Your Local Beef Just Got More Local

Your Beef Just Got More Local!

By: Elin Ganschow on August 9th, 2022
Interests: Ranching, Conservation, Regenerative Agriculture, Grass Finished Beef

We Met A Great New Butcher!

Long story short: We lost all our butcher dates, went through a lot of stress, found great new butchers, and it was all a blessing in disguise. God is good!

There are no guarantees in ranching (or life for that matter). As a rancher, you are always at the whim of forces out of your control. Even the forces you think you have control over can change in an instant. This has been especially true over the last few years in relation to the butcher. The scarcity at the grocery store led more people to turn to their local ranchers (hooray!), which in turn led to sky rocketing demand placed on the small butcher shops and processing plants that we use. That would all be fine and dandy if there wasn't such a massive labor shortage taking place, adding more stress to these businesses (not so hooray).

At Sangre's Best, we are striving towards creating the most sustainable and reliable way to get Grass-Finished Beef to customers. Our model of pre selling the entire herd before we even start grazing is designed to make life better for everyone;
1. You, the consumer, get the most direct ranch-table beef possible, at costs even lower than the grocery store.
2. Us, as the rancher, get investment and security to plan and raise the herd the right way.
3. The cattle and the pasture get well thought out grazing plans that ensure the best for both of them.
4. The butcher and processor get guaranteed business from us that they can plan on for months in advance.

It's a beautiful thing! You should be proud to be a part of it.

But then life happens. Recently we had to make a last minute change and find a new processing plant for our entire summer herd because our previous processor couldn't honor their contract.

We learned that the bottleneck is due to a lack of qualified meat cutters. Additionally, giving in to the temptation to take on new customers intensified the over-commitment.

We were suddenly in a very serious situation, unable to get even one solid date to send cattle to them between now and winter!!

After this news, there were 48 hours of intense concern, earnest prayer and the dreaded image of cattle in a blizzard in November still waiting to be sent to the packer.

But it turned out to be a BLESSING IN DISGUISE (as are most things in life). We have connected with two incredible butcher and processing plants even closer to the ranch. After speaking with the owners, and telling them about our ranching program, I can already tell they believe in the same things we do, and there is a budding partnership coming together.

It is SO IMPORTANT for the butcher to share our same values. The last step in the cattle's journey is perhaps the most important. The animals need to be handled with the patience and respect they deserve. And the end product must be of the finest craftsmanship. We believe we have found this in our new butchers. We're excited to have found local partners that we can grow with. We can't wait for you to get your beef this year to show you the difference.