Questions, answered.

Every animal sold under the S Ranch name is 100% Black Angus, born and raised on the S Ranch — the ranch country between the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers near Pryor, Montana — finished on grain at the family's own feedlot near Custer, and dry-aged, cut and packaged at our USDA-inspected plant in Hardin. The cattle never leave the family's ownership from birth to the package.

To keep the herd strong we buy bulls from producers with reputations for excellence: the Vermillion Ranch in Montana (the Pat Goggins family) and Schiefelbein Farms of Minnesota.

Grass-fed, grain-finished. Our cattle spend most of their lives on native rangeland and pasture grass, then finish on locally sourced grains at the family feedlot near Custer, Montana. We buy feed from farmers we know, which keeps the dollars in the community where we raise our families.

No hormones are administered — none. Our herd has been raised without added hormones for more than twenty years, long before it was trendy. The flavor comes from genetics, nutrition, clean water and time.

Only when an animal needs it. An eye or hoof injury or a winter cold left untreated isn't humane in our view, so we will treat a sick animal to bring it back to full health. We never process an animal that has been treated unless it has fully recovered and been off treatment for at least sixty days — more than two weeks beyond standard industry guidelines. Year after year, fewer than 5% of our cattle ever receive an antibiotic.

No. Our cattle are pasture-raised on native grasses that aren't sprayed, and if we ever have to manage weeds we keep cattle off that pasture for at least six months. We buy locally sourced feed from growers we know personally; organic certification is cost-prohibitive for many of them, so we don't make the claim.

Yes. We own and operate our own slaughter and processing plant in Hardin, Montana, under a USDA Federal Grant of Inspection. Every animal that goes through the plant — ours or a custom-cut for a neighbor — is inspected by federal inspectors before it leaves.

Every S Ranch carcass hangs in our own cooler before it's cut. Dry-aging concentrates flavor and tenderizes the beef — it's the difference you taste in the first bite, and it's why our ground beef is better than most steaks.

Not officially. Grading means hiring and scheduling a federal grader on site, which doesn't make sense at our size — it has nothing to do with quality. Our beef has a long history of grading exceptionally well; we just can't market it as graded without a grader in the building.

Yes. Each cut is traceable to the individual animal by ear tag, from the pasture it was born on to the day it was cut.