Why the wait?

You may be wondering why you sometimes have to wait for your beef or pork order?  Well, the process of finishing local meats is a multi-step process with several variables. Let’s examine what it looks like for a cow to go from our farm to your table. 

Cows often give birth in the spring or fall. Calves romp in fields of lush pastures with their mamas and the herd for 6-8 months.

When calves are ready to leave their mothers, we gradually introduce each calf to grain while they still roam free on the farm. This grazing time gives them a great variety of legumes and native grasses. During this time, we also offer a balance of minerals. This finishing process can take anywhere from 6- 12 months depending on the animal, forage, and weather conditions. 

While our cows are growing, we are scheduling dates for animals to be processed. We are often required to schedule our livestock with a processor 6 to 12 months before the livestock is ready to be taken in. This takes a lot of predicting to anticipate demand and sometimes that wonderful quarter of meat is available NOW without the wait! 

When beef reach the desired finished weight and body confirmation, they are scheduled with the processor.

As farmers, we are always looking ahead 12-18 months to make sure our customers are able to fill their freezers as “on demand” as possible. 

Our process starts long before you place an order. In fact, the entire process can take up to 3 years! Thank you to all of our customers who order ahead. We hope you have enjoyed getting to see behind the scenes at our farm. We are a local sustainable farm that offers customized orders. In order to provide the best for you and your family the wait may be longer than anticipated. However, we are always confident our meat will be worth the wait!!! The level of care that we give our animals on the farm continues into the processing as well and continues all the way to the final delivery at your home. 

Thank you for being part of our farm family! At Legacy Farms, we’ll meat your needs!