What makes your beef natural?

Unlike some natural beef and poultry that you can get, Meyer Natural Angus is not "minimally processed" or just "residue free". The animals that are used for Meyer Natural Angus are totally free of added growth hormones and all antibiotics throughout their entire lives. The cattle are never fed animal by-products.

Is your beef also organic?

The beef that we produce is not organic due to the fact that our cattle eat feedstuffs that are raised using traditional farming methods. We do feed our animals GMO-free corn when available. The cost of going to organic feed would raise the cost of our beef by approximately 30% and our customers have not shown a willingness to pay that type of premium. Most organic beef that is sold today is finished using organic grasses which are less costly than organic corn. We have the highest quality beef on the market today and we feel that is only attainable by finishing with a corn diet.

What else do you feed your animals?
Our cattle are fed a 100% vegetarian diet consisting of corn, corn hulls, soybean hulls, hay and grasses. Currently, corn makes up about 2/3 of the feed mix. Our cattle are NEVER fed animal by-products or subtherapeutic antibiotics.

No Antibiotics? What if the animal gets sick?

If an animal gets sick it is immediately treated and removed from the Meyer Natural Angus program.

Do you use feedlots?

Our cattle are raised on different feeding regiments in order to achieve finished cattle every week of the year. Some cattle are weaned at 500 lb. and then taken directly to the feedlot where they are fed corn for about 240 days until finished. Other cattle are weaned and then backgrounded for up to 1 year on grass pastures. They are then taken to the feedlot and finished for approximately 170 days on corn.

Is cooking Meyer Natural Angus different from cooking other beef?

Because we never use growth promoting hormones, our tender, tasty beef doesn't retain water. For this reason it will cook faster than you might be used to. Check out our Grilling Guides for more information.

Are your animals humanely treated?

We are the only beef company to adhere to the strict guidelines of the American Humane Association in raising our cattle and in doing so have become the only beef company to be Free Farmed Certified.

How do you handle the end-of-life process of your animals?

As with any meat production facility, the end-of-life process is the most difficult to grapple with in terms of humane treatment. We have tried to be the leader in this area by using a facility designed by Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is an Assistant Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University and has done amazing work to promote the humane treatment of livestock. As we move forward with the American Humane Association, we hope to develop standards and labeling for the are the leader in the humane treatment of cattle and everything we do is designed to bring safe beef to consumers. In addition, we want every animal to be handled with respect and care, and would like our customers to feel good about their choice to eat Meyer Natural Angus.

How can you assure that when your animals are slaughtered they don't get mixed with any other animals that aren't raised Naturally?

We have put a system of very tight checks in place to ensure that we get our own cattle back. The cattle are tagged going in and coming out so that we can reference the same animals. In addition, natural cattle are run first (in the morning) at the slaughter facility so that no commodity cattle products could mingle with our natural beef. This process is monitored by our company, by the slaughter facility, and by the USDA. In addition to tags, there are weights and paperwork to be matched before and after to ensure that the same cattle that go in, come out. We had only one discrepancy in 1999 when "in" head count didn't match "out" head count - it was off by one. All of the cattle were sold out of the slaughter facility as commodity cattle to ensure that there was no question about the integrity of our program. We found out later that one extra animal had been taken to the facility and we had just missed the paperwork. So, in our 6 year history, our slaughter facility has never had a problem. Most importantly, our philosophy is to build our program on strict quality assurances which we will never compromise. So, if there is ever any question, we wouldn't allow the beef in our program.

How can you be sure that your animals are raised according to your "program"?

Any person that has handled Meyer Natural Angus cattle is required to sign an affidavit guaranteeing adherence to the strict Meyer Natural Angus guidelines.