2011 Texas Drought News:

We held on through the summer of 2011 hopeful for tropical moisture in September.  It never arrived.  We were not able to grow enough grass to sustain the numbers in our herd through the winter, so we were forced to reduce our herd to preserve both the health of our range soils and health and genetics of our core breeding herd.  All lighter weight beef animals were sold.  This was a heartbreaking decision for us, but there is not enough hay available to feed our way out of this drought.  Since it takes two years for a weanling calf to reach slaughter weight, we do not anticipate having much beef available in 2013.  We will feed our stockpiled hay to our heavier steers to fatten them for beef orders through 2012.  If you've ever considered buying a large freezer and stocking up on grassfed meats, this would be the time to make that purchase.  Locally produced, source verified from birth to harvest, grassfed meats will be scarce and expensive in the coming years 
Hay Article
We were fortunate to receive good rainfall in December 2011. Our soil moister is high, creating a favorable environment for spring grass growth. We have to hold out until April 2012 before our ranch will begin to recover from four straight years of drought with only a reprieve in the summer of 2010. Hay prices have risen over $350 per ton making purchasing hay to feed the cattle prohibitively expensive. We would have to more than double our beef prices to justify paying that high of a price. The market will not bear such gouging. If normal moisture continues through this spring, grass will be plentiful and hay prices will be forced to return to the usual $70 per ton. January through March will be very difficult months, but we are hopeful we will be able to hold onto our 2011 calf crop so we will have beef in 2014.

Our focus at this time is to preserve this endangered breed for the benefit of future generations.  We will hold our heifer calves to provide replacement breeding animals for other ranchers that were forced to destock due to this drought.  Our goal is to make available the right kind of cattle for ranchers building herds.  There are numerous horned cattle on the market that we refer to as "wronghorns" because they are introgressed with Bos Indicus genetics. The Cattlemen’s Texas Longhorn Registry says there are fewer than 3500 historically correct, genetically pure Texas Longhorn cattle in existence.  These are animals whose genotype reflects descent only from Iberian stock brought to the New World by Spanish explorers in the 1500's and no recent introgression from other breeds.  These are the kind of cattle we raise.  They are endangered and not available like a widget from your local supercenter livestock auction unlike many other beef breeds.

Beef Ordering Info:

Grass finishing is dependent on rainfall and forage growing seasons.  We supplement with alfalfa hay during drought and dormant seasons to assure our cattle receive adequate nutrition.  If you would like to place an order or be added to our email mailing list to be notified when we are sending product for processing, please send an email to Debbie Davis.

Bandera Grassland grassfed longhorn beef is available for purchase in whole carcasses, sides, quarters and eighth carcasses.  Whole carcass and sides are priced is $6.25 per pound.  The average weight per side is 187 lbs. so the average price is $1168.75 per side.  Quarter and eighth carcasses consisting of equal cuts from the fore and hindquarters are priced at $7.00 per pound.  Quarters average 93 pounds each, so the average quarter price is $651, and eighths $325.50.  Organ meats (liver, heart, kidney and tongue) are sold separately at $3 per pound.

Demand for healthy grassfed beef has increased to the point that we rarely have unsold portions in stock. Customers that place orders in advance of an animal being processed are given priority on availability and have the opportunity to specify how their order is cut and packaged.  We require a deposit on custom cut beef.  You may specify the thickness of your steaks and how many per package. You may also specify the weight of your roasts and if you want your tenderloin left whole or cut into filets.  You may also request your filets be bacon-wrapped. Custom orders may include other cuts such as round steak, cutlets, and custom cut roasts.  Please anticipate about one month wait for your order to be available due to time required for processing and dry aging.

We send out email announcements when we have unsold beef available and it usually is all spoken for within 24 hours.  We make deliveries to the Austin and San Antonio areas and points in-between and are able to economically ship small orders via UPS to cites in Texas that are within the overnight delivery area for UPS Ground shipping service. However, we do not ship during summer months.

The quarters and eighths we sell contain mixed cuts from both the forequarter and hindquarter.  The break down of a carcass is approximately 50% trim that is ground for hamburger, 20% premium steaks and 30% other cuts.  A quarter will contain approximately:

2 pkg. shank (osso buco/soup bones)
2 shoulder roast-appx. 2 lbs.
2 chuck roast-appx. 2 lbs.
1/2 brisket-appx. 2 lbs.
1 pkg. fajita meat or flank steak
2 racks of short ribs and 1 rack of back ribs
6 pounds stew meat (1 lb. pkgs)
45 pounds ground beef (1 lb. pkgs)
4 pkgs. strip steaks (2 steaks per pkg., 1-1/4" thick)
2 pkg. ribeye steaks (2 steaks per pkg., 1-1/4" thick)
3-4 sirloin steaks (1" thick)
2 pkg. tenderloin (2 filets per pkg., 1-1/2" thick)

Chuck The chuck includes ribs 1-5 and the shoulder blade. Roasts from the chuck contain a lot of connective tissue and generally require moist heat cooking to become tender. They also contain a higher percentage of fat than other roasts. Flat iron steaks also come from this section. Rib The rib section contains ribs 6-12. A full boneless rib roast, weighs 8-9 lbs. These premium cuts have a moderate fat covering, are tender and generally are grilled or roasted in dry heat. Back ribs are also located here. Short Loin This part of the cow is usually cut into premium steaks including New York Strips and Tenderloin, or T-bone and Porterhouse. These steaks are lean and grilled or roasted over dry heat. Sirloin The sirloin is a little less tender than cuts from the short loin and have a little more fat content. Their flavor and lower price make them popular with families that enjoy grilling. These cuts also lend themselves well to recipes with sauces and breading.	Round Cuts from the round include lean roasts for braising, economy steaks that require tenderizing, and trim for lean ground beef. Flank These thin, lean cuts are used for grilling. Plate This section contains ribs 6-12 where skirt steaks are trimmed very lean for marinating and grilling. This is also the area from which short ribs are cut. Brisket from longhorn cattle is quite lean and lends its self well to braising or smoking with a source of moist heat. Shank Meat from the upper fore and rear legs contains a lot of connective tissue and requires braising for long periods of time. Thick broths from marrow give soups and osso buco their rich flavor. Organ Meats, Tongue and Ox Tail also make flavorful and nutritious dishes. These need to be requested prior to slaughter.

Cooking Tips: We often tell people to cook Grassfed meats over a low flame to avoid loss of moisture because Grassfed meats are lean and lack the fat content that gives steaks from grain-fed meats the appearance of juiciness. To reserve the actual moisture in your meats, sear briefly over high flame to seal in the juices, then reduce the heat for cooking. Shannon Hayes, author of The Grassfed Gourmet cookbook, says it best here.

Orders for Sides of Beef include cuts from all sections listed above.
Organs:  Obviously, there is only one ox tail, one heart, and one tongue per animal. The heart can be cut in half or quartered and the liver (weighing 7-9 lbs.) can be cut into many portions. There are two kidneys. The thymus gland is only present in young, growing calves and atrophies when it becomes inactive in adult cattle. Therefore, sweetbreads are not available from our cattle.

How much freezer space is needed? One cubic foot of freezer space will hold approximately 25 pounds of beef. One whole beef will fill a full-size upright or chest freezer.