When you buy beef from a local farm, you know more about where it came from.
You know the farmer who raised the animal, and you know the beef was handled by a smaller butcher shop, where people work with a few animals at a time instead of thousands in a day.
That kind of attention matters all the time. It matters even more when there is a new animal health concern for ranchers to watch.
The New World Screwworm is a fly that can lay eggs in open wounds on livestock. It has recently been moving into Texas and New Mexico. Ranchers and inspectors watch for problems like this while the animal is still alive, long before the beef reaches your kitchen.
If an animal is affected, those parts are removed and kept out of the food supply.
That safety step exists across the beef industry. The difference with local beef is that there are fewer steps between the farm and your freezer. On pasture-based farms, cattle are seen often by the people raising them, and local butcher shops can give each animal closer attention. That gives you more confidence in the beef you bring home.
There is also a cost side to this. Screwworm is one more pressure on a beef market that is already tight. Beef prices have continued to rise. When news of screwworm first came out, many people expected cattle prices to fall. They dipped for a short time, then went back up and continued setting records.
For farmers, there is some good in that. Many cattle farmers are finally being paid closer to what their work is worth.
By purchasing from Our Home Place Meat, you are choosing high-quality beef from people you can know and trust. You are also helping more of your money reach the family that raised the animal with care.
