Grass-fed Lamb, Iowa grown
Our lamb is grass-fed from start to finish. We raise them from birth on our farm in West Branch, Iowa.
What breed is our grass-fed lamb, and why does that matter?
Think you don't like lamb? You haven't tried ours...
Our sheep are a cross of Katahdin and Dorpers, which are meaty, but have no wool, and therefore no lanolin. This lanolin is what creates the oily taste that you might associate with lamb. These are hearty creatures that do well in the Iowa climate.
How do we raise our grass-fed lamb?
The way nature intended!
Many of our lambs are born right on our land, so they are with us their entire lives. Other than an indoor-birthing suite if it’s super cold out, they spend their entire lives outside, on pasture. But not just one pasture. They are rotationally grazed over 200 acres in order to provide them with maximum nutrition and to provide maximum regenerative benefit to the soil and grass.
If you’ve heard of regenerative agriculture, then you probably already feel like we do - that it’s the solution to many of the world's problems. That’s our goal here, to use animal activity to build healthy soil and raise meat which was raised off that plant matter, which provides dramatically better nutrition for people.
We sell whole grass-fed lambs and individual cuts.
Go here to see all cuts and prices,
Why is Iowa a particularly good place to raise grass-fed lamb?
Iowa is one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions for a reason!
The soil and climate in Iowa happen to be particularly conducive to growing mild, sweet-tasting grasses and forage, especially compared to harsher climates where they have cold winters or are experiencing drought conditions.
Grass-fed meat is like wine in the sense that the terroir matters immensely - it’s something you can taste. The layer of dark, rich topsoil in Iowa upon which we sit is up to 8 feet deep, with a microbial community that is dense and varied. It is one of the few locations in the world where the growing climate is improved by global warming - creating conditions that are hotter and wetter.
How is grassfed lamb different from grain-fed lamb?
It’s a completely different nutrition profile.
Grain-fed lamb is fattier and higher in Omega 6 fatty acids with less vitamins and minerals. The high-nutrient density of our Iowa soils, with high vitamin and mineral content, creates diverse and nutritious forage which translates into incredibly healthy meat.
Once you account for the fact that vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble, and human beings don’t have the transit time in the stomach to break down the cellulose wall of vegetation - you realize that the fat of ruminants is the world’s great superfood.
Grain-fed lamb, however, has fat that is high in Omega 6’s, which have shown to cause inflammation in the bodies of mammals, when they are overconsumed in relation to Omega 3 fatty acids. The result is a food product that does your body harm rather than good.
What does our grass-fed lamb taste like?
Our lambs have been dining at an Iowa-grown salad bar their entire lives. Since the soil and climate in Iowa happen to be particularly conducive to growing mild, sweet-tasting grasses and forage, that’s reflected in the mild taste of the meat. In fact, if you’ve had grass-fed beef from Iowa, grass-fed lamb from Iowa may taste familiar to you!
Is grass-fed lamb good for you?
What are the nutritional components?
Grass-fed lamb is higher in Omega 3 and CLA good fats than almost any other food you can eat. If you feed someone who is immuno-compromised, including lots of grassfed lambs in their diet is one of the best things you can do for them nutritionally.
Grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef in ten different ways, according to the most comprehensive analysis to date.
- Lower in total fat
- Higher in beta-carotene
- Higher in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
- Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
- Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
- Higher in total omega-3s
- A healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1.65 vs 4.84)
- Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans-11), a potential cancer fighter
- Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
- Lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease
Where does most grass-fed lamb in the stores come from?
Lands far far away!
Most of the grass-fed lamb sold in the United States today is coming from New Zealand. How does it get here? In shipping containers that take about 6 weeks and travel up to 11,000 miles to get here. With the current shipping situation, it must be costing a fortune to keep that meat frozen.
Looking for grassfed lamb to serve for a special occaision?
We have some lovely options for you!
One of the most unique and highfalutin pieces of meat we have now is a BIG BONE-IN LEG of grass-fed LAMB.
These legs of lamb are befitting a feast, so you may want to buy now for the holidays if you have the freezer space.
They are a whopping 6 to 8 pounds, and $15 per pound (the smaller ones you can order on our site are $18 a pound).
Does our grass-fed lamb contain hormones or antibiotics?
80% of antibiotics used in the United States are given to animals in the food system.
Much of the ‘grassfed’ meat on grocery shelves is imported and fed grass pellets.
When you buy our meat - you know exactly where it came from, and exactly what it ate.
No hormones are used and antibiotics only if necessary to treat a specific medical need. And that is rare.
What's causing the 'surge' in grass-fed lamb, beef and pastured pork and poultry prices worldwide?
And there's no end in sight!
*labor shortages and shutdowns in meatpacking facilities
*restaurants restocking as they open
*high transportation costs
*high domestic and international demand
Our prices have gone up too as our fuel prices have gone up, and the organic grain that supplements the diets of our pork and poultry. But not that much. So at this point, often prices for grain fed meat in big chain grocery stores costs more than our meat!
