What do I get when I order a quarter or a half?

Sky Hound Ranch is a veteran (27 years) owned Ranch 1 hour from Edmonton, in Lac Ste Anne County, that raises Grass Fed/ Grass finished Beef. We practice regenerative agriculture practices, this means no chemicals on the land, no growth hormones or unnecessary antibiotics in the cattle. Cattle are raised using low stress handling techniques ensuring they live a good life until their one bad day. The ranch sells directly to customer. We use a small, local custom butcher for all processing reducing the “supply chain” to less that 100KM; our Ranch to your house with a short stop in between. By selling direct and eliminating numerous steps in between you will know exactly where your food comes from and how it was raised. We sell by the ½ or ¼ and will do custom freezer boxes on request. Our next herd is booked for October processing. This is an indication of how far in advance the local butchers have openings. Discounts on 1/2s and 1/4s for veterans, serving members and first responders. If you would like to try our Product we have two freezers at out St Albert home full of individual cuts that can be purchased. All current stock is being sold at last February prices. If you would like to reserve an order for October please let me know. We raise limited cattle each year based on how many cattle the land can sustain. We also offer Horse programs. Ground based or mounted and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL). Come out and visit with the “boys”.  The Ranch is open for visits and for those who just need to get away we are offering veterans current serving members and first responders the ability to come and camp (rustic services) at the ranch to enjoy the peace and quiet, sit around the fire pit and relax. Overnight stays are based on a pay what you can/want basis. If you would like to know more Like and follow our Facebook and Instagram sites or send me a message.

Have you ever had one of those days where everyone you had to deal with made you hate people. For me today was one of those days. An online purchase in June has led to a series of unauthorized charges on my credit card. They all had different company names but my credit card company assured me they were all the same business. My one purchase had somehow ended me up on a number of unwanted subscriptions that took me most of the day to sort out. Slimy business practice like this just gets under my skin. As my frustration and anger was about to peak I packed up and drove to the ranch. The drive allowed me to cool down and when I arrived here, pretty much hating people, I walked out to the North pasture to see the cows and horses.  Watching them come up to greet me had such a calming effect. Don't ask me why but for the next 20 minutes I stood out in the field talking to the horses and the cattle. Anyone who would have come upon the scene who be wondering who this crazy man was but let me tell you it was the best conversation I had all day.

There are lots of people who attempt to villainize the beef industry. Claims that methane from cows is destroying the climate. I’m pretty sure these same people never fly in an airplane, drive a car or heat their homes and they defiantly never buy vegetables that have been shipped halfway around the globe. I expect most of those who rally against the beef industry have never stepped foot on a working cattle ranch.  When I was setting up that ranch, I made a commitment to welcome anyone who wants to come out and visit. I have nothing to hide and to be honest the best part of having the ranch is to be able to share it with others. This summer I had the pleasure of hosting a lot of people, each one had their own reasons for coming out and I got to view the ranch in a different light almost every time. One thing I tell everyone is how I attempt to give my cattle the best life possible until their one bad day. Recently I had a visitor that was here to learn about the ranch and to take some pictures. While we were out in the pasture, trying to get the cattle to co-operate for pictures, she said something that has stuck with me, “Its interesting how different species live”. I asked what she meant by that. (Paraphrasing the conversation) Humans are always busy, trying to stay on schedule, complete our to-do lists, meet deadlines, always on the go and stressing about something: money, jobs, relationships, or what others think. The cattle are just living in the moment, taking their time, hanging out with the herd, eating when they are hungry, drinking when they are thirsty sleeping when they are tired- They live a pretty good life. I think we all have the desire to simplify life and focus on what is important and not some artificial pressure we seem to find ourselves under. You just have to google “the great resignation” or “quiet quitting” or any of a multitude of stories about people re-evaluating what is important in their life. So, what does this have to do with the “anti-beef” movement; I would like to invite anyone who thinks the beef industry is cruel or destroying the planet to come out and see first-hand how much Ranchers care for our animals and the environment. Are there bad actors in the industry, yes, I can’t deny that but there are bad actors in any part of society. I would argue that the growing number of small farms and Ranches practicing regenerative agriculture practices are doing more to heal the environment than those protesting our industry. To the anti-beef movement, or anyone else with an interest in where your food comes from, please come and visit. Let me show you that our cattle live a happier, lower stress life than most humans, let me show you how our practices are helping mend the soil. Let’s discuss how our cattle are contributing to a healthy water cycle, and see what real plant based protein production looks like. Maybe then you will agree with me when I say I want to be more like my cattle.

I would like to thank everyone for the great support the ranch has received in our first year. As a veteran I have made one of the ranches goals to support and give back to the community. One way is by making the ranch accessible to visitors who want to see how the ranch operates, the other is by producing an all natural, nutrient dense product at a very competitive price. The price of groceries is on the rise so planning ahead may provide some cost benefits. So far this year Sky Hound Ranch is planning on keeping last years pricing. The only change currently being considered is a centralized pick up point versus delivery to your door. This will depend on the price of gas at the time of delivery. I have received a lot of questions about prices and ordering so I thought I would outline the process and benefits of ordering direct. Pricing on halves and quarters vary depending on the weight of the cattle at time of processing. On the day of processing the cattle are loaded on my stock trailer and 30 minutes later are at the custom butchers. Once processed the carcass is weighed, this is know as “hot weight”. There are some fixed processing costs/cow and the remainder of the ranches costs are based on hot weight. The meat is then hung or “dry aged” for a minimum of 2 weeks. After the dry age process is finished the meat is cut and wrapped and is ready for delivery to your doorstep or pick up point. There will be some shrinkage from “Hot Weight” to “Box Weight” or the amount you actually receive. An average works out like this. I purchase the cattle based on their live weight and hope they eat lots of great grass and put on weight while at the ranch. Once processed the Hot weight is approximately 60-62% of live weight. After dry aging, deboning trimming excess fat the Box weight averages between 65-70% of Hot weight (60% if you don’t take soup bones. When ordering a half you are given a custom cut sheet and you pick the cuts you want and the ones you don’t. Any cuts you don’t want are turned into ground or stew based on your preference. If you order a quarter there is a standard cut list. You will receive a mixed quarter, this means some from the front quarter and some from the hind quarter. If two people want to split a half and choose their cuts this can be accommodated as long as both agree to one custom cut form. Any halves or quarters that are not pre-purchased are sold as individual cuts or custom freezer packs, depending on stock available. So what is it going to cost? I currently charge $5.00/lb Hot Weight. This includes fixed processing costs, cut wrap and delivered (in the Edmonton area). Example: 1000lb live weight cattle will have an approximate Hot weight of 610lbs. The entire cow cut, wrapped and delivered would be $3050.00. For a Half $1525.00 and a Quarter $762.50. (If the cow weighs less the cost is less.) Box weight delivered for the entire cow would be between 396-427lbs (approx. 366lbs without soup bones). This equates to a price/ lb of delivered meat between $7.12- $7.70/lb (approx. $8.30/lb without soup bones).  I expect the example of the 1000lb live weight will be at the upper end of where cattle will be. Most will come in at the 850-950lb range this year. Individual Cuts are priced based on a comparison of at least 3 grocery stores prices and I attempt to do better. A reservation list for the fall processing is currently open. A deposit will be required in late August so that I can confirm the processing dates in October. Once the butcher provides me with the hot weight I send an invoice for the remaining amount. Payment can be made via e-transfer or check. I have processing dates booked for the first three weeks of October. This would mean late October early November delivery dates. If you would like to reserve an order please let me know. I can also walk you through deciding what custom cuts to choose based on your preferences.

Every day I go out and check the herd. I do it with as little stress to them as possible. At first I would be lucky to get within 50 meters of them. I've slowly been getting closer and closer. Today was the turning point. Jack and I started across the field to check on them. When they saw us they started coming to me. I just stopped Jack where we were and waited. after I stopped this video I rode through the herd without any fuss. Ranching doesn't have to be a rodeo. A slow calm approach reduces stress on the cattle and in the end makes working with them a lot easier. Taking shortcuts never pays off in savings. There are 3 gates between the North pasture (where the cattle are) and the south pasture where we all letting the grass grow thick and lush before moving the cattle on to it. Tonight I was riding Turbo and as usual Jack was along for the fun. I opened the center gate then stopped to take the picture with Indi (the cattle dog). In a moment of “I really don’t know what I was thinking” I decided to leave the gate open as we were only going to do a quick check and then ride right back. The second picture is seconds before 64 cattle decided to chase the cattle dog, and it was a site to see. Indi in the run for his life with all the cattle in hot pursuit. Of course Indi ran straight for the open gate. By the time I got to the gate with Turbo half the herd were through. After a full lap of the south pasture I managed to reunite the herd.  Note to self shortcuts don’t pay. Do it right or don’t do it at all

Two things that I am really excited about. WHY because they are FREE and I have them; and if I'm smart about it I will continue to have them.  I went down the road of regenerative agriculture not only because I strongly believe it is better for the environment but because the concept of minimizing input costs to maximize return on investment make perfect business sense. A lot of News articles and agriculture forums mention how input costs are currently outpacing revenue. Fertilizer is expected to rise 300% (I have not fact check this- why because I don't use any chemical inputs), the price of Hay makes me want to cry, Gas and Diesel for equipment is at all time highs, the cost of purchasing equipment is also something that seems out of reach for most. The cost of everything is rising. The reason we hear about most often is because of disruptions in the supply chain; Covid, border protests, the war in Ukraine, pipelines, no pipelines drought, floods, forest fires, hurricanes the reasons seem never ending. In the end no matter the reason (real or perceived) the increased costs are passed on to us, the consumer. Walk through your local grocery store and take a look at where the food came from. The longer the distance your food travels the more the increased handling and transportation costs are going to be passed on. So back to Grass and Water and why I'm excited. I walked the ranch this morning and I realized that mother nature is providing me all the input requirements I need FREE OF CHARGE. By working with the land and not overstocking we are starting the spring with plenty of grass. That grass does more that just feed cattle, It creates a armour to protect the soil from overheating, allowing water to be retained. When that water arrives in the form of rain or snow melt the grass prevents runoff. The grass also sequesters carbon and nitrogen right out of the air ALSO FREE OF CHARGE. We have a truck a tractor a side by side and a few implements that we attempt to minimize the use of. Otherwise the "employees" (ranchers, horses and cows) and mother nature do all the work. The only supply chain we worry about is the distance from the Ranch to the Custom butcher to your front door, usually less that 100KM. Walking the ranch today I realized the land is doing a great job all by itself. There are natural swales capturing snow melt into small catchments waiting for the soil to thaw so it can soak in all that water. The grasses, left plentiful last fall, are ready to receive the next herd of cattle and even the ponds that after last years drought were almost empty are full again. That is why I apply Regenerative Agriculture practices and why I am so excited about Grass and Water.

Raised Naturally is something we truly believe in at Sky Hound Ranch. Our grass is our greatest asset and is what grows our cattle. We don’t want their food covered in chemicals. Agriculture should be about fostering life and growing natural nutrient dense food. Herbicides, Pesticides, Fungicides by their name are about killing, however they more often kill the good with the bad and strip the soil. Regenerative Agriculture is a process that is trying to reverse that course. Avoiding tillage, rotational grazing, diversity of forage species, cover crops are just a few ways that we can improve the soil and ultimately improve our environment. We should all want to know what goes into the food we eat. The best way to do this is reach out to a local farmer, one who will welcome you, show how your food is raised, treated and harvested. Contrary to what you might see at rodeo events, working cattle on the Ranch is done in a slow and low stress manner. Over the summer we continually ride through the herd getting the cattle use to us and the horses. That way when it is time to rotate pastures or round up for transport its just another day of walking around for them.  We strive to have our animals live as good a life as possible until that "one bad day". During their time with us they have lots of good grass, ample water, kind treatment and low stress handling. I would often ride out to check the herd and on my way back to the "barn" find I had approximately 80 cows following me, and no they were not keeping 6 feet apart

One of my biggest influences was my Grandfather. At the age of 3 my "Grampy" put me on a horse and I was hooked. He had a number of horses, big beautiful horses, Chico (I still have a scar on my thumb from feeding carrots to him with my thumb up in the air), Sheila his go to mare and his Palomino- Amad a mixture of my name because my mom refused to allow him to name a horse after her son:-) In the early 1970s our vacations were wagon trains like the one from Wood Mountain Saskatchewan to Wolfe Point Montana in 1972. At 3 years old I wanted to be one of the outriders but was stuck with Mom and Nannie as they drove the car and trailer to the next nights stop, not fair after all I was a cowboy (at least that is what my 3 year old self thought). Grampy taught me to ride on a little pony named Candy but I wanted to be on Chico and riding with the cowboys. Those were great summers, stopping each night for a barn dance or a pow wow and usually ending the last day as part of the opening parade for some rodeo somewhere. By 1972 I was upgraded to "wagon passenger" still not what my now 4 year old self wanted but at least I got to spend the day with Grampy on the trail. To say I wanted to be just like Grampy might be an understatement. When we were not riding we were fishing or hunting or traveling to rodeos. So while I look forward to our first full year of running Sky Hound Ranch I am taking time to reflect on the man who put me on the path to who I am today.  Grampy I miss you but I know you are in a better place where the sun always shines, the meadows are green and the horses never buck, well almost never.