Beef and Pork
Premium Beef
Salazar Meats is committed to providing high-quality, humanely raised beef and pork to Colorado and northern New Mexico. We realize that part of what makes an economy sustainable is reasonable pricing. By raising beef on only grass (no grain inputs ever) and selecting slower-growing heritage breed hogs (that are free roaming) our model is put at a significant economic disadvantage relative to feedlot systems.
By selling large quantities of meat at a time, we save costs associated with marketing and sales. We then pass these saving on to you. We have consistently been able to beat prices of the big chain natural and health food stores by selling in large quantities. If you can’t see us at the farmers market, consider purchasing a large order of beef or pork. We sell beef in bundles as small as approximately 40 lbs. and pork as small as halves.
High Quality Guarantee
Salazar Meats is proud to source meat not only from our family farm, but also from Sweet Grass COOP, an exceptional group of ranchers in Colorado and New Mexico. Please learn about their careful management practices here: http://www.sweetgrasscoop.com/co-op-documents. Click on COOP Production Protocols for details.
We are excited to also be partnering with Rancho Largo for sourcing cattle. Veteran cattleman Grady Grissom has spent many years developing a system that encourages marbling in grassfed/finished animals. Please visit the Rancho Largo website to see the vast and complex system they’ve developed for rotational grazing in Southern Colorado.
Carcass quality is measured before sending it to processing by ultrasound. This ultrasound provides data on the levels of back fat, tenderness, and marbling. Certain minimum scores must be met for the meat to be sold as a bulk pack to you. A low scoring animal will be destined for ground beef and beef jerky. Additionally, as we also control the butchery of these animals, we have the ability to inspect our animals before AND after the slaughter step.
Premium Pork
For the hogs, we and our partnering producers raise only Berkshires from old line genetics. Hogs from this heritage are winning meat quality competitions every year. Berkshire meat is considered by many chefs to be the best pork and in Japan it is considered a delicacy, commanding significant price premiums. As heritage hogs, they do well on pasture, making it a point to root around every nook and cranny in their lot.
The use of their body in a natural environment is a major contribution to the high quality meat coming from these hogs. They are slower growing, but the extra time they take to reach butcher weight is helpful in developing marbling. Additionally, we are excited to have found a mill that provides non-GMO feed. The hogs are fed barley, peas, potatoes, and organic alfalfa.