Mannix Grass-Finished Beef - FAQs

Below are some of our most frequently asked questions, and some brief answers. Feel free to reach out if you want to know more, or if you have questions that aren’t answered here! We promise to answer as honestly and accurately as possible!

• What is "Grass-Finished" Beef?

  Our beef are 100% grass-fed and finished. We chose the term “grass-finished” because we wanted to differentiate ourself from some producers who choose to market their beef as “Grass-fed and grain finished”. That could basically refer to all grain fed and feed lot beef, and we don’t think it is what customers are looking for when they look for “Grass-fed”.

  Also, we wanted to emphasize that our beef are in fact “finished”. This refers to grazing high quality forages for enough time to acheive the level of fat cover and marbling needed for a better eating experience. We think that much grass-fed beef is butchered too lean, before the animal is finished, and so can be a little dry and not as tender.

• Are your animals raised on pasture?

  Yes! Our beef are raised on pasture from birth to slaughter. Our animals graze perennial pasture from the time the grass is ready in spring, through summer and fall, and into the winter. When we are no longer able to graze, animals are fed grass hay/alfalfa until grazing begins again in the spring. Hay is fed out on pasture as well, to return those nutrients to the soil where it was harvested.

• Are you Organic?

  No, we are not certified organic. Our animals are pasture raised, grass-fed and finished, hormone and antibiotic free, but we are not certified organic.

• Do you use herbicides or pesticides?

  The vast majority of our pastures, especially those grazed by finishing beef, are herbicide free. With most of our pastures perennial, and very little tillage or planting going on, there is often no need to spray for weeds, especially in our best pastures that our grass-fed beef use.

  However we do still use some herbicides to spot spray for noxious weeds, such as houndstongue and knapweed, in some places on the ranch. (Think someone driving around on a 4-wheeler and using a nozzle to target some noxious weeds in places) Or for example, we experimented with no till to re-establish a pasture a few years ago, and experimented with using an herbicide to knock down weeds in the absence of tillage. (We haven’t done this since)

• Do you use antibiotics?

  Our beef is antibiotic free. We do doctor sick animals if they need it on the ranch, but if so we notch their ear and remove them from the beef program and sell them through other marketing channels. If the animal is younger, it will likely get sold at auction to the broader beef market. If it is older or near finished, our family will likely butcher it and eat it ourselves.

  We also do our best to manage for herd health so that antibiotics are not needed.

  We of course don’t use any “sub-therapeutic” antibiotics, such as including it in their feed or mineral supplements.

• Do you practice Regenerative Agriculture?

  We hope so!

  While regenerative agriculture isn’t always easy to define, we think of it as going beyond “sustainability” and sustaining existing land health to actually improving the ecological health of the land. To us, this isn’t simply about “checking boxes” such as rotational grazing, or direct marketing grass-fed beef. Eventually it needs to be about monitoring and measuring objective improvements in land and soil health, while taking into account impacts on broad environmental challenges like nutrient pollution and climate change.

  Sustainability itself is a challenging and worthwhile goal to strive for. But at our best, we do think and hope we are actually succeeding in our goal of improving ecological condition of our land in some ways and in some places.

  Regardless we are always striving to improve our management over time and “leave it better!”

• Where is your beef processed?

  The majority of our beef is processed through a state-certified processor, called Superior Meats, in Superior, Montana. We haul a load of beef there every two weeks all year long.

  We have nearly 15 years of experience working with owner Jerry Stroot and his team. He and his team do and excellent job, and we owe much of our success to them!
  
  At times we need to find additional processing, and have had some animals butchered at other facilities such as Whites in Ronan, MT, and Rawhide meats in White Sulpher, MT.

• Is your beef fresh or frozen?

  All beef purchased through our website is frozen and vacuum sealed.
  

  If you would like to get our beef fresh, the Good Food Store in Missoula and Real Food Store in Helena sell Mannix Beef fresh!

• How long does beef stay good in the freezer?

  If the beef is vacuum sealed, and the package stays well sealed, the meat is safe to eat indefinitely. I think the USDA recommends storing it no longer than 7 years.

  If the beef is well sealed, we don’t think you’ll notice any decrease in quality in a year, and probably not for a year or two longer than that. However, it will very gradually decline in quality. You could probably tell the difference between beef that was recently frozen and beef that is 4 years old.

  We try to sell all of our beef within one year of it being packaged.

  If the seal is broken on the beef, eat it as soon as possible. It will still be safe to eat, but it will freezer burn and decline in quality quickly. This basically refers to moisture escaping from the meat in the freezer over time.

  We have found that bone in cuts are more likely to have broken seals, and this is part of the reason most of our beef is boneless.

• Do you vaccinate your cattle?

  Yes, we do have a vaccination program that we revisit each year with our local vet. We think that vaccinations are one of the safest and most cost effective ways to protect the health of our animals, reduce death loss, and prevent the need for more antibiotics or other medications. Because vaccinations work with the animal’s natural immune system, rather than directly attacking pathogens like an antibiotic, they don’t come with some of the harmful side effects of antibiotics such as disrupting the animal’s microbiome, or contributing to antibiotic resistance.

  Currently our vaccination program consists of primarily three vaccinations, that are applied on a rotating schedule. We use a “Seven-way” shot that protects against clostridial bacterial diseases, especially ones that impact the digestive tract. We give a “5-way” shot that protects against digestive and respiratory viral infections. We also give a shot that protects against pink eye and mycoplasma.

  All breeding females in the state are required to get a “BANGS” vaccination for brucellosis as well before they come of breeding age.

  Have more questions or want more detail? Please feel free to reach out. We’d be happy to share our vaccination program in detail with anyone who is interested.

• Do you use mRNA vaccines?

  Recently we’ve had quite a few questions about our vaccination program and mRNA vaccines. No, we don’t currently use any mRNA vaccines, and don’t have any plans to. There actually aren’t any approved for use in animals yet that we are aware of. Unless a future vaccine was developed that addressed a very important and urgent outbreak or need, we likely wouldn’t see the need to experiment with them.