Why Buy from Us

You can find meat anywhere, but how many places can you purchase your beef knowing where it was born, raised, and processed? How many places can you honestly check to see what it has had in its body during its life? How many places are upfront as to about what is happening to their livestock? These days, not that many. It is a challenge trying to find companies that will be transparent about their product and will show you what is going on behind the scenes. Here on the Lazy M & M, we respect the beef and the land; we pride ourselves in making sure that while they may be providing for us in the end, we also want to make sure that we provide from them as well. 

Our beef is born here on the ranch and nurses off of the mother's milk until they are naturally weaned. From there they are able to graze in rich pastures with alfalfa hay provided to them at all times. Our hay is grown and cut locally (literally right next door to the ranch) so we are able to support small businesses as well as know exactly what our livestock are eating. Our beef does not receive growth hormones or antibiotics during their life here with us on the ranch. They do however have supplemented lick tubs that provide them protein, victims, and nutrients that their diet is missing. If for any reason our beef is exposed to antibiotics, that is publicly announced for consumers. We do not provide antibiotics unless medically necessary for the quality of life of the beef. 

Grass-fed beef is a loose term that can be placed on any cow that was fed grass at some point during its life.

Grass-fed cows are also known as “conventional cows.” They begin their lives by drinking their mother’s milk and eating grass. By eight months, or as soon as they are weaned off their mother’s milk, they move to feeding lots. In feeding lots, they receive a supplemental diet of grain byproducts, corn, protein supplements, soy, and sometimes even beef tallow from neighboring slaughterhouses (which is essentially mass cattle cannibalization) to help them quickly gain weight and produce more meat.

Just because a product is labeled grass-fed does not mean it was also pasture-raised. Many grass-fed products come from cows who sit in feedlots their entire lives. 

Grass-finished is what most people believe grass-fed beef is. Unlike grass-fed cows, grass-finished cows spend their entire lives eating grass, plants, and shrubs on pastures. Another term for grass-finished cows is “pasture-raised.” Grass-finished cows are never finished on corn or grain byproducts, which are unnatural for the cows to eat.

Most grass-finished cows spend their lives roaming the pastures in the fresh air and are slaughtered at a more natural pace. Advocates of grass-finished believe that this environment creates healthier, happier cows. And this, in turn, produces better tasting and more nutritious meat. 

 There is an old saying, “you are what you eat,” which definitely applies here. The nutritional value, taste, and quality of beef all depend on what type of diet the cattle are fed. 

Let's start a shopping trip together! We walk into our local grocery store to pick up a couple good steaks. When we go to the meat department, we look for the brightest steak with the best price. Well at least a lot of us will look at those two factors. Some of us will go and look for "USDA" written on the front. Immediately having a sense of comfort reading "USDA certified" on the front of a label. Which is perfectly fine, however these days, labeling does not come with a strict guideline to follow when it comes to the type of beef. 

 These days, there are several unique ways of feeding and raising cattle. If you are looking for the best nutritional beef products, it is essential to start by looking at the labels. The problem is, there is no strictly enforced standard on labeling claims, which creates confusion.

Yes, you read that correctly. When you pick up a package of beef at it said, "Product of the USA" or "Made in the USA", there is a spark of excitement that spreads through us all. One of the most disappointing things to be told is that just because it says, "Product of the USA", the USDA currently allows beef and other meat products to be labeled as "Made in the USA" under the fact that the meat is processed in the USA. This does not confirm or support if the beef is truly from American soil or if it was imported from across the world. It has also been a common practice to import pre-processed meat from a foreign country and re-package it in the USA to claim that the meat is from the USA.

M-COOL Law 

The 2002 M-COOL law passed in the 2002 Farm Bill and amended by the 2008 Farm Bill required country-of-origin labels on beef, lamb, pork, goat meat, chicken, fruits and vegetables, fish and shellfish, peanuts, ginseng, pecans, and macadamia nuts.

After M-COOL’s 2002 passage, the meatpacking lobby successfully delayed the implantation of M-COOL for beef and other meats for seven years, and when it later took effect in early 2009, the implementing regulations allowed beef packers to affix a label on beef products suggesting that beef originated from three countries, such as “Product of Canada, Mexico, and USA.”

The 2009 implementation of M-COOL for both beef and pork triggered a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint by Canada and Mexico, with both alleging that M-COOL treated their imported livestock less favorably than domestic livestock.

Then, in early 2013 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) attempted to address the WTO’s finding that, among other things, the multi-country label allowed by the 2009 implementing regulations diminished M-COOL’s stated purpose of accurately informing consumers as to where their meat originated. The USDA promulgated new regulations that required beef to be labeled according to where each of its three production steps took place: where the animal was born, where it was raised, and where it was harvested. 

This produced labels such as “Born in Mexico, Raised and Harvested in the USA,” and “Born, Raised, and Harvested in the USA.”

But these more accurate labels did not satisfy the WTO and it ultimately ruled that M-COOL discriminated against imports of livestock from Canada and Mexico. Based on the WTO’s ruling, and without pursuing any further diplomatic measures to attempt to assuage Canada and Mexico’s concern, Congress simply repealed M-COOL for beef and pork in 2015.

Since 2015 consumers have not been afforded information as to where the beef, they purchase at retail originates