WHOLE (2 Year Old) Custom Beef=~490 lbs Ground, Roast, Steak, Rib, Bone, Organ

Foothill Frolic Farm Live Animal Custom Beef Shares

 

Important Information About Custom Beef Shares

• ALL Custom Beef Shares are PRE-ORDERS.
• Your online order receipt represents your purchase of a Foothill Frolic Farm Live Animal Custom Beef Share.
• At this time, we are only accepting manual payments made:
  • In person at pickup
  • Or by mailed payment
• Payment is due at your On-Farm Pickup.
• We accept:
  • Cash
  • Checks payable to Foothill Frolic Farm

 

How Custom Beef Share Pricing Works

The listed online price of approximately $4,899 reflects the estimated average cost of a WHOLE Live Animal Custom Beef Share.

This estimate is based on:

• Hanging weight pricing of $7.10 per pound
• An average hanging weight of approximately 690 pounds

In addition to the hanging weight beef cost, shareholders are also responsible for:

• Custom hauling and handling fees: approximately $180 per whole beef
• Processing and butcher fees: approximately $579, passed directly through to the shareholder based on actual butcher expenses charged by Russell Meat Packing

 

2026–2027 Custom Beef Share Pricing

Hanging Weight Pricing by Share Size

• WHOLE Share: $7.10/lb
• 1/2 (HALF) Share: $7.25/lb
• 1/4 (QUARTER) Share: $7.50/lb
• 1/8 (EIGHTH) Share: $7.75/lb

Smaller shares require additional coordination, splitting, packaging, and handling, which is reflected in the incremental pricing adjustments.

 

Estimated Whole Beef Share Yield & Cost Breakdown

Our WHOLE Beef Share pricing is based on a projected live animal weight of approximately 1,150 pounds.

Average Yield Estimates

• Average live animal weight: ~1,150 lbs
• Average hanging weight: ~690 lbs
• Average final packaged usable beef product: ~490 lbs

 

Estimated Whole Beef Final Cost

 

Component	Estimated Cost
Live animal custom beef cost	~$4,899
Hauling & handling fees	~$180
Processing & butcher fees	~$579
Estimated Final Total	~$5,658

Based on these averages, the estimated final cost comes to approximately:

~$11.50 per pound of usable packaged beef product

 

Important Legal & Ownership Information

Custom Beef Shares require that the shareholders/owners of the animal pay the animal processing costs directly associated with harvest and butchering.

When you purchase a WHOLE Live Animal Custom Beef Share from Foothill Frolic Farm on Gammon Creek, you are considered an owner/shareholder of the live beef animal.

The harvest, dry-aging, hanging, processing, and butcher fees charged by Russell Meat Packing are passed directly through to you, the shareholder.

 

Tax Advantage

Unlike grocery store meat purchases, there is NO additional 6.25%–6.75% Tennessee food tax added to these farm products.

This can provide meaningful savings compared to retail grocery store meat pricing.

 

 

After placing your Live Animal Custom Beef Share, you will receive an order confirmation e-mail and Foothill Frolic Farm will be in communication closer to On Farm Pick Up Time. 

 

Close to your Beefs harvest date you will receive a Custom Beef Shareholder Informative Note.  This Note will let you know Name, Photo and Stories about your Harvested Beef.  It will also give you important dates of your up and coming on farm pick up.  

 

Eventually, an On Farm Pick Up will need to be arranged when the  processing, dry aged hanging,  and butchering of your beef animal is completed.   This date will generally be about 2 & 1/2 weeks after the initial harvest date.    

 

As a shareholder/customer you will receive all needed On Farm Pick Up Information through Foothill Frolic Farm's e-mail farm post.  

 

Shareholders will receive a final Text announcement that will include Pictures and a Final Cost Spreadsheet letting you know your Final Amount Due and when exactly your On Farm Pick Up starts for your particular harvest group.   You then will have approximately 10 days to pick up your frozen custom beef share.   We generally have 1 time slot per day, within the 10 day period, for shareholders to choose from. 

 

Farm address is 232 Minga Rd; Kingsport, TN 37663

 

We are located in an easy location near the Tri Cities Airport just a quarter mile off of HWY 75 on the Corner of Hamilton Rd. & Minga Rd. There is a farm sign...Foothill Frolic Farm on Gammon Creek... at the Farm Entrance. 

 

For On Farm Pick Ups you will drive up to the white Farmhouse Homeplace,  and one of us here on the farm will have your custom beef share/shares packaged in boxes and ready.  

 

Thanks!

 

Here at Foothill Frolic Farm we have decided that we LOVE grinding in the Organs  (Liver, Kidney, Heart, & Tongue), into the ground beef.   Up to this point there have been many families that have tried the ground this way and it is a WIN WIN.  We as well did our beefs this way as and our whole family loves it too. 

 

More often than not, a family decides this concept is not the best idea for them generally because there is a split in between husband and wife, as for example one side is excited about it, but the other side cannot mentally grasp trying it.  When a detailed analysis is done on taste and smell, often a hint of difference from our regular ground beef to our ground beef + vitals blend can be picked up, but this difference is still very delicious, and this difference can mostly be picked up when the ground beef is cooked plain and one is trying the regular grind to the vitals blend back to back.   

 

The great thing about this concept, which is a current trending product in most high end markets/grocery stores, is that it adds the dense nutrients from the organs into the regular ground beef, without changing the flavor of the ground beef too much.  It works out to be approximately an 8-10% vitals to ground beef blend. 

 

The alternative for not grinding the organs in with the ground beef is that each shareholder will receive the amount of packages of sliced organs that are appropriate for your share size.  I know some of you have wonderful recipes that you like to use specifically for your organs, but if you do not they might just sit in your freezer staring back at you for a while until you rise to the occasion and make the extra effort to use.  

 

Part of why I think the grinding of the organs into the ground is a great option to say yes to, is to avoid what I mention above along with knowing every part of these custom beefs get eaten, and moreover one does not even realize the organs are in the ground.   On the other hand, it is perfectly fine if you are not interested in having organs ground into ground beef.

Comparing the Value of a Foothill Frolic Farm Whole Beef Share

 

If you were purchasing the same quantity of premium regenerative, 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, organically raised beef by the individual cut through a retail market, you could reasonably expect to pay approximately $7,856 for the equivalent amount of beef.

When averaged across all cut categories in a whole beef, premium retail regenerative beef commonly averages approximately:

~$16.05 per pound

 

In comparison, Foothill Frolic Farm Whole Beef Shares average approximately:

~$11.50 per pound of packaged usable beef product

This represents an estimated savings of approximately:

~$2,207 per Whole Beef Share

 

Comparing Other Premium Regenerative Beef Producers

Customers researching comparable regenerative and grass-finished beef programs may wish to explore companies and farms such as:

 

• Force of Nature
• Thousand Hills Organic (formerly Organic Prairie)
• Hickory Nut Gap
• Star Walker Farms
• Parker Pastures
• Seven Sons Farm
• Porter Road Butcher

 

Additionally, locally owned farms throughout the Southeast with somewhat similar practices include:

 

• Sequatchie Cove Farm
• Foxhollow Farm
• White Oak Pastures

Pricing for premium regenerative beef products and custom beef shares from these farms is often comparable or more!!

 

However, Foothill Frolic Farm believes our program stands apart through the unique combination of our production methods, land stewardship, animal welfare practices, and the 11 product premiums that distinguish our beef program.

 

Why Purchase a Whole Beef Share Locally?

By purchasing a LOCAL Whole Beef Share from Foothill Frolic Farm, you are:

• Supporting regenerative agriculture
• Supporting a local family farm
• Helping keep cattle out of the conventional industrialized food system
• Investing in healthier soils and cleaner ecosystems
• Supporting humane and ethical livestock management
• Receiving nutrient-dense, premium-quality beef at a lower cost per pound than comparable retail products
•  

Most importantly, your purchase helps create a more vibrant agricultural ecosystem while allowing our cattle to live in a low-stress, pasture-based environment consistent with our regenerative farming philosophy.

 

Food You Can Feel Good About

When all of these factors are considered together, many families feel confident and encouraged about choosing beef as part of a healthy and balanced diet.

At Foothill Frolic Farm, we believe responsibly raised beef can be:

• Nutrient dense
• Environmentally regenerative
• Ethically produced
• Locally rooted
• Beneficial for both people and the land

Good day to all 13 Foothill Frolic Farm Custom Beef Shareholders for our 15th harvest date of the season that happened this past Monday Nov. 25th, a bright and brisk morning.    

 

The exciting news is that your custom beefs were comfortably and respectfully harvested and are now dry age hanging for a couple of weeks until they will be butchered.  I ESTIMATE On Farm Pick Ups will start around Wednesday Dec. 11th  and go through Sunday Dec 22nd, but the EXACT DATES will be given in quick text closer to time, along with an inventory spreadsheet of Custom Beef Shares, Final Amounts Due, and a few photos.  

 

The 3 Steers that we took were "Continental Divide" 249S,  "Thanksgiving At Last" 251S, & "Rudolf" 253S.  All of these steers were right around the 2 year old mark, and were Fall Born calves in 2022.   All three were stellar and are going to make for some absolutely delicious 100% grassfed/grassfinished-regenerative-organically raised custom beef.  As we do with every beef harvest, we like to express how thankful we are for these three wonderful beef cattle and the beautiful time and life they were able to live right up to their harvest. 

 

"Continental Divide" 249S was born to one of our tried and true old time Hereford cows, G12, and was the first birth to start off our fall calving season in 2022.  I remember seeing his Mamma down by the creek and could tell she had already given birth.  She was looking straight down into the creek.  I remember my heart skipped a beat and I took off running, because based on her stance, there was a possibility that her calf had fallen down the bank of the creek.  Nope, no calf was there, so then I started covering all the thick grass in the proximity trying to spot the black ball that I had yet to notice upon my approach.  I had to look for a while and finally with a huge sigh of relief I found this little one curled up resting in the thick grass. The calf was a very unique baldy (black body and white face), as it had a mostly black face with brushed strips of white scattered upon the face in such designer fashion.  The name Continental Divide was perfect as the unique markings reminded me of continents amidst the oceans.  He has always been one of our favorites because to go along with his beauty, he had such a calm and mystifying type presence.  He would approach and just gaze and look.  

 

"Thanksgiving At Last "251S came to be just as his name implies.  He arrived on Thanksgiving back in 2022.  He had a very sweet and mindful personality, never pushy or impatient. He came from our prized heifer "Veggie Girl".  She was huge, large framed with always a full belly and he was built very similarly and took on her sweet face.  He was all black and always had a thicker coat of fur than some of his other companions.  

 

"Rudolf" 253S came from our Angus Mamma cow, G37 and she raised him to be large and strong.  He from a young age had quicker growth attributes than others in the herd and was always very handsome.  He was born during the Christmas holiday and he would prance and run with full on energy like Rudolf flying through the sky!  He always ran at a higher energy level and grew with leaps and bounds into a very nice looking steer.  

 

All 3 were VERY SPECIAL and like all of the 2022 born steers have grown out to be PRIME Custom Beefs! 

 

These three harvested steer beefs stayed right in with their steer herd as we took the extra effort to load up by means of portable corral, which is what we do every time we harvest our custom beef cattle.  

We let them all know they were much loved and that we as farmer's of beef cattle did the absolute best we could for them all the way up till their harvest time.  As a farm, it is so important for us to uphold the ethic of single source birth to beef practices as this keeps the farmer, the cattle, and the consumer/shareholder most innermost connected, which captures the true essence of what farming food should be about.     

 

We thank you all for making the effort to purchase a custom beef share from us and we know that once you have, you will never want to purchase beef from anyone else...TASTE, QUALITY, TRANSPARENCY & PRACTICES will keep you coming back, we know!!  Hence, the shareholders in this 15th round, who are already Returning Shareholder Customers, of course we thank you for continuing to place custom beef PreOrders. 

 

For our '26-'27 Custom Beef Season, we are going to invite all shareholders out for a  CUSTOM BEEF SHAREHOLDER DAY. 

 

This is to acknowledge the "In-Spirit" relationships amidst our Land/Farms, we the Farmers, you the Consumers/Shareholders, the lovely and respected Cattle Herds, and everyone's  forever and all combined LOCAL Ecosystem.  This will be an Exclusive Day for our shareholders to come out and get Tour and Tastings and Group Connections just because we want our shareholders to know how important they are and how much they are appreciated!  

 

Shareholders will be able to see and view the beautiful herds and learn faces and names if you wish.  This on farm day can be a very special and enriching time for families wanting to connect directly with the source of their Premium Beef from Foothill Frolic Farm!! 

 

Currently we are planning for this Special Day to be held sometime in the Fall.  We will pick the actual date closer to time and let all shareholders know.