What is "Natural Young Angus Beef"?
Hollin Farms is a four generation family farm near Delaplane, Virginia in northern Fauquier County. Natural Young Angus Beef comes from yearlings that weigh about 700 to 950 pounds as compared to Industrial feedlot steers which weigh about 1200 pounds. "Natural Beef" is from animals that have received no antibiotics in their feed and have no growth implants. In contrast, most beef that you buy in the grocery stores comes from feedlots where the feed is "medicated" with antibiotics and the animals receive estrogen growth implants. "Natural Beef" is also primarily forage-raised beef (http://eatwild.com), high in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Angus is the name of the breed – a black English breed renowned for its beef quality. We also raise Angus/Hereford cross cattle which combine the best of these two breeds with hybrid vigor. We have the same cattle as those in the popular Certified Angus Beef program.
The animals are raised on pastures and not in the confined feedlots/industrial systems that provide most American beef (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/industrial).
Our steers are raised to about 500 pounds on grass fields with their mothers. At about eight months old they are weaned and put into grass, clover, or millet fields where they graze "free range" as they are rotated from pasture to pasture. For about two months before slaughter, we supplement the grass or hay diet with a few pounds of locally grown corn to help "finish" the animal. This creates some marbling in the beef and enriches the flavor. This corn is a free choice supplement in the pasture and offered for a much shorter period than the six to nine month period common in industrial feed lot beef. These yearling animals are slaughtered at about 700 to 950 pounds which is 400 to 500 pounds less than the weight of industrially raised cattle. Because they are younger and free-range, the beef is generally leaner than feed-lot, "couch potato" kept cattle.
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Is Hollin Farms Natural Young Angus Beef organic?
Hollin Farms beef would qualify as organic except that we supplement the grass diet with a few pounds of locally grown corn or barley during the last two months to help "finish" and marble the beef. The grain is not certified organic. No one grows organic grain in our area, and to import it is costly and fossil fuel dependent.
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What does Natural Young Angus Beef look like and taste like?
The beef from these young free-range animals is generally leaner than the USDA grade "Choice" in the Supermarket. Because the animals are younger and smaller in size than 1200 pound industrial steers, cuts like steaks are also smaller (same thickness but smaller "area" or diameter). Fat in forage fed animals is higher in healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. The flavor of forage fed beef is like the idea of "terroir" in wine (the flavor of the earth) – in this case, the flavor of the beautiful Crooked Run Valley on the Eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many people like it better than the exclusively grain fed taste of industrial beef which is uniform and bland.
For a good comparison between forage fed and corn fed beef go to the PBS Frontline Modern Meat web site.
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How much will the beef cost me and how can I compare the Hollin price with that of others?
We estimate a price of $7.25 per pound for a whole young beef, $7.50 per pound for a half or side, and $7.95 for a quarter (half of a half) beef for the cut weight (not the hanging weight). This is our price estimate for the beef you take home. This price is for all "cuts" -- T-bone steaks, rib steaks, roasts, hamburger, organs etc -- and includes all slaughter and processing costs.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE. The price is for the "cut weight" -- the weight after the beef has been dry aged and the butcher has cut out the fat and bones, packaged and frozen it and the price Includes all slaughter cost. Cut weight is the beef you actually take home. Most farms sell by the hanging or pre cut weight and slaughter is extra. We calculate about a 25% loss from hanging to cut weight. Bear in mind that this estimate is for comparison with supermarket prices. It will vary depending on how you cut your meat. See “How Much Meat to Expect From a Beef Carcass pdf, Univ of Tenn. (link to https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/PB1822.pdf
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What kind of cuts do I get? What is the percentage of steaks and hamburger?
Here are percentages based on the way I cut my beef. These differ with every individual animal, and would change depending on how you cut your beef.
* Steaks (Rib, T-bone, Porterhouse, Sirloin, Flank) about 19%.
* Roasts (Chuck, Arm, Sirloin Tip) about 17%
* Round cuts (Eye Roast, Top Round Steaks, Bottom Round) about 9%
* Hamburger (depends on how lean or fat) about 45%.
* Miscellaneous (Short Ribs, Tongue, Liver, etc) about 10%
Our cutting questionnaire with suggestions on how to order and cut your beef .
The various cuts and where they come from on a side of beef.
For information about these cuts and how to cook them.
Download the Ohio State Extension service fact sheet Buying Beef for the Freezer .
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Will I get raw meaty bones and other treats for my pets?
Yes. Let us know and we can have bones included for your pets. Raw meaty bones are advocated in a pet diet championed by veterinarian Tom Lonsdale. Organs like liver, kidneys, and heart also make healthy treats for dogs and cats. Two books on natural products for pets are "Raw Dog Food Book" and "Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Diet."
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How much or how little beef can I order?
Customers may order a whole, half, or quarter. On their own, some customers have "cow pooled" and bought a whole or a half beef with friends and neighbors and divided it among themselves. In these cases, one person must pay the entire invoice. If there is a whole beef order, the two sides can be cut differently. But any other division is the responsibility of the cow pool group.
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How much beef in a whole, a side (half) or quarter?
Individual animals vary but our estimate on a young beef weighing 800 on the hoof (live weight), is 330 pounds in a whole, 165 pounds in a side, 83 pounds in a quarter (a quarter is not the front or back of a side, but an equally divided side or half). Remember that this is an average. It will vary with the amount of trimming you require. Animals also vary in size and yield. Some people will get a little more and others a little less.
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Do I need a freezer?
Yes, or at least a large refrigerator freezer section. The meat is vacuum packed in one to three pound frozen packages. A quarter of a young beef takes up about 3 cubic feet. You will need to bring your own boxes to Gore's when you pick up. Vacuum packed beef will last several years in a freezer.
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Where do I pick up the beef?
We slaughter and process at Gore Custom Meats in Stephens City, Virginia. They will age the beef and cut, package, and freeze the meat, and you can pick up there. Gore Custom Meats provides vacuum packaging as a standard service. You need to bring your own boxes when you pick up the cut and packaged beef.
Directions to Gore Custom Meats.
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How do I pay?
To keep expenses down, we use a program where you buy the live animal from Hollin Farm and pay Gore Custom Meats to slaughter and package it in your name. Here is how is works:
You will receive two bills. One from us at Hollin Farms (via Square.com) for the on-the-hoof or "live" weight price of the steer you reserved with the deposit..
The other bill is from Gore Custom Meats for slaughter, dressing, cutting and packaging. You pay Gore Meats when you pick up the beef. These two bills added together will be your total price. Divided by our estimate of your pounds of frozen beef, the price should come out to the price per pound quoted at the top of this page. Bear in mind that animals vary in size and this price is calculated on standard cutting instructions and include organs meats and soup bones. If you don’t want organ meats and bones, we give them to other customers.They are not wasted. .
We require a $50 deposit per quarter.
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Can I visit the farm and see the animals?
We welcome visitors during the "pick-your-own" seasons. The best times to come are in late May and early June during the strawberry picking season, in July and August when we have pick-your-own peaches, berries and summer vegetables, and in September and October when we have apples, pumpkins and fall vegetables. We are next to Sky Meadows State Park.
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How do I order? Who do I contact if I have more questions?
We require a $50 deposit per quarter animal.
We will contact you and ask you to fill out our Cutting Questionnaire.
If you have questions, please e-mail Hollinfarms or text Tom Davenport at 540.419.8748.
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When can I expect my beef to be ready?
We take several animals to slaughter per month. The beef is usually ready for pick up two weeks after slaughter. We will advise via phone or e-mail.
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Hollin Farms Natural Angus beef is humanely raised and humanely slaughtered. Buyers pick up at the slaughter house, inspect the plant, and get to meet the people who kill and cut their beef. With one exception, the animals are rotationally grazed following the grass fed methods popularized by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm near Swoope, Virginia. The exception is the corn or other grain that we give them free-choice in addition to the grass during the last six weeks. This adds flavor and marbling to the beef. Our beef is much cheaper than the "natural" or organic beef in high end supermarkets like Whole Foods and Wegmans.
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