Everyone wants to make healthy choices for their families when it comes to food. But with thousands of options on grocery store shelves, it can be overwhelming to know how to select the best meat, produce, or grains for your family.
Does more cost really equal more health benefits? How can you tell if a company engages in ethical processing? One solution to these questions is to shop local when you can. If you’re looking for healthy, local, ethically-processed beef, look no further than Country Dairy.
What kinds of beef can I get?
Family-owned and operated for four generations, Country Dairy not only provides excellent milk and other dairy products to the community but also raises beef steers. These steers are cared for without growth hormones and are slaughtered locally at USDA-regulated Sanders Meats before returning to Country Dairy for sale.
Every winter and early spring, Country Dairy offers a custom cutting service for quarters or halves of this beef. If you’ve only bought beef from the grocery store before, those terms might be unfamiliar. Quarters and halves of beef refer to the portion of a single beef steer you can purchase.
If you’re picturing a giant chunk of beef you’ll have to store in your freezer, think again! Country Dairy’s custom cutting service allows you to decide how your beef is cut up. Some customer-favorite cuts include:
- Prime steaks like New York strip or ribeye cut to your preferred thickness
- Roasts such as round, chuck, or English
- Ground beef in one or two pound packages
How much does it cost?
At this point you might be thinking custom cuts sound expensive. However, current 2024 pricing for Country Dairy’s beef is only $4.39 per pound based on the hanging weight, regardless of the cuts you choose. That cost includes the processing, vacuum packaging, and freezing of the meat per your specifications, and is subject to change.
It’s important to note that for that value, you are getting local beef from just one animal who has been individually raised and cared for based on its needs.
If all of that isn’t enough, Country Dairy also offers dozens of flavor options for sausages, brats, snack sticks, summer sausage, and jerky. For these specialty products, only pure ingredients and real applewood smoke are used; Country Dairy does not use liquid smoke.
How do I order?
Now that you know the details on local, ethically-processed beef, you probably want to order some! Follow these easy steps:
- Call Brenda, Country Dairy’s meat manager, at 231-578-9058. She will walk you through the entire process, so don’t worry if it’s your first time ordering. Have some idea of what cuts you want, and Brenda can help answer any questions you might have.
- Determine your pickup date. Between your phone call and pickup date, Country Dairy sends your beef steer to Sanders to be slaughtered. After the meat is returned to Country Dairy, your custom cutting order will be processed.
- Pick up and pay for your order! You will get a call when your beef is ready for pickup. Drive out to the farm and take your order home. It will be packaged for you in a milk-crate sized box. If you can, take the family with you and give yourself time for a farm tour or ice cream at the farm store!
- Eat healthy, local, affordable beef all year long. If you’re worried you won’t use all the beef in time, be assured that frozen beef is safe indefinitely per the USDA. For quality of taste, you may want to consume ground beef before larger cuts like roasts, but none of it will spoil as long as it stays frozen.
So go ahead and order some beef to last all year! Call meat manager Brenda today at 231-578-9058.