Welcome to Black Earth Meat Market!
Welcome to Black Earth Meat Market, LLC! Black Earth Meats is a classic meat locker, with on-site slaughter available for beef, pork, sheep and goats. We offer dry-aging for steers, and basic cut-wrap-freeze processing. We are a USDA-inspected facility, have our Organic certification from the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and are Animal Welfare Approved.
All of our animals are purchased locally from farmers who we know raise them with the highest standards for humane treatment and overall quality. Our farmers include Nick Zimmer, the 2008 Organic Farmer of the Year, and many Amish farmers who need someone to market their products for them. We support an approach to farm management which sustains and nourishes the environment through restoration and soil improvement techniques. We match the quality meat with our artisan butchers and sausage maker for an incredible product.
Our motto is simple yet compelling: WE HONOR THESE ANIMALS, FOR BY THEIR DEATH WE GAIN LIFE. We believe that the “lost art” of butchery is a skill we can keep alive, but it must be done with reverence and pride. Our entire system is built around HUMANS – not machines, not “lines,” not automation. Each animal is handled one at a time, and our butchers are trained in the entire system.
We support three “levels” of animal agriculture to suit a variety of farmers and customers.
Grandpa’s Way: local animals brought from southern Wisconsin and the “Driftless” area. Anyone driving around our area will see small pastures with a few steers, lambs, goats or hogs. These are not farms set up for industrial production, but are small lot farmers raising a few animals for extra money in support of their families. These are not CAFO/feedlot operations using sub-therapeutic antibiotics, but the type of farming our grandparents knew.
Grass Fed: now a USDA approved claim, our grass fed animals are fed no corn or distillers’ grains, but a forage diet. While there is no third-party certification about the use of antibiotics or hormones, the farmers we work with pledge to us that the animals are antibiotic free and no hormones were added during production.
Organic: also a USDA approved claim, our flagship line is our organic, pasture-based agriculture. Our organic cattle are allowed free range on fertile pastures rich with naturally growing legumes and grasses. They are raised using a strict quality assurance program without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, chemical fertilizer, or GMOs, and are strictly monitored by a third party.
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