You can buy your meat direct from local ranchers and farmers. You may have noticed empty shelves at the meat counters in grocery stores lately. Be assured that there is not a meat shortage. There are a few cracks in the supply and distribution chain. Governor Gregg Abbott addressed this problem with the meat packing plant near Amarillo that serves Texas on a YouTube broadcast last week. Workers there became sick with COVID-19, and there were not enough people to work.

NTX BBQ Supply in Denison has plenty of fresh ground beef and chicken. Drue Bynum of Dominion Farms LLC near Denison would love to sell you some beef. There are plenty of ranchers around Texas that will let you order fresh beef online. Many of these ranchers and growers do not give their animals growth hormones and antibiotics. This makes their meat much better for your family.

How Beef Goes from Pasture to Table

I want to thank Drue Bynum for helping us to understand the process of getting a steak from his ranch to your table. The buzzwords used today are “Farm to Table”. When it comes to livestock, that process takes time and involves different facilities. When it comes to cattle, the beeves change hands two to three times.

Ranchers breed healthy cows with healthy bulls, and cows give birth once a year. During warm months, most ranchers let cows give birth naturally in the field. They may move cows into a barn if it is too cold to give birth. If the birth becomes complicated, the rancher will have to pull the calf out of the cow, but this is not common. Then the calf gets an ear tag for identification. The rancher keeps some bulls and cows for future breeding and sells the rest for meat.

The calf eats grass and mother’s milk for its first months of life. Mature calves are separated from mama cows; the bulls go into one pasture and the cows into another. Ranchers keep the highest quality calves as breeding stock. At this point, ranchers put the calves to graze over a summer or a winter eating wheat so they get fatter and build muscles and grow up to 800 pounds. This process is called backgrounding.

When you drive by a pasture and see it full of beautiful young beeves, the rancher is backgrounding them to get them ready for the feedlot. The feedlots are where the cattle are “finished” for slaughter. They feed them on grain until the cattle weigh between 1,050 and 1,100 pounds. People like the taste of grain-fed beef, and this is the last stage of a beef calf’s life. The butcher takes over from here. The butchers humanely stun the cattle before slaughter with different methods so they do not release adrenaline which makes meat tough.

Local Beef, Pork, and Chicken

You can find supplies of local beef, pork, and chicken in Grayson County and beyond. I found four sources quickly and within a few minutes of an online search. Then I made a few phone calls. Some ranchers only sell whole or one-half butchered cattle while others sell custom cuts. I found many ranches in Texas and other states that sell custom cuts online. Below is a list of four local places I found that are not short on meat. I did not intentionally ignore Oklahoma, so if you are an Oklahoma rancher or farmer who sells your beef, pork, or chicken locally, please leave a comment below with your information.

Dominion Farms LLC, near Denison, Texas

Drue and Nora Bynum, owners. Fifth generation family ranch. Drue apologizes for his website being out of date. He currently only sells grass-fed, all natural whole or half cows. He requires a deposit before he takes the beef to the butcher for you.

http://dfmeats.com/

Cook’s Farm Ranch, near Savoy, Texas

Harold and Sharon Cook, owners. This farm and ranch sells all natural, pasture-raised pork, chicken, and eggs, plus vegetables and fresh canned goods. They deliver locally. They are only one of the many local meat suppliers at NTX BBQ Supply. They sell by the pound at the farm.

https://www.facebook.com/CookRanch.HGV/

https://www.localharvest.org/cooks-farm-ranch-M55065

NTX BBQ Supply, Denison, Texas

I spoke with the manager of this BBQ gem, Baleigh Hudman. They sell Angus and Wagu beef, plus chicken and pork. Local ranchers are supplying NTX BBQ Supply with great all natural meat. They have plenty of ground beef and chicken right now!

https://ntxbbq.com/

Fischer’s Meat Market, Muenster, Texas

I have been a huge fan of Fischer’s Meat Market for years. Fischer’s finishes livestock from local ranchers, and everyone in Cooke County and far away knows what a great market it is with the highest quality of freshness in everything they sell.

http://fischersmeatmarket.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fischers-Meat-Market/136055959770908

Texoma Ranchers and Farmers Direct Sales to Consumers

https://www.facebook.com/groups/890807534731359/

List of Texas Farmers and Ranchers

I did not check the websites on this list to see where they were located or if they sell online, but this is proof from the Texas Department of Agriculture that there are many local places to buy if you look for them.

http://gotexan.org/Home/SupportLocalFarmersandRanchers.aspx

Order Custom Online from Farmhouse Delivery

https://farmhousedelivery.com/rancher_boxes