Matos Beef Custom Exempt Shares

What is a custom exempt beef share?

Purchasing a custom exempt beef share from Joe Matos Cheese Co. is an extremely economical way to feed yourself, your family and friends with local, nutrient dense, sustainable, heritage raised and incredibly delicious beef. One quarter share consists of a quarter of beef (about 150 pounds in the freezer).

The Process

Make a deposit for your quarter, half or whole with us.

We arrange for a licensed brand inspector to witness the transfer of ownership of the animal from Joe Matos to the share buyers.

We confirm and date and which butcher will process the animal. Lead times vary depending on when animals are ready for harvest and the butcher’s schedules. An email will be sent to you when the share has been filled and a processing date is arranged.

We handle the harvest of the animal and getting it to the butcher.

Quarters come with roughly one third steaks, one third roasts, and one third ground. With a quarter share the butcher is unable to take specific cut orders or requests, however it is possible with a half or whole animal share. Bones and offal are optional.

We send an invoice via email at harvest time for the share balance. You are also responsible for the harvest fee and processing fees which will be billed separately by the butcher shop at harvest time.

The butcher calls when it’s ready, and you can pick up your beef cut, wrapped, labeled, and frozen directly from the butcher. The butcher will charge their harvest and processing fees at the time you pick up your beef from their facility.


Live, Hanging and Cut Weights


A typical live steer we harvest will weigh around 1700 lbs for the whole live animal. Our price and the butcher fee is based on the hanging weight after the animal has been harvested, ready to be sent to the butcher. For our animals this typically ranges from 700- 900 lbs. The butcher then cuts and packages the meat into steaks, roast, ground beef, bones and organ meats.


The cut weight is less than the hanging weight because bone and trim is lost in the cutting process. Some cuts like a ribeye are very expensive at retail, and other parts like bones are heavier and cost less at retail. Our price averages out to a fair bit less than you would pay for retail steaks and ground at the grocery store, and a bit less for roasts.


We provide you with a high quality local product and the confidence that your meat came from a single animal raised to our standards, living a happy, healthy life with it's herd on our farm.


Example: Assuming a 520 lb hanging weight, a whole animal would yield approximately:


72 lbs of steaks

135 lbs of ground beef

130 lbs of roasts and braising cuts

65 lbs of bones

25 lbs of organ meats

You can share it with friends or family, or stock your chest freezer. A quarter generally requires half a 7 cubic foot freezer. A new 5 cubic foot chest freezer costs around $150.

 

What We Do:


Harvest Season is year round, with harvests occurring every month. As a dairy, our cows calf year round thus providing us with steers at different levels of maturity throughout the year. 

 

At harvest time, we hand select each steer to ensure the best, succulent and most intense flavor experience to our consumer with beef that has been loved and honored for its lifetime. Steers are harvested on site while enjoying silage and/or fruit by a humane local processor.


Sections are sent to the butcher shop for dry aging, usually hang time is about 10- 14 days.


Sections are cut to order, wrapped, frozen, and boxed for buyer pickup: from hanging weight to cut weight, with boxes labeled by name and cut weight

 

What You Do:


Call the butcher shop at the number we give you to go over cut and wrap instructions

Pick up your beef at the butcher shop in Santa Rosa or Penngrove when they call you to say it’s ready. They have limited freezer space, and want you to pick up within a week or so.

Pay the harvest fee and processing fee at pickup.

Share cuts with friends and family that day, or store in your chest freezer.

The beef share cost is payable to Joe Matos, by cash, check or credit card and will be collected before the harvest. Processing fee and harvest fee is payable directly to the butcher when you pick up your beef.


Butchers


Sonoma county is fortunate to have a variety of local butchers who cut, package and freeze the beef. We use three different local butchers:


Willowside Meats- cut and paper wrap $1/lb, vacuum seal is $1.10/lb

Bud’s Custom Meats - cut and paper wrap $1.05/lb

Lepe’s Meat Co - cut and vacuum seal for $0.95/lb


We can try to accommodate a preference for a butcher, but we are limited in our ability to schedule with each butcher. We do our very best, and they do too.


All are excellent, and all will need to confirm your cut and wrap preferences. We can direct you to them, and they can help you choose the cuts that will work best for your family.


Any other questions, please contact joematoscheese@gmail.com or 707-591-3325.