Pastured Beef
About our animals
At least once a year, we sell whole, half, and quarter shares of pastured beef. These animals are 2 year old Jersey steers from our herd. Although Jersey cattle are a dairy breed, they are becoming increasingly valued for their meat. Their propensity for marbling yields a juicy, buttery flavor.
Our animals are born on our farm, and raised in a humane and natural environment. They are rotationally grazed for at least 6 months of the year, and fed alfalfa hay and homegrown forages (haylage and silage) during the winter. Although our beef is not USDA-certified organic, it is raised with organic practices. This means it is 100% free from antibiotics and artificial hormones, and we never use pesticides on our pastures. Our animals are slaughtered on farm through a mobile slaughter service.
Orders
Whole, half, or quarter animal shares are available on a first come, first served basis.
Our 2024 shares are sold out.
We are currently on our butcher’s waitlist, anticipating a slaughter date in May 2025. Please contact us to reserve your share!
Email info@steensmacreamery.com with the quantity you wish to purchase. After the slaughter date, you will be able to contact the butcher directly to order specific cuts.
Pickup
Your order must be picked up in a timely manner after the meat is processed. Typically the meat is ready for pickup about 2 weeks after slaughter. Please be prepared to pick up your order directly from the meat processing facility in Mt. Vernon and pay them for the butcher fee, as well as cutting & wrapping. The beef cost will be owed to Steensma Creamery.
Estimating your cost
2024 Pricing
Beef - $4.00 per pound hanging weight
Butcher fee* - $175 per animal (divided between parties if purchasing just a portion of an animal)
Cut-and-wrap* - $1.05 per pound (the butcher may charge more per pound for all-grind)
You pay Steensma Creamery for the beef.
You pay the butcher for processing the beef (butcher fee, cut-and-wrap, portioning).
*Quoted rates are based on our butcher’s 2024 pricing.
To reserve your share, we require a $150 deposit that will be applied toward your final cost. For estimated cost details, see below. We will notify you as soon as we have the final hanging weight. Full payment to both the farm and the butcher will be due at the time of meat pickup. We accept cash, card, check, or Venmo.
Live weight - the weight of the animal before it is slaughtered
Hanging weight (also known as dressed weight or carcass weight) - the weight of the animal after it is “dressed out”, i.e. after the inedible parts including the head, hide, hooves, and organs are removed
Take home yield - the amount of hanging weight that you take home as cuts of meat
Typically, animals dress out at 50% of their live weight and take home yields are about 60% of the hanging weight. So for a 1000 lb animal, the expected hanging weight would be 500 lbs, and the anticipated take home yield would be about 300 lbs. These numbers vary between animals.
Beef price - cost per pound of hanging weight. Note that this cost is after dressing but before processing the meat into individual cuts. This price covers our farm’s cost of raising high-quality, pastured animals with humane and regenerative farming practices.
Butcher fee* - flat fee per animal slaughtered
Cut-and-wrap fee* - cost of processing a pound of meat
*Cut & wrap, and butcher fees will be owed directly to the butcher. If you are not getting a whole animal, the butcher may also charge a small fee for portioning the animal. The butcher may also charge more for all-grind, as converting everything into ground beef is more labor and equipment intensive than mixed cuts.
Estimating freezer space
Plan for 1 cubic foot per 20 lbs meat. A milk crate is slightly larger than a cubic foot. For example, a half beef share will take about 7 cubic feet.