For our first blog post in this series I would like to explain the steps involved for raising and processing beef cattle.
Each step is carefully managed and imperative to produce high quality meat in an ethical and eco friendly manner.
This is the way we do it at Cattle Mountain Meats. 

Each Spring during the calving season our cattle numbers almost double. It is a very busy and important time of year. To ensure our calves stay healthy, plenty of pasture is provided for our cow-calf pairs. Space is particularly important in order to prevent sickness. The cows are monitored closely to be sure they are well fed and able to produce adequate milk for their calves.

Starting in the early summer, our bulls are turned in with cows to birth calves in late February of the following year. The gestation period of our cows is 9 months + 1 week. The bulls spend the summer months with the cows. Before going to the summer pastures in the high mountain ranges, calves are marked to identify owners and to ensure a safe return from the mountains. Our herds live in the high mountain ranges where they have abundant grass, space and water.  They can be seen on beautiful HWY 64 or around majestic San Antonio Mountain in Northern New Mexico! While cattle are in the mountains, they are cared for to guarantee their health and well-being.

During the summer months while the cattle are in the mountain pastures, we grow native grass hay as well as alfalfa to feed when the growing season is over. They require a quality supply of hay the during winter and early spring months when the grass is dormant.

In the late fall, we gather our cattle to smaller pastures to prepare to haul them home. Once back at the farm, they graze each pasture and field that we produced hay from during the summer months. Calves are weaned from their mothers in November. As this is a stressful time, they are closely monitored! The best heifers (female calves) in the herd are selected to stay in the program to become mother cows.

The calves chosen to produce high quality meat continue to grow for 2-3 years by grazing native grass fields and pastures. Once fully grown and finished to the optimum body condition, they are taken to be processed by our expert meat processor. The processor ages the meat for 14-21 days to ensure full flavor and tenderness. All of our meat is USDA inspected and approved to guarantee quality and safety. Each individual package of meat is labeled with the USDA’s official seal.

Cattle Mountain Meats packages and ships the finished product directly to our customers. We oversee each and every step of our operation from the birth of calves to the shipment of meat to our customers. By doing so, we pride ourselves in producing top notch beef. The process takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, but we are passionate about our industry and are grateful to have the opportunity to provide the highest quality of meats possible to consumers all over the continental United States!

-Brianna Crowther