Alberta is the land of beef. Albertans are incredibly lucky to have access to literally the best beef in the world, right on our doorsteps. And there’s so many options, that it can be overwhelming.

This post aims to help Albertans who might be considering purchasing bulk beef directly from a farm or ranch. We’ll talk about things to look for when deciding on what’s right for you and your family, and offer some advice, recommendations and answer as many questions as we can come up with.

Also note that at the bottom of each category is a statement on Hale Ranch Beef, and where we stand in each of the categories.

Price

Price is often the first thing that people look at when it comes to bulk beef. Most bulk beef is sold based on the hanging carcass weight (also sometimes called the hot hanging weight) of the animal. This means that the weight of just the meat and bones hanging on a butcher hook, is what the price is based on. It doesn’t include organs, or other parts of the animal that generally aren’t eaten.

Prices vary in Alberta, and from what our research tells us is that the closer to Calgary the ranch is, the higher the price. Now, this is a general statement, but it does strengthen the case for folks to look a little further out to find opportunities to save a few dollars.

Another thing to look for, is if the cost includes cut and wrap, and delivery. Often farms and ranches that sell their beef in bulk this way, appear to have a substantially lower price, but it may be because the butcher fees, like cut and wrap, and other processing, isn’t included in the price from the farm. Be sure to ask!

Be sure to ask about weights on your beef too - some farms and ranches have heavier or lighter cattle, depending on production practices, feeding, or yields. This is important! You might be paying the same overall price, but getting less beef because of the weight. That is why it is very important to ask about the per pound price, rather than an “all in” price.

The price of beef can also be impacted by what we call marketing adjectives. This can include things like how the animal was fed (grass vs grain), breed, organic or natural claims, “free-from” programs and the like.  We’ll talk more about that below.

As of December 2023, Hale Ranch Beef sells for $6/lb on hanging weight. This price includes cut and wrap. We strive to raise our animals to 1350lb live weight.

 Feed Type

You probably often hear beef marketed by what it eats. We hear a lot of talk about grass-fed and grain-fed beef, or grass-finished and grain-finished beef. Fed and finished aren’t entirely the same thing, in that fed indicates what the animal generally eats through its lifetime, while finished indicates what the animal was fed the last few months before it was harvested.

Grass-fed vs grain-fed beef comes down to, in reality, personal preference.

You’ll hear a lot of folks talk about the health and environmental benefits of grass-fed beef, and see beef marketed this way.

Science tells us that the nutritional difference between grass-fed and grain-fed beef is small. In a recent study with regards to fat, grass fed beef appears to be leaner than grain finished beef by about 2 to 4 grams per 100 grams of trimmed meat. Dietitians typically agree that although statistically significant, in practical terms this difference is small in the context of the total fat consumed from the foods we eat daily.

At the end of the day, it really does come down to a taste and texture that you prefer in your beef.

Check out this grass vs grain factsheet from Canada Beef.

Hale Ranch Beef is grass-fed and finished on a mixture of premium grain and forages, which helps our cattle grow efficiently, and produce top quality taste and experience in our beef.

 Breed & Age

Breed is another aspect of beef marketing that often comes up, and this also has a lot to do with personal preference.

In Canada, most cattle raised for beef \include familiar names like Angus, Hereford, Charolais, Simmental, and the like. These cattle are heartier in the Canadian climate, and tend to have a more marbled texture, which generally means more flavour.

We have seen a bit of longhorn and Holstein beef marketed lately in Alberta. While we’re sure the beef would be fine, just know that longhorn cattle and Holstein cattle have not generally been bred for providing top grading beef here in Canada. It tends to be leaner, but may provide a bit of a different flavour profile for someone looking for something different.

As far as age goes, be sure to ask about the youthfulness of the animal. It makes a difference in taste and tenderness as an animal gets older; an older cow at the end of her breeding life, or a 3yr old bull that was an emergency harvest due to an injury, for example, willl not provide the same level of eating experience as a healthy 18mo old animal.

Again, it’s a personal choice that Albertans can make. We totally support having options, and support all of our potential customers in their efforts to look around.

Hale Ranch Beef uses Angus and Angus influence genetics in the majority of our breeding programs.

 Free-From Programs

Free-from programs, or often called “never-never” programs, generally refer to beef marketed as “raised without added hormones or antibiotics.” This is a polarizing subject amongst many farmers and ranchers, so we’ll do our best to fairly represent the discussion here.

First things first. We do not use hormones, or any growth promotants in raising our cattle. This is a personal choice on our operation. We don’t have anything against using them; we just have developed a breeding program and selection of cattle that allows us to raise animals that finish at a weight that works for our customers and our bottom line. That being said, let’s dig into the issue at hand.

We’ll start out by saying these two key statements:

-          All beef consumed is antibiotic free

-          All beef has naturally occurring hormones

All beef consumed in Canada must be free of traceable amounts of antibiotics. That means none can show up in any screening of consumable beef after that beef is harvested. This is accomplished by diligent producers ensuring that animals who have been treated with antibiotics are following strict withdrawl time protocols before sending animals to harvest. This is something that beef producers are very diligent with, and we have confidence in the Canadian beef supply.

All beef has naturally occurring hormones, so at the end of the day, it’s not quite true if beef is marketed as “hormone free.” If beef is marketed as “raised without added hormones,” that is a more accurate statement. But just know, that the residual amount of any growth promotants in consumable beef are miniscule. We’re talking about a difference between beef raised with and without added hormones, measuring less than one nanogram, which is a billionth of a gram. To put that in perspective, check out this graphic from the Alberta Beef Producers:

Choosing “free-from” beef is another choice that consumers have to make. We encourage those who are interested in learning more about what raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics really means, to take a look at the website below, where they are explained in depth.

Hale Ranch Beef is raised without the use of additional growth promotants. Our cattle are treated with antibiotics only when medically necessary, and strict withdrawal time protocols are followed.

 If you are interested in more information about the use of antibiotics, hormones, the effect of raising beef has on the environment, or the nutritional value of beef, we encourage you to check out this website from our friends at Alberta Beef: https://www.albertabeef.org/consumers/faqs

 Have more questions?

If you have other questions about purchasing bulk beef from us, or from anyone else, we are here to have some totally open conversations with you. Please send us a note and we’d love to chat! Just because we might not be the perfect fit for you, doesn’t mean we can’t help you find somewhere to get premium Alberta beef from for your table. Click the links below to reach us.