The Monumental 3-Year Journey For Fantastic Grass-Fed Beef
If You Care, There’s No Way to Speed It Up
From the time a cow is bred to the day a steak is ready to be delivered, it takes about three years.
Sometimes I wish I could run a widget factory. If a customer wanted more, I could just turn a dial and make it happen.
But that’s not how it works when you raise cattle on grass.
There’s no speeding it up…at least not if you care about doing it right.
The Real Timeline of Grass-Fed Beef
Here’s how those 3 years break down:
Gestation (9 months): A cow carries her calf for about the same amount of time as humans. This is a crucial time when the calf is developing, and the mother’s health is key to a strong start.
Calfhood (birth to 6 months): Calves stay close to their mothers, learning to graze. They’re born with natural instincts that help them thrive in the pasture, but they rely on their mothers for warmth and protection.
Growth (6 to 24 months): Young cattle spend their days on pasture, growing at a natural pace. A grass-fed diet takes longer to show results, but it builds more muscle, flavor and resilience than a grain-fed one.
Finishing (24 to 36 months): When cattle reach the right weight and condition, they’re ready for you. This phase is all about ensuring the cattle are healthy, the right weight for their individual size and ready to become the high-quality beef you expect.
That’s over 1,000 days of slow, deliberate care.
Not something you can rush without sacrificing quality.
Why Some Producers Rush the Process
It may be obvious, but I will write it anyway…time is money.
Some other beef operations often harvest steers at just 14 to 16 months. They feed grain; usually corn, to speed up weight gain.
This diet causes the cattle to gain fat quickly, but it also disrupts their digestive systems, leading to poor health and a need for antibiotics. Unfortunately, those antibiotics can remain in the meat that ends up in the grocery store.
It’s fast, efficient, and scalable…
…it’s not what we do.
To Be Better, We Must Do Things Differently.
We let our cattle grow slowly, on grass, with no grain, no antibiotics and no shortcuts. The result is beef that is:
Naturally lean, with a richer, cleaner flavor
Higher in omega-3s and antioxidants
Raised in a way that supports soil health and local ecosystems
Why Our Freezers Are Not Always Full
In the spring, we are often short on inventory. The grass is just greening up, and only a few of our animals are “finished.”
That’s not a supply chain problem. It’s biology.
We don’t buy animals at auction or fatten them in a feedlot. We wait until they’re ready.
…And that means sometimes we’re sold out.
Planning Ahead
If you want to stay stocked up on beef year-round, here’s what we recommend:
Order in late summer or early fall, when availability is usually highest
Consider a beef share to fill your freezer at once. Think ¼, ½, ¾ or whole beef.
A Few Final Thoughts
If we ran a factory, we could just make more. But we don’t.
We’re ranchers.
We work with seasons, soil and animals…not machines.
And our customers get that.
“You’re not buying convenience. You’re buying food you believe in.”
And that’s what makes this all worth doing.
When you put time, effort and care into something, you know the result is something worth eating, something that’s better for you, the animals and the land.
Cheers!
Jim