficial fatty acids in proper ratios. There is a wealth of information available on the internet about the health benefits of grass-fed beef and the above mentioned fats. An interesting source of information on grass-fed beef to check out is www.eatwild.com
There are also a number of environmental benefits to eating grass-fed beef. In order for our livestock to have the very best forages available to them they intensively graze. So, what is intensive grazing? Intensive grazing is more about managing the forage than raising animals. A grazier uses grass to collect solar energy. The animals are the tools that harvest forage, fertilize the soil, converting it into “solar dollars” and convert the grass into a saleable product. The object of intensive grazing is to manage the grass so it is always in a lush, vegetative state 6-8 inches tall. This is when the plant contains the highest levels of nutrients.
The important points of intensive grazing are: 1. controlling the number of animals on the pasture, 2. controlling the size of the area to be grazed (determined by the number of animals and the amount of forage available), 3. limiting the time animals graze an area, 4. leaving enough residual that will allow for rapid re-growth of the forage.
Environmental benefits of intensive grazing include:
- sod cover holds top soil which prevents erosion
- controls run-off through increased infiltration and water retention in the soil
- builds organic matter in soil
- less need for chemical fertilizers and herbicides
- reduced fossil fuel use—animals harvest their own feed and spread their own manure
- reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- encourages a diversity of plant and animal life
- grazing is a sustainable practice
Our livestock are grazed at our Hatch Run Conservation Demonstration Area Intensive Grazing Cells. We also use this area for educational purposes during our summer camps programs and various field days. If you would like more information about our livestock please call us at (814) 726-1441.
Beef will be sold for $2.25 a pound hanging weight. You will be responsible for paying the butchering costs. The hanging weight is about 60% of the live weight, so a 1000 pound animal will hang at about 600 pounds. We will sell the beef in halves and quarters. Single pound packages of ground beef will be sold for $4.00 a pound. The ground beef price includes processing costs. We currently have a limited quantity of five pound packages of ground beef for sale. This five pound package contains five individual one pound packages so you can thaw and use the ground beef one pound at a time.
Cattle will be finished on grass and will be ready to butcher in late September, early October 2010. All sales will be by preorder only and a $150.00 deposit is required for half and quarter beef orders. A 50% deposit is required on ground beef orders. You are expected to pay in full once the animal is at the butcher shop.
Here is approximately what one half of a beef contains.
- 10 Rib Steaks –1” thick 6-8 T-Bone Steaks – 1” thick
- 2 Porter House Steaks – 1” thick 4 Sirloin Steaks – 1” thick or 2 – 1” Strip Steaks
- 8-10 Round Steaks – 1/2” thick 6 Chuck Roasts – 2-3 lbs. each
- 2 Tip Roasts – 2-3 lbs. each 1-2 Rump Roasts – 2-3 lbs. each
- 80 – 120 lbs. Ground Beef – 1 lb. packs 4-6 packs Stew Meat – 1 lb. packs
- 4-5 packs Soup Bones 3-4 packs Short Ribs – 6 ribs per pack
A quarter of beef will be an equal split of a half, so you would receive approximately half of the above.
