Organic meat?

[jolenegreen]

Found this farm near us and wondered if this was the type of organic meat I want? I was kinda thrown of becuase they are sent to a factory..please let me know what u think? There are other farms that dont send meat to factory near me but this one seems to be the cheapest
http://go.mothering.com/?id=848X1562...s-fed-beef.htm

[serenbat]

In my area (PA) it is very common to have someone other place do the work, many farms are simply not set up to do their own. Even the local dairy farms are not able to make their own cheese, let a lone do beef.

I would ask them directly if this is the case.

I know in PA it means more inspections for the farmer and if they are not doing a ton it does not pay them to try and do it themselves, the cost of the supplies is so much.

[Ldavis24]

I know that some states have laws against having abbatoirs (slaughterhouses) on the actual farm property so small farms are actually forced to send their meat off to be processed. Those farms can control where their animals are sent though so they can have a say in how they are slaughtered (humanely hopefully).
DH's uncle owns a pig farm and he is not allowed to slaughter the animals on sight so it isn't necessarily something against that particular farm.
I second just going and talking to them specifically!

[dogmom327]

Cutting and wrapping off-site is normal around here. Personally I prefer the animal be slaughtered at the farm and then taken to the cut/wrap facility (which are usually small family owned businesses). Having the animal go through a USDA slaughterhouse is what makes my skin crawl (besides causing undo stress to the animal).

[mnnice]

From the link you posted I googled the locker (I wouldn't use the term factory it doesn't seem to be the right description for this situation). They use is a small operation run by two brothers and employing just a few people. Directionally that's good and I am sure they would welcome you visiting them on site if you had concerns.

Butchering and cutting an entire cow is a big undertaking (remember a beef cow or steer could easily weigh 1500 lbs). There might be rules forbidding home slaughter, but generally it's more of a pragmatic reason. Most farmer's know a good butcher will do a better job than they will and has the specialized equipment necessary.

[laohaire]

Just chiming in, my local dairy farm (which supplies beef and pork as well) does not slaughter onsite. I know some states (like PA I think) have laws forbidding it, and honestly I don't know if that's the case in my state too. The local poultry farm, in another state (we live within 10 miles of 2 other states), does slaughter onsite but even then, slaughtering and butchering chickens is not the same thing as slaughtering a cow or even a pig.

[jolenegreen]

Thanks so much everyone for the great info! Im not quite sure but I think ordering a cow from a farmer is far more cheaper than to keep buying organic meat from the store! THANKS

[blueridgewoman]

My farm (Polyface) takes their cows to a slaughter house and I'm okay with that. Depends on the place and with us, we trust Joel and his methods, so we trust his choice for slaughter house as well.

[snowbunny]

In many states, meat cannot be processed on the farm so it must be sent to a USDA processing facility. It looks like that meat is what you want: 100% grass-fed. I'd buy from them if they were around here.

[mylovere123]

i often buy meat on the supermarket or vegetable market,it must be orgnic meat.