Discussions

wondering where I can buy some local beef around Brandon and support local business and get better and fresh product  
thanks in advance for your suggestions

Just south of Souris!!

They're a great source for local meat!

We've gotten sides of beef at Tendercut, which is cut by Prairie Rose Meats out of Souris. We've been very happy with them. I've also heard good things about Henry's Meats up towards Rivers. (the 270 I think?)  
 
But be warned - getting sides of meat right now has a lengthy wait list. When I inquired a couple of weeks ago at Tendercut they told me it was a 8-9 week wait for your order. Normally it would be 2-3 weeks at the most. My parents were looking at ordering a side from someplace in Winnipeg too, and they said demand has been very high and wait times are 2-3x's what they typically are.  
 
I'll be ordering soon anticipating getting it in July.

We have 2 animals at the butcher right now and would be glad to sell you some meat. I’d pm you but don’t know if I can from an iPhone.

I get all my meat from Henry Meats. Try their pepper hamburger patties.

Here is the link to the PERMITTED slaughterhouses in Manitoba.  
 
https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/food-and-ag-processing/provincial-abattoirs/  
 
The law is pretty clear, if it is not slaughtered in a permitted facility, then it is illegal to sell the meat. (poultry excluded)  
I've been hearing a few people who are killing and selling, cattle that would be condemned at a inspected facility for stuff like cancer eye (Yes the animal has cancer), animal's with neurological conditions, or body conditions, downers, emaciated, or otherwise is in some sort of distress.  
The social media marketplaces have adverts for local beef, but make sure the meat has been inspected or you might be caught up in some legal issues, if the seller is on the radar of the Govt.  
 
Edited by Otta Towner, 2020-05-30 20:56:08

We've been getting our beef from Howpark Farms, Brandon for the last couple of years. They sell organic grassfed beef and can be found online at www.Howpark.ca as well as on Facebook.

Check with your local 4H groups. Because of the cancellations of their sales many of them are stuck with finished animals that are ready for the butcher.

did not seem to be on the list at the site given by otta towner, so presumably they have the animals slaughtered elsewhere.

I don't very often eat meat and so have not purchased from them, but one of my uni classes last year went to their farm to learn about their business. I believe they have regular delivery into Brandon.  
 
I am unsure of where East 40 Packers and Obermaiers sources their meat from, but they may also be worth looking into.

Henry Meats would have to source their meat from an approved source...otherwise they would be fined or shutdown.

If the beef was aged for 21 days, it really improves tenderness . Freezing makes no difference and does no harm to it as long as it is properly packaged.

Aged twenty one day beef, fresh, unfrozen is far better than frozen aged twenty one day beef. But that is not what this poster is asking.

We sell locally raised Grassfed organic beef and are located just south of Brandon and will deliver to Brandon. All are beef is raised on our farm and butchered at a government inspected local facility  
 
Check us out at www.howpark.ca/orders

Search for Billy’s beef on IG and FB for some great local beef

This is quite pricey though. Likely paying for the "Organic" I just had a beef done out of Mccreary. There was no long wait time and it was over 1.00/lb cheaper. Meat is wonderful. Its worth the little drive for sure.

I support the idea of buying locally, but it does come with problems.  
As a producer we bring our animals in in the fall and place them on feed, these are our own animals and therefore are slightly different in age as well as body size. When you put Cattle on feed you feed them as a group, which means they are usually all ready for market in a very short period of time, and customer demand is just not there. It’s hard to realize that animals are sort of a perishable product, and keeping them around on a maintenance ration does cost money, and that cost is impossible to to recover from the consumer, so it hurts the producer.  
The bigger problem is having facilities able to process these animals, how many people are willing to wait six or eight months to have an animal processed.  
Once the covid situation is behind us things will likely go back to normal, and even if people like local produce they will likely vote with their wallet, and if packers decide to discount box beef products the consumer will benefit, but someone else will suffer, those being local processing and local farmers if they sell local.