Our area has an abundance of great local producers that serve anything from apples to garlic. With all of the options out there, it’s good to know where the good stuff comes from and some of our favorite beef comes from JX Ranch Natural Beef.
I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Mimi Sidwell, who owns and runs JX along with her husband, Tom, in Tucumcari, NM. She shared with me that they started as regular beef producers and became interested in the grassfed business and becoming “price makers rather than price takers”. Now, they solely produce grassfed beef in custom and retail cuts.
JX Ranch Natural Beef pride themselves on the care they take to ensure the quality of their meat. Their website guarantees “that it is hormone-free and has never been given any antibiotics, steroids, ionophores, GMO’s, insecticides, pesticides, animal by-products or chemicals of any kind.” As most grassfed beef producers wait until the steers are two-years-old, JX harvests at just a year to a year and a half. This gives a leaner, more tender outcome than the former.
She explained her passion for bringing better beef to the public that is better for us. Their goal is to provide working and young families the opportunity to get not only healthy meat but the utmost quality as well.
JX Ranch practices holistic range management. After having installed miles of water pipelines and electric fencing as well as working on the removal of the invasive mesquite and cedar, they are intensively rotating their cattle through the 23 pastures to allow for long rest periods that last 105 days and short grazing periods, generally about 5 days per pasture as the herd travels around the ranch. That means that for 110 days, the pasture is grown and cared for without any disturbance and after that, the cows only have 5 days on the pasture. This ensures the health and growth of the pastures.
Along with the intentional attention they give to their fields, every time they butcher beef, all of it is dry aged for three entire weeks. If that’s not care to product, I don’t know what is!
Mimi shared with me that returning customers have said that their families have been so spoiled with the quality of their beef that their children have refused to eat any other.
You can get JX Beef all year as they have convenient Beef Packs and retail cuts available year-round. Custom cut quarter, half, and whole beef are also available to order but they go fast! They offer free delivery in Clovis, Portales, and Tucumcari, will ship all over the country, or you can pick it up yourself!
Find out pricing, all cut sizes, reviews, recipes, and more at the JX Ranch Natural Beef website at www.leannaturalbeef.com.
