|
Chileno
Natural Grass-Fed Beef
Welcome
to Chileno Valley Ranch, home of the most contented
cows in the world. We raise our beef naturally,
on grass (not corn), without antibiotics, hormones,
or grain.
Below
you'll find information on our products, prices
and how to send an order request. At the bottom are
answers to frequently asked questions.
Products
Our beef
is offered by the split-quarter, half, or whole.
A typical quarter weighs approx. 100 pounds,
and includes prime cuts, lean ground sirloin,
porterhouse steaks and great soup bones.
A
split-quarter costs $300, plus butcher costs
(hanging, trimming, and cut to individual
specifications), which usually run between $70 and
$80, depending upon the final hanging weight. The
final cost will usually be under $380.
To
Order
To
purchase and/or get more information, you
can:
Call us at
the Ranch at (707) 765-6664, or toll free (877)
280-6664 or email us at mgale@chilenobeef.com
We'll
contact you right away to help you with your order.
You can also use the form below. We'll get right
back with you when we receive it.
Why
Grass-Fed Beef?
A lot of
people ask us why, at our age, we are in ranching
at all, and then, why we are taking on the extra
hassle of raising and selling grass-fed beef.
The answer is that we love it! We love raising the
animals, being involved in the birthing process,
helping our neighbors with their round-ups, and
being part of the natural and organic food
movement. It feels good to be part of something
that will make the world a better place.
How We
Run the Ranch
 One
of the reasons people first started buying our
grass-fed beef was because they loved the way we
took care of our ranch, and they appreciated
the gentle and humane way we raised our animals. We
believe we are caretakers of the land in this small
part of the planet, and that as we are here for
only short time, we should do our best to take care
of it.
One of
the things that we have done that is good for the
land is we have fenced our cattle out of our creeks
and planted native trees there to provide habitat
for wildlife and prevent soil-loss. Chileno
Creek flows through our property into Walker Creek,
which flows into Tomales Bay, one of the most
pristine bays on the West Coast. With our efforts,
salmon will return to spawn in Chileno Creek, as
Steelhead do now. Neo-Tropical Songbirds flourish
in our streamside willows, when only 5 years ago
our creeks were bare and devoid of vegetation. Our
neighbors have recently fenced off their creeks,
creating several miles of protected habitat on
private land.
Additionally,
we practice rotational grazing, insuring that our
grasslands remain productive for our ranch
operation, and also that the native wildflowers
thrive without the competition of introduced
grasses that shade out native plants. Cows keep
introduced grasses low so that the smaller, shorted
native perennials can get the sunlight they
need.
Other
best management practices keep our native
forest population healthy, provide water and forage
for wildlife and present a beautiful scene to the
passer-by, just as Mother Nature
intended!
The
Superior Taste of Our Beef
Several
factors affect the way beef tastes. These have
to do with the way the animal is handled, fed,
treated, moved : the way the animal lives it's
life. Our animals are not crowded into small
paddocks or kept on minimal pastures to forage.
They are able to roam their whole lives over our
green hills. We believe this improves the taste of
our meat just as a wild salmon tastes better than
one raised commercially. An animal that moves
around naturally seems to build flavor into it's
muscle tissue.
When we
feed our animals, we move among them. They are
tame and calm, and therefore easy to move when we
have to move them. We do not scare or force our
animals into doing what we want them to do; we coax
them with hay. This affects the meat. Stressing
animals has a spoiling effect on the meat,
producing toughness.
And
lastly, we feed them nature's diet of sun-warmed
grass, not corn. This also gives the meat a
flavor which is superior.
Links
Here's
the link to the CBS Evening News Article,
"Where's
the Safe Beef".
Please let us know if this link goes bad (it's good
today, the 8th of Feb.).
Here's
an article you'll want to read, about why grass-fed
is best! - http://www.westonaprice.org/farming/splendor2.html
Here's
an article in the New York Times magazine about
what non-grass-fed beef cattle go through -
This
Steer's Life,
by Michael Pollan, entitled, Power Steer, pp. 44,
march 31, 2002, section 6. 2.
Here's
our link to Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org),
a good place to find locally grown organic
foods.
Here's a
link to the Ag Extension's site, a list of
other producers/ranchers/farmers/natural food
sources in Marin County: www.growninmarin.org.
|
