CSA Meat Share

We offer Main Season and Fall Season meat shares. The Main Season is 5 deliveries, 1 at the end of each month from June – October. The Fall meat share is 2 deliveries in November.

What Is Included In The Main Season Meat Share?

The 2012 meat shares will be quite similar to the 2011 shares. A 2012 meat share is 5 deliveries and EACH delivery will include APPROXIMATELY the following:

2 whole chickens (cut up or whole)
2-4 lbs of ground beef
1 cut of beef
2 cuts of pork

Beef cuts were steaks (t-bone, rib eye, or sirloin), chuck or arm roast, sirloin tip or rolled rump roast, stew meat and soup bones. Pork cuts were pork chops, ham steak, bacon, bratwurst, Italian or breakfast (sage) sausage. The total weight of each meat share was 15-20 lbs depending on the size of the chickens and the cuts of beef and pork included. There may be minor adjustments to this plan for the 2012 meat shares.

What Is Included In The Fall Season Meat Share?

More information on Fall Meat Shares coming soon.

Can I Customize My Meat Share?

No, but we will take requests for chicken only or no pork. Other than those common requests, we find it hard to accommodate everyone’s personal tastes.

How Are The Animals Raised?

Chickens or Broilers
We receive the chicks when they are just one or two days old. For the first 2 weeks, the tender chicks are given supplemental heat and kept sheltered to protect them until they are sturdy enough to spend their days outdoors. After 2 weeks, the chicks no longer need extra heat and begin leaving the chicken house to roam and graze. They receive a diet of certified organic grain and pasture. They forage daily supplementing their diet with grass, clover, weed seeds, insects, worms – exactly how a chicken eats when given her natural environment. Chickens like to graze – they NEED to graze and forage and scratch. And our chickens are allowed to do exactly that. When evening comes and the sun is setting, the chickens voluntarily go into their shelter for protection from weather and predators. Like all other animals on the farm, the broilers receive no antibiotics, growth hormones, vaccinations or any medications whatsoever during their lifetime.

Grass Fed Beef
The beef is 100% grass fed and grass finished – no grain ever. The young beef heifers or steers come to our farm from a certified organic grass fed farm here in Illinois. Using rotational grazing which maximizes the quality and quantity of the pasture, the beef calves graze in fallow sections of the garden. In this way, the cattle receive healthy pasture and fertilize the soil. It is an excellent system that nourishes both the animal and the soil. The beef is harvested when the animals are approximately 2+ years of age. Once processed, the beef is dry aged for 14 days before cutting, wrapping and freezing.

Pastured Pork
The pigs come to our farm when they are at least 8 weeks old. We only purchase young pigs who have been raised clean - no vaccines, medications, antibiotics. They are pastured on a fallow section of the garden and happily root and romp in the grass and mud. The hogs are excellent composters happily consuming any weeds, spent plants, spoiled vegetables, etc. These hogs live a good life and they are free to act as pigs do – snouts to the ground, sniffing, rooting, and foraging just as they would in their natural environment. Their intense need to root is obvious when you see the ground after they give it a good going over – incredible! Besides pasture, the pigs also receive a ration of certified organic grain. Just like the beef and chickens, the pigs receive no vaccinations, growth hormones, or any medications in their lifetime.

Why Are Pastured Meats Better?

Pastured meat is the best situation for the animal, consumer, and the environment. Having our animals on pasture more closely resembles their natural environment and grazing patterns. The pasture based diet keeps the livestock healthy and stress free. Secondly, it is well documented that pastured meats are higher in omega 3’s, vitamin D, vitamin E, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Pastured meats also have more complexity of flavor and better texture than confinement raised meats. And finally, pasturing livestock is the most environmentally friendly way of raising meat. Unlike feedlots, the manure generated by the animals is an asset – not a liability. It is a valuable fertilizer used to enrich our soils.

All pastured meats produced on the farm are exceptional in quality – both in flavor and nutrition.

Where and How Is The Meat Processed?

The beef and pork are processed at Bittner’s Eureka Locker in Eureka, Illinois. This is a small USDA inspected meat locker. The animals make the trip to the locker in our livestock trailer and are not crowded or cramped in any way. The beef is dry aged for 14 days before cutting, wrapping, and freezing. The pork is cut, wrapped, and frozen without aging. All meat processing is certified organic including sausage seasoning and any cured pork products like bacon and ham.

The chickens are processed at Central Illinois Processing in Arthur, Illinois which is the only USDA inspected chicken processor in Illinois. The birds make the trip to Arthur in our livestock trailer and are not put into any type of confined or small crate for the ride. Operated by an Amish family, this processing plant does not use any bleach or other chemical to clean the chickens. The chickens are chilled, wrapped and labeled then packed into coolers with ice for the ride home to the farm where we freeze them in our freezers.

Both the Eureka Locker and Central Illinois Processing are small, family owned and operated facilities. When Brian takes the animals to be processed, he works personally with the owners to assure the meat is processed to our high standards.

When the day does come to take our livestock for processing, we try to make it as stress free as possible. Stress only makes the loading, traveling and unloading situation difficult and uncomfortable so calm heads prevail.

What Does It Cost?

Main Season
Five Deliveries, once per month, June – October, $545

Fall Season
Two deliveries in November, $220

What Are The Dates For The Main Season and Fall Season Deliveries?

Drop Off Times & Locations

Main Season Meat Share

Local/Peoria Area
Each share holder will receive one delivery per month June to October. Peoria/Local will take place on a Wednesday along with vegetable and egg shares. Exact dates will be announced based on the number of shares to each delivery location and will be announced once all meat shares have been purchased. Please email if you have any concerns about your delivery date.

Naperville
Each share holder will receive one delivery per month June to October. Naperville will take place on a Friday along with vegetable and egg shares. Exact dates will be announced based on the number of shares to each delivery location and will be announced once all meat shares have been purchased. Please email if you have any concerns about your delivery date.

Fall Meat Share

Local/Peoria Area
November 14
November 28

Naperville
November 2
November 16

Important Pickup Detail

Peoria – Meat Shares are only available for pick up on Wednesdays. No Meat Shares will be delivered to the KLR location.

Naperville – Meat Shares are only available for pick up on Fridays. No Meat Shares will be available for Saturday pickup.

How Do I Sign Up?

Shares are available until sold out. Shares will sell out! Subscriptions can be purchased online or by sending payment directly to Broad Branch Farm, Ltd. at the following address. Before mailing, print out the subscription form, fill out all information, sign and return to our address along with your payment.

Broad Branch Farm, Ltd.
15848 Twp. Rd. 500 North
Wyoming, Illinois 61491