08/31/2026
๐ฅฉ โ๐๐จ $๐ญ๐ฐ/๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ง๐ข๐๐ก?โ
Someone asked us this recently and honestly, it was a fair question. Because $14/lb sounds expensive, especially when local beef has a reputation for costing significantly more than what youโll find at the grocery store.
But have you looked at beef prices lately?
Depending on the cut, quality and where you shop, seeing beef in the $10โ$14/lb range at the grocery store really isnโt unusual anymore. Plenty of cuts are well above that, and of course, there are still less expensive options too. But the gap between grocery-store beef and locally raised beef isnโt always as dramatic as people assume.
And I think that makes the conversation about the cost of shopping local a little more interesting.
๐๐ ๐ง&๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ. ๐ช๐ฒโ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
Our cattle are selected for their genetics and the genetics behind each animal matter to us because they ultimately influence the beef we put in your freezer. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐, ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
That also means our supply chain is incredibly short. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ โ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ โ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ณ, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐.
There are tradeoffs to producing beef this way. We donโt process cattle continuously just to keep every cut in stock. Sometimes the ribeyes sell out. Sometimes the ground beef sells out. Sometimes youโll have to wait until our next processing date.
That isnโt because weโre trying to create artificial scarcity. Itโs simply the reality of raising a small number of cattle and ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น, rather than demand, ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ.
So when someone asks, โIs $14/lb normal?โ I think thereโs another question worth asking too:
What am I getting for that $14?
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐, ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ.
Shopping local doesnโt have to mean replacing every piece of meat in your freezer with something from a farm down the road. It can simply mean that when you have the opportunity to choose where your food comes from, you understand what youโre choosing.
And as grocery-store beef prices continue to close some of that gap, local starts looking a little ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ, and a ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ.
