“Cattle might be roped and wrangled, but during Christmas time, even the wildest cowboys are tamed by the spirit of the season.”
Hard to believe another year has almost run its course and we are heading into our eighth year on the ranch. Every day it seems Connie and I learn something new, meet a new challenge, meet more great folks in our community and grow fonder of the decision we made to move here full time.
One of the neat things about the ranch is that we have been able to entertain our family and friends and continue to reconnect with some old friends as well. When you hang-out for a weekend, have a tasty steak, a glass of wine and some good conversation you leave pretty rested and relaxed.
It's just a short commute to our Blue Adobe Mortgage Salinas office, friends and family on the Peninsula. But the home office is even a shorter commute that I enjoy when I can. Plus, I love my quad-runner ride back up to the house after the day is done. Working remote can have a few advantages for sure.
It sure has been a heck of a ride the last few years in the residential mortgage business with low inventory and higher rates, but I am blessed to work with an awesome team at Blue Adobe Mortgage that get up every day and work hard to help our buyers get their part of the American Dream.
Sunset heading up from the home office the other evening -
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. We had sixteen of our family here for a few days and we got to spend a lot of time with some of our nephews and our niece. I didn't even recognize my horse after Olivia brushed him out. Joe got the most quail, Christian is a cowboy at heart and Marc and Blake missed again. I really love watching these young kids grow up and to see how truly interesting and unique they each are. We failed to get the "family pictures" but I snapped this one of our table on Thanksgiving Day.
We received some really nice compliments on our ranch raised beef this year and continue to work hard to bring the best beef to our friends, family and customers.
Thank you to all of our past customers. We appreciate each and every one of you.
So, where’s the beef?
I have had a lot of people ask about when our next beef will be ready. My best estimate is this coming May. I’ll be reaching out to confirm orders with past customers and to those of you who have expressed interest this past year. Please feel free to call or email me if you would like to get on the list. Email me at info@jnbranchbeef.com
We are a small operation with a very limited quantity and strive to raise some of the best quality finished beef you will find anywhere. Our beef cattle are pasture-grass raised, and grain finished for a minimum of 4 months. We never use hormones or antibiotics. All our beef is raised right here on our ranch in Paicines CA and cut to order by our friend Jack at Tri-Way Meats in Hollister.
Here are some great questions I get asked a lot and here are my best answers:
Q: How much do I get in weight?
A: Our goal each year is to get the live steer to 1300+ lbs.
Each quarter steer will have a hanging weight of about 175 to 220lbs (about 200lb average the past 5 years)
Cut and wrapped, each quarter will be about 100 to 120lbs
You can have this cut and wrapped anyway you like with Tri-Way Meats in Hollister
If you would like any of the offal let me know. This adds to the processing weight/cost, most don’t want it, so we don’t always process this.
Q: How much does a quarter cost?
A: The way we are allowed to sell our beef is like this -
You pay for a quarter of the live steer weight, you pay the ranch slaughter, you pay the cut and wrap. You know when you go to the fine restaurants, and they have that “Market Price” where the actual price should be? Well, that’s a little how we have to do it here.
Simple easy answer is about $4.10. lb. + slaughter + cut and wrap. An example would be:
A 1,300lb. live steer x $4.10lb. = $5,330. You will have to add to that slaughter costs of $250 + cut and wrap costs estimate $1400. Total estimated for a whole steer cut and wrapped will run you about $7,000.
For a quarter you can estimate about $1,300. for 1/4 of the animal + $400 for slaughter, cut, wrap or total of around $1700
And yes, all of this includes – raising the calf, time on pasture grass at the ranch, my cold early coffee mornings graining them for four+ months and my wine evenings singing to them (they like country music and music from the 80’s the best).
So, this holiday season, eat more beef and less bun…………
If you grew up in the 80’s you are sure to remember this one………Bing Videos
And if this little Christmas song that blew up in the 80’s doesn’t put you in the mood, well maybe you’re the Grinch Dave Edmunds Band – “Run Rudolph Run” (Columbia) 1982
Hope that helps dispel the cost myth a bit, but you can always give me a call or email at info@jnbranchbeef.com
New ranch word - "lowing" - as in the song Away in the Manger
The cattle are lowing
The Baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
Lows (I know you always wanted to know this) are lower-pitched vocalizations cattle make to find each other, and to signal contentment.
With all the rain in our favor the last few years, the grass has grown a little taller and stays a little longer, and our cattle have been lowing a bit more.
Our lab Ripp likes to Low around a lot as he keeps one eye on me at work.
Levi, not so much. He's just not really a lower. That little guy never slows down.
The Barn is Ready for Santa - no horses in here but sometimes an occasional jackass...........hahaha
We got some good projects completed on the ranch this year and have a big list for next year.
May your Holiday season be filled with love, joy, gratitude
and of course, a tasty steak.
From our family to yours,
Merry Christmas!!
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Boerlin JNB Ranch Beef
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