Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you charge based on the hanging weight? Why do I have to pay the butcher separately?
For our "beef shares" We butcher our beef under the idea that you are buying the animal from us, not a food item. This is a way that allows us to have the animals harvested on farm instead of transporting them several hours to a USDA inspected facility. This is only for animals being harvested for direct consumption by their owner (you). To comply with these requirements, we charge an up-front deposit and then bill you based on the “hot hanging weight,” the weight of the animal immediately after harvest, after skinning and evisceration. These rules also require you to pay for your butcher fees separately when you pick up your beef or pork. We recognize that this can be a bit confusing, but it allows us to work with our long-time local partners and eliminates the stress of having to ship animals 100+ miles. This ensures that we can offer you the highest quality, most humane product possible.
What the heck do I get when I buy a side/half beef?
Here is the breakdown https://www.highnoonbeef.com/pages/half-beef-breakdown?_pos=1&_psq=half+beef&_ss=e&_v=1.0
When I get a 1/4.....am I getting a hindquarter or a forequarter?
We sell mixed quarters, so you will be getting a mix of front and back cuts. For this reason we do not offer custom cuts on quarters! You will receive a standard cut and wrap package.
What do your cows do in the winter?
Our cows are on VAST pasture 365 days a year. They are very hardy animals, and we have developed our herd to be especially resilient and suited for range conditions. If conditions are especially bad, the herd will huddle together for warmth under the trees. We plan our grazing so that the cattle have year round forage from non-spray pasture.
Do you use growth hormones or antibiotics?
We do not give our animals any growth hormones and antibiotics will only be given in a life-or-death situation. This sort of situation comes up very rarely! We do take the health and well-being of our animals very seriously, and for this reason, when antibiotics are absolutely necessary, we will use them. 99.99999% of the time antibiotics are not necessary and very, very rarely do we have any health problems in our herd. If an beef steer is given antibiotics it is removed from our herd and taken to auction. That is the beauty of raising all of our animals from birth! Alot of people buy beef from producers who buy their steers from auction yards....if that is the case they are not being honest when claiming their animals are free of hormones or antibiotics, lets be real....how would they know!? Our butchered beef is 100% hormone and antibiotic free.
What kind of cows do you have? Will I get a bull, a steer, a heifer or a cow?
We raise a Black Angus with some Charolais bred in to help with heard hardiness. In the US, angus have been bred up in size to perform well in feedlots. Charlois perform particularly well in pasture-based and mountain conditions.
We butcher only steers as soon as they reach a PRIME butcher age. We have found that only young steers finish to the highest quality within our program. A cow is a female that has had at least one calf. As animals age, the meat becomes less tender. We do not butcher cows. Bulls are in-tact males, only used for breeding. Again, age but also testosterone would make Bulls, not ideal for butchering.