Summer Beef Event!

This week marks the beginning of the SUMMER BEEF EVENT!

As a pasture-based farm, there is a natural seasonality when it comes to producing high quality protein. Around here, spring and early summer are the best times for growing lush grass - and the best grass makes the best beef!

It is also the time of abundance as we harvest the majority of our beef before the grass stops growing and we have to feed hay for the winter. Don't worry - like always we'll have our premium beef in stock all year. But over the next few weeks we'll be rolling out several new ways to buy beef.

We start the Summer Beef Event this week with the absolute best value we offer - quarter, half or whole beef. You need some freezer space for this option, but a one-time investment in an appliance pays off quickly in savings on meat. A quarter beef saves you 23% over buying those cuts retail. A whole beef saves 28% - that equals over $1,300 in savings! Looked at another way, buying a whole beef makes the finished cuts $8.33/lb. Filet mignon for $8.33? Yes, please!

Worried that it's too much meat for your freezer? Consider going in with family and friends! 

**One page downloadable PDF pricing estimates are available on the item pages. Click for Quarter, Half or Whole Beef.

At first many people find buying beef in bulk to be daunting, but once committed to the process find that in addition to saving money, it also saves time in shopping and meal planning. And there's a definite comfort in having a well-stocked freezer.

Why is this different than our usual retail buying experience? When you buy a portion of an animal like this, we can use the "custom slaughter" exemption to the USDA processing rules and have the animals harvested on the farm and then processed at small local abattoirs. This is great for your pocketbook and directly supports three Olympic Peninsula businesses (the mobile slaughter truck, the butcher shop, and our farm)!

Please note: You will be responsible from picking up the meat from the butcher shop - Sunrise Meats - in Port Angeles. Sunrise Meats packages cuts in one layer of plastic and one layer of paper (unlike our usual vacuum sealed products). Ground beef will be in plastic sleeves.

Buying custom beef is a multi-step process, but we try to make it as simple as possible and we're here to help all along the way. Here's a quick breakdown of the process:

1. Pay a deposit today. You now own a portion of the animal so we can use the custom slaughter exemption. The remainder of the animal cost will be billed to you after slaughter.
2. Plan ahead for your freezer space. A quarter beef is going to put about 100 lbs of meat in your freezer, which requires approximately 2 shelves in a standard upright freezer (3.5-4 cu ft). The beef will be ready for your freezer in mid-September.
3. Pay the balance on the beef and slaughter. After the beef is slaughtered and we have the final hanging weight, we'll send you an invoice for the balance of the beef (less your deposit) plus the cost of slaughter.
4. Cut instruction planning. We can ask the butcher shop to cut your beef to our usual specifications you're used to seeing with our retail beef. Alternatively, you can call the butcher shop directly and arrange cut and wrap to your own specifications. We have an info sheet that can help in the planning process if you'd like to call in your own instructions. 
5. Pick up the meat and pay the butcher shop. You will be responsible for picking up the meat at the butcher shop - Sunrise Meats in Port Angeles. At that time you will pay for the cut and wrap charges that are in addition to the money owed One Straw Ranch.

**One page downloadable PDF pricing estimates are available on the item pages. Click for Quarter, Half or Whole Beef.

Please reach out with any questions by emailing charlotte@onestrawranch.com or calling 360-531-0404.