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| Our farm is located in the Sinking Creek Valley, in the drainage of the New River Valley, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Running 30 miles long, the valley is enclosed by Sinking Creek Mountain to the south and John’s Creek Mountain to the north. Twenty miles northwest of Blacksburg, Virginia our farm is 2500 ft. in elevation and divided by the flowing waters of Sinking Creek. Advantageous temperatures that are consistently 10° cooler than Roanoke, Virginia and significantly lower humidity assist in the grass-finishing process as cattle eat more when they are cooler. The cool season grasses also thrive in such conditions. 220 acres of grassland cover the 250 acres that compose our farm. We have fenced the farm into 15 separate pastures, all with watering facilities. By rotating the finishing animals ahead of the cow-calf pairs, they eat the prime forage for maximum gains. Winter feed is cut from excess spring growth and planted alfalfa fields and is converted into hay. We plant summer annuals, BMR sorghum-sudangrass, for summer grazing of our finishing animals and winter annuals – ryegrass – to extend the grazing season into the fall and for an early startup in the spring. We never use growth hormones and antibiotics are not used as preventatives. Our cattle are primarily Black Angus that are crossbred with Gelbvieh. We then hand select the animals that we have determined will finish out the best of our calves. We consider: History of the cow (mother), docility of the animal, and confirmation of the animal. They are selected as yearlings and placed in the group of finishing animals. They are harvested at approximately 24 months of age. Most animals finish in the fall with a few finishing in June-July. They are harvested when they are at their prime finishing weight, not when our schedule requires it. As you can see the harvest is seasonal. After harvest the beef is dry-aged for 16-21 days and then custom cut, vacuum-packed and frozen, prior to customer pick-up or delivery. |
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