Grass fed beef, raised and finished on the same grass.

What is the difference between grass fed and regular beef?

Less than most labels imply, and more than most people realize, depending on which claim you are looking at.

Nearly every beef animal in America grazes for the first year or more of its life, so grass fed on its own describes almost the whole industry. The claim that carries information is grass finished, and it refers to the last few months, when most cattle move to a feedlot and switch to a grain ration.

Ours never make that trip. They finish on our pasture, on grass, the same way they started.

Is grass fed beef really healthier?

The fat is different in ways that are well established: more omega-3 fatty acids, a better ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, more conjugated linoleic acid and more vitamin E. That is a real difference and it comes from the finishing.

What we are not going to tell you is that beef is medicine. The protein, the heme iron, the zinc and the B12 that make beef worth eating are much the same either way.

South Poll cattle, and why the breed matters

We run South Poll, a breed developed in the American South specifically to finish well on grass in heat and humidity.

That choice matters more than it sounds. A breed bred for a feedlot will struggle to finish on pasture, and the beef shows it. A lot of the mixed reputation grass finished beef has comes from operations trying to finish the wrong animal on grass and producing something tough and thin.

What comes off one animal

Roughly what one animal yields

Ground beef	The largest single share. Burgers, chili, tacos, meatloaf.	Ground beef
Steaks	Ribeye, sirloin, flat iron, skirt and flank, depending on the animal.	Steaks
Roasts	Chuck, rump and round. The cuts that reward a slow afternoon.	In a share
Stew and trim	Stew beef, soup bones, and the trim that becomes ground.	In a share
Snack sticks	Made from our own beef in Letona, Arkansas.	Beef sticks

Because we sell one animal at a time, the list changes as they come back from the processor. What is always there is ground beef, which is the honest workhorse of a grass finished carcass.

Buying a freezer's worth

If you would rather buy a year at a time than by the cut, a half beef or an eighth is the cheapest way per pound to eat this beef, and you choose the cut sheet yourself. That is the part most people do not know they control: steak thickness, how much comes back as ground, roast sizes, whether you want the bones and the organs.

Where we deliver

Fresh beef has to travel fast and cold, so we keep it close. We deliver within about 300 miles of Heber Springs, which covers most of Arkansas including Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, Jonesboro, Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Fort Smith, plus Memphis, Springfield and Tulsa.

Pickup at the ranch is free on Sundays and it is how most share buyers collect. See the full delivery area.

Our beef sticks are the exception. They are shelf stable and ship anywhere in the country.