Thanks for your interest in our chicken!

Our chickens are raised on pasture until it’s time to bring them to a small family business near Brainerd where they are processed in a professional facility under inspection by a Minnesota meat inspector.

The Nelson family does a lovely job. The birds are cleaned well and frozen neatly in sturdy bags.

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We plan to have chickens available on a regular basis

July through October.

Chicken is available in any amount.Customers who want a large number of chickens can preorder by calling us at the farm, and we'll set them aside.

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Ordering in advance is encouraged and appreciated! It helps us plan how many chickens to raise since our freezer space is limited. 

Last summer the chickens were  $3 a pound for whole chickens. We will be watching the cost of chicken feed to see if we can hold that price.

 If you'd like Nelson's to cut your bird into 8 pieces the price was  $3.25 a pound. They are also willing to custom cut up birds for you. So, if you'd like a few birds cut up with all the legs in one bag,breasts in another, etc.....they'll do if for a slight fee.

The birds average 5 1/2 pounds each. We've found it's a nice size whether you want to cut up the chicken or roast it whole.

 The next batch will be ready shortly after the 4th of July .

  We have already started taking orders for the summer of 2012.

Please  call 984-3235 to get on the list or just to ask questions. We are happy to answer any questions you have.

We raise our hogs on pasture rather than the confinement style hog barns  that the big operators use. The hogs are out in the fresh air and sunshine living like....well, like pigs! They wallow in mud, romp around, and root up the pasture.  They keep themselves happy and busy. This is all  good for the pigs and good for the people who eat them.

Pork is available in two ways - in bulk or by individual cuts.

To buy in bulk, you can buy a whole or half pig which we'll deliver to a meat processer.

                This is called custom exempt meat processing. We take your order in advance for a whole or half  hog. When you place your order, we will take your cutting instructions. The questions we'll ask you are quite simple and involve how many chops you want packaged together..2? 3? How thick would you like them cut ? The processor recommends that they be 3/4", is that okay? And so on. Don't worry, we'll guide you through the questions step by step.

We normally bring our pigs to Great Scott Meats in Buhl for custom processing, but this is negotiable. Some people may want to process the pig themselves or have the pig processed elsewhere. Your meat is ready about a week after we deliver the pig along with your custom cutting instructions. If you live or work near other people who are getting our meat, we can usually work out delivery to you. If not, we may ask you to meet us somewhere.

The hanging weight of half of a hog is about 100 pounds.  The cuts you can expect are chops, steaks, roasts, ribs, side pork (or bacon), ground pork, a package of pork neck, and , if you wish, your unrendered lard. Your box of meat will measure  about 19"x15"x9". This doesn't include your smoked product which is about 25-30 pounds of additional meat.

Prices are based upon hanging weight and are subject to change. Please contact us to make sure these prices are current.

Pork by the whole or half for purchase in the spring  of 2012 is 2.39 a pound. We hope to be able to hold that price into the fall.  Of that the processor will receive .45 a pound for slaughter, cutting, wrapping, and freezing. Bear Creek Acres receives the balance for the hog. You will write one check for the full amount to the farm because we will have paid your processing fees for you when we pick up the meat.

This does not include fees for smoking. When we talk on the phone, we can make those arrangements. We have a business that we are comfortable recommending for your custom smoking. They normally charge $1.00 a pound to smoke hams and bacon. We can drop off your meat for smoking when we bring in our own. Or perhaps you want to have someone else do the smoking for you. That's fine. When we take your cutting instructions, you'd tell us this -  and we would relay that information to the processor.

On the other hand, you don't have to have meat smoked. The ham on the pig makes wonderful fresh roasts and steaks. If you prefer to take your pork belly as fresh meat, it's called side pork. 

For those with less freezer space, we can now sell pork by the individual cut.

We have a full line of pork cuts that we had processed under USDA inspection in Clear Lake, MN at McDonald's Meats.

A wide variety of our pork cuts are also available at Natural Harvest Food  Co-op in Virginia, MN.  Natural Harvest is  also handling our Breakfast Links, Wild Rice Brats, Italian Sausage Links, and Bacon. These products were made with our meat (and only our meat) by McDonald's Meats of Clear Lake, MN. We have restocked Natural Harvest's shelves. They are open 7 days a week and you don't have to be a member to shop there.

We are thrilled to say that here on the farm, our freezers are restocked as of the March of 2012. We  sell our meat off the farm and at Farmers Markets in Ely and Tower.

Please call first (218-984-3235)  before visiting to purchase meat. We'd hate for you to make the trip and find us not at home or out of the cut you want. 

PRICES FOR USDA PROCESSED PORK ...SPRING OF 2012

(PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE)

ITALIAN SAUSAGE...$7 (ONE POUND PKG)

WILD RICE BRATS...$7 (ONE POUND PKG)

BREAKFAST LINKS...$7 (ONE POUND PKG)

BACON...$9 (ONE POUND PKG)

PORK CHOPS 2 CHOPS PER PKG.....$5.50/LB (AVG PKG 1#)

SPARE RIBS 1/4 RACK......$5.00/LB (AVG PKG 1#)

COUNTRY STYLE RIBS....$4.50LB (AVG PKG 2#)

PORK SHOULDER ROAST...$4.50/LB (AVG 2#)

PORK CUTLETS...$6.50/LB (AVG 1/2#)

BRAUNSCHWEIGER..$5/CHUB (ABOUT 1#)

Our Jersey cow had a calf today! The great news is that it was uncomplicated. We marked the calendar the day the bull bred her, and today was the first day on the range of dates the book said she would calve. Shannon walked into the barn to do chores, and it was laying there curled up and being cleaned off by her mom. He came to get me...I dressed and grabbed a camera and made it in time to record it's first steps and first drink. Looks like all is well. A quick glance makes us think it's a heifer..but she was pretty wobbly and we just let the two be.  We'll take a good look later.

The other great news is that this means in a few days we can drink milk from our cows again! For those of you who don't really understand where milk comes from.... aside from the lower end of a cow...here's some info. A cow (like a lady) doesn't make milk until she has something (or someone) to make milk for! So, a cow is dry (not making milk) until she has a baby. A dairy cow will make way to much milk for her baby so families can drink her milk too. She will continue to make milk pretty much as long as we continue to take milk from her. But she will make less as time goes on. At some point we will have her bred, and 71/2  months or so after that we will let her dry up to prepare for the birth of her next calf. The cycle goes on and on...

Pretty neat, huh?

 If you have been considering purchasing a 1/4 beef for your freezer, now is the time to call. We won't have any more beef for quite a while. We have been doing both spring and fall butchering, but are toying with the idea  of switching to fall only.

Call us at 218-984-3235 or email me at wycoff@frontier.com. We are happy to answer your questions. If you have never purchased a 1/4 beef before, we understand and will lead you through the process.

Thank you for your interest in our beef.

We raise our beef on pasture. They are not stuffed into a feed lot with hundreds of other cows. They are on grass with plenty of fresh air and sunshine . They are also fed an all natural grain ration. This means that the feed is not organic, however the animals receive no anti-biotics, no hormones, and there is no animal by-products in their feed.

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Currently, we are only selling our beef by the whole, half, and quarter. The meat will be processed at Great Scott Meats in Buhl. The price we quote you includes the processor's fee of .40 a pound (based on hanging weight) for slaughter, cutting, wrapping and freezing your meat.

The beef we are selling in the fall of 2011 is  $3.30 pound - based on hanging weight. We are hoping to be able to hold that price for the next processing.

We will have a few 1/4s available for sale in the in the fall of 2011.

So, let's say you think you might like a bunch of beef in your freezer.

Here's how it works:

First you call us and get on the list. We'll give you an aproximation of when we'll have beef again. Right now we are taking names for the Fall of 2010.

A couple months before we bring the cattle to Great Scott Meats, we'll call you and take your cutting instructions. This is easy. We'll ask you how you want your ground meat packaged...usually people want 1 pound packages. My family's made up of big eaters...so I get mine in 1-1/2 pound packs. Do you want 3-4 pound or 4-5 pound roasts? Do you want your prime rib whole...or would you rather have it cut into rib steaks? Don't worry. We'll guide you through it step-by-step. After we talk about your instructions, we'll let you know when we expect to deliver the meat. If you live or work in a fairly convenient location, we'll bring it to you. Or we may ask that you meet us somewhere. We will be able to give you an aproximate total for your meat, but since all animals weigh different amounts...it's something of a guess. You can expect a 1/4 of a beef to hang between 160 -175 pounds. All animals also have different amounts of waste, as well - but once the animal is processed you can expect aproximately 2 boxes, measuring about 19"x15"x9" each, for your freezer.

When we bring the animal to Buhl, we will also deliver your custom instructions to Jim. He'll cut and wrap your meat to order.

When we deliver your meat...a personal check is just fine.

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The chickens are in the freezer case near all the pork products that we sell at the Co-op. After you try one, be sure and let me know how you fixed it. I love hearing all the fun ways people cook our meat. The other day one of our customers says she seasoned one up with herbs, split the chicken so it would lay flat (like an open book, I imagined) and then pressed it with a couple of bricks wrapped in tin foil! Sounded lovely. I generally just rinse it off, season it with garlic, pepper, and Season Salt, and toss it on the grill ....no trussing, no stuffing. Just a simple delicious meal a couple hours later.

Our chickens are raised outside on pasture. Their shelter are little portable huts called chicken tractors. They eat grass and bugs and run around. The feed they get is a nice clean grain with no antibiotics, hormones or animal products.

We raise safe, tastey,  humanely raised meat for your family and ours!

 We'll try to make each Market each week, but sometimes for one reason or another we have to miss one.

 We bring pork every week and later in the summer we plan to have chicken. In 2010 we also had grassfed beef!

If you call 218-984-3235 or email wycoff@frontier.com, we'll be able to tell you in advance if we'll be at a given market on any given day.

As a convenience for customers who may be pressed for time when they come to shop at Market, as well as to insure we don't sell out if you can't get to Market right away, we are going to try taking advance orders.

Email us (or phone...whatever you prefer) and tell us what you'd like us to set aside on Market Day. We'll bag it up and make out a bill ahead of time.

  No order is too big or too small. If you email your order, we'll email a confirmation so you know we'll be ready for you.

IN 2010 WE PARTICIPATED IN BOTH THE ELY AND TOWER FARMERS MARKETS. 

Market Days and Schedule 2010

The Tower Farmers Market

Fridays 4 PM to 6 PM

In the Depot Parking lot next to the train

This was a new Market that opened in of June 2009. We had a great first year and a bit  bigger in 2010. We have high hopes for 2011. We also welcome new local vendors.  Call or email me for details! 

Ely Farmers Market

Tuesday Nights 5:00 PM - 6:30  PM

The Ely Farmer's Market is at Whiteside Park in Ely. If the weather is icky look for the vendors in the Log Pavillion in the park. Or...just follow the crowd. The Ely Market is well established and very well received. We have a loyal bunch who check out the Market every Tuesday.

It's a really fun way to spend an evening.