Black Butte Beef FAQs

Black Butte is a landmark in our county that we locals use to know we are close to home. Both ranches that supply Black Butte Beef can see Black Butte daily as a reminder that our home-raised beef is important part of our mission.

We believe in providing a low-stress environment and optimal free-choice feed for our animals. Our process is not rushed and our animals come first. They are born and raised on our ranches, handled with care, are are processed using the highest humane standards at a USDA inspected plant. Our animals never leave the state of Montana until after they are harvested. We strive to keep our animals happy, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because stress leads to a low quality product. Thus holding our high standard with our animals' happiness in mind, enables us to provide our customers with the highest quality beef possible.

Black Butte Beef itself is a business coop between two ranches that supply the beef. We decided to create this collaboration because we share a mission to bring quality beef straight from our ranch to our customers' tables. Further, our Angus animals are from the same family lines (in fact Rockin L Genetics raised many of the Angus bulls that Beard Cattle Co. uses) and thus are of the same high quality. Both ranches are located in Central Montana 23 miles apart. Beard Cattle Co. is located in Fergus Co., home of approximately 5k people. Rockin L Genetics is located in Petroleum Co., which is the least populous county in the state at ~500 people in a county larger than the state of Rhode Island. Both locations are prime cattle country. The Lunds and Beards are stewards of the land and deeply care for the land that provides for their animals.

Both ranches primarily raise Black Angus cattle. These animals produce prime grade quality beef and we are proud of our herd with great genetics for superior marbling, flavor and consistency. American Wagyu are a cross between Black Angus and the Japanese Wagyu breed. Pure Wagyu is pretty rich for the American pallet so by crossing it with Angus we get a product that maintains the extremely high marbling and butter-tender meat with the Angus flavor we know and love here in the states. Our American Wagyu are from the same herd as those from Snake River meats and are about 25% Angus and 75% Japanese Wagyu. This is why most of our Wagyu cows have horns, a feature rarely seen in Angus. We keep a very small herd of American Wagyu so that we can closely manage our quality.

We are not ‘certified’ organic, so legally we cannot use the organic label on our beef. However, our process from birth to butcher is completed with natural, pasture-raised practices in everything we do. We believe in providing our customers with full transparency in where their meat comes from, how it was treated, and how it was processed. We do this to ensure our customers can have full transparency in our operation, and know they can trust us as their source for high-quality, pasture-raised, grass-fed beef. This promise means more than a certification sticker on a package and avoids the red tape and extra cost to the consumer associated with and organic certification. We are 100% mindful to practice and produce natural, pasture-raised, happy cows. We raise what we believe is the best product to feed our own children and share it with our customers.

Yes, all of our livestock feed on the ranch is 100% GMO-free. We do not feed any soy to our cattle. We only feed locally-raised corn to our cattle if you want your beef grain-finished which leads to a higher marbling. We do offer grass-finished options for both the Wagyu and Angus on our custom orders meaning the animals is not fed corn ever. Grass-finished beef need to be processed in June or early July for the best quality, as this is when the best nutrition is in the grass.

Never. The meat we sell through the Black Butte Beef brand is always 100% antibiotic free from day one. We only administer therapeutic antibiotics to animals on the ranch if they are needed for life saving situations or illness, but those animals are “red tagged” and pulled from our meat program. We still find other outlets for those animals after the proper and safe withdrawal period like local families or friends who understand the history of the animal. Animals given antibiotics in their lifetime are perfectly safe to eat after the standard withdrawl period - but we choose to have a clear designation for our customers that all meat sold from Black Butte Beef is 100% free of any lifetime antibiotics.

Our beef is 100% free of any kind of growth hormones or any added hormones.

Our cattle live on pastures or mountain country at Beard Cattle Co. or Rockin L Genetics year round. During the summer months they eat a mixture of native grasses, irrigated alfalfa, and ranch pasture grasses. When Fall and Winter come, our cattle eat a grass/alfalfa hay mix. We finish our cattle on a thoughtfully balanced ration of alfalfa and grain hay (plus grain for grain-finished beef) for the best possible quality in marbling and taste. We believe this combination is the optimal way to raise our beef for consistent, excellent quality and flavor with all the benefits of a grass-fed lifestyle. We never feed soy (or corn for grass-finished), GMOs, and all of our meat is 100% free from antibiotics, and growth-hormones.

We ship our beef to all 50 states on Monday every week of the year! Beef is packed on dry ice pellets (will be sublimated by the time you get your box) in custom made insulated liners. We like to get to know our customers and would love to visit each one, but we are a small operation so we only deliver beef ourselves within the state of Montana once a month (more often during the holidays). We do not ship out of country, not even to our close neighbor, Canada. Canadian customs is not reliable to keep perishable orders moving through and boxes often get held up in customs for too long to make it feasible to ship frozen product. Please see our shipping page for more information on rates.

We ship out on Mondays overnight or two-day shipping for box beef and in stock bulk beef. So it depends on the day you order, but we will work hard to get it to you within a week. For Montana orders that we deliver, it depends on our weather and availability but we say on average 2 weeks. We process beef twice a year and you can sign up to get an email notification when those dates are coming up so that you can customize your order. This means that for a full, half, or quarter beef that is not already processed, it takes anywhere from 90 to 30 days.

Each animal differs in size, but by ordering in bulk you are going to get all of the best cuts possible. For a full beef, we recommend having 18 cubic feet of freezer space available. For a half beef, 8 cubic feet, and for a quarter, 5 cubic feet (quarter should fit in a fridge/freezer combo). For a full beef, both Angus and Wagyu cows will yield around 480 lbs of beef (ave. $8.25/lb for Angus and $13.60/lb for Wagyu, ~40% lower than market price for both breeds). For a half beef, Angus and Wagyu cows will yield around 240 lbs of beef and for a quarter beef, 120 lbs of beef. The cuts usually consist of 20-25% Steaks, 25-35% Roasts, Stew Meat & Short Ribs, and 40-50% Ground Beef, Patties or Ground Chuck. That means you can get premium cuts such as Filet Mignon and T-Bones for as low as $8.25/lb for Angus and $13.60/lb for Wagyu (over 50% lower than market price). Offal (heart, liver, tongue, and oxtail) are included in your order unless you tell us not to include it. We will call and email you after your order is placed to confirm. If you pre-order, you can standardize the cuts you receive on a full and half beef. Unfortunately, we cannot customize a quarter beef. Download our cut sheet on the Shop page for options. For beef that has already been processed we offer a standard straight cut. Also note that Wagyu cows are aged longer to hit their prime which is great for the consumer because you will get incredible beef, but that also means we cannot offer Wagyu T-bones as a whole but rather offer it cut into two steaks (the filet mignon and New York). Only you can know what is right for you and your family. Consider whether you have the storage space and what you want to consume in a year. Is ordering in bulk too much? We offer box beef for this reason. Do you have a special occasion coming up and want a couple ribeyes? We can do that.

1. Click preferred beef portion on the shop page. 2. Read through details specific to that order (price, freezer space, cuts). 3. Place order and pay right here on the website. 4. We will email you to confirm which cuts of meat you prefer and ask for shipping or delivery information. 5. We will let you know once your meat is ready for shipping or delivery. 6. Your meat will arrive individually flash-frozen, vacuum sealed, and labeled.

We have a strict no returns and no refunds policy due to the perishable nature of our products which can not easily be shipped back and forth and we can not accept perishable products back for resale. If you need to return a non-perishable item such as a shirt or hat, we will exchange for a different size if the customer pays shipping to send the original back to us. This does NOT apply for any of our meats - all meats are NO returns or refunds, no exceptions.

The short answer is yes, but it would be incredibly pricey because our specialty boxes only hold 20-25 lbs of meat meaning we would need to ship a minimum of 6 boxes for a quarter beef, 12 for a half, and 24 for a whole. Each box costs between $35 and $100 to ship depending on the destination and speed. A better option is ranch pickup. Take a road trip this summer and visit the beautiful state of Montana, pickup some beef and dry ice and you should be good to go for several days. If you are thinking of buying in bulk and live out of state, email or call us and we will see if we can work out a plan to get you quality beef.