Buy Beef Direct: Local Ranchers
A cattle ranch is where most American beef begins. Buying from the rancher means buying from the family that ran the herd, knows the country it grazed, and decided how it was finished.
Ranch raised beef comes from cattle run on range or pasture, usually in larger herds and on more ground than a small farm, often by families that have worked the same land for generations. Most ranches sell their calves into the commodity system. The ones on this registry also sell beef direct, which means the rancher keeps some or all of the herd through finishing and processing so you can buy the result.
That matters because a rancher selling direct can answer the questions a grocery label cannot: whether the calves were born on the ranch, how long they were on grass, what they were finished on, where they were processed and how long the beef was aged. Rancher direct beef is a product with a name and a place attached to it.
Ranches tend to sell in larger and more structured ways than small farms: beef boxes shipped frozen, subscriptions, and whole, half and quarter beef booked around harvest dates. Several of the ranches on this registry ship across the country, so a local rancher and a ranch you buy from do not always have to be the same thing.
Start with your state page or the map. Every state page also lists the nearest ranches in other states, and those that ship.
A profile tells you how the ranch runs its cattle and what it sells, written from the ranch's own material.
Every member links to its own website. That is where you see what is in stock, the prices and the shipping or pickup options.
The order, the payment and the beef all go through the ranch. We take no commission.
A good producer is glad to answer every one of these. Ask before you put down a deposit, and compare producers on the same answers.
These ranches each have a full profile written from their own material. Every state page lists the other ranchers on record there.
Wiley, Colorado
Four generations and about 120 years on the same southeast Colorado range. Cattle are grass fed on open range and finished on grain, alfalfa and corn the family grows itself, then dry aged, hand packed and shipped nationwide.
From the ranch's own listing: Steak boxes, including ribeye, T-bone, New York strip and sirloin
Barnesville, Georgia
Ivan Minks raises cattle on rotated Georgia pasture, finished on native grasses and legumes with a free choice supplement, then dry aged into a craft product. The ranch also runs a store carrying local pork, chicken, eggs and seafood.
From the ranch's own listing: Dry aged beef by the cut
Stonewall, Oklahoma
Roger and Nikki Callison are third and fourth generation Oklahoma ranchers who have grown a herd of 20 heifers into more than 350 cows. Every animal is raised on the ranch start to finish and the beef is dry aged 21 to 28 days.
From the ranch's own listing: Dry aged steaks, including filet mignon, ribeye and New York strip
Slaton, Texas
The ranch has been in the Forrest family for over 100 years and is raising its sixth generation. Amber and Casey Davis and their daughters run cattle on ranch pasture, finished on grass and grain, with no hormones or antibiotics.
From the ranch's own listing: Eighth, quarter, half and whole beef
Marble Falls, Texas
Beef from the original Samuel Ely Holland Ranch in Burnet County, established by the family's great great grandfather in 1848. Cattle are pasture raised and grass fed, and the beef is dry aged 14 to 18 days.
From the ranch's own listing: Whole, half, quarter and eighth beef
Wells, Nevada
A family ranch in Clover Valley, in the foothills of the East Humboldt range, started in 1947 and now in its fifth generation. Jordan and Kari Lyn Brough sell the ranch's Wagyu and Angus beef direct, from a single cut to a whole beef.
From the ranch's own listing: Wagyu steaks, ground beef and burger patties
Washoe Valley, Nevada
A family that has been ranching and farming in Nevada for more than 50 years, running a co-op of Nevada ranches and farms. The beef is grass fed, grass finished and dry aged, and customers pre-order and collect at one of five posted locations.
From the ranch's own listing: Grass fed, grass finished, dry aged beef
Yoder, Colorado
Freedom Acres Ranch is a Marine Corps veteran family's ranch in Yoder, Colorado, founded in 2020 to bring healthy, farm fresh food to families who lack it. The cattle are grass fed and free range, every product is Certified Homegrown by Heroes, and the beef ships to every state.
From the ranch's own listing: Grass fed, free range beef
These are the producers with full written profiles. Many more farms and ranches are on the registry with a listing, and every one of them is on its own state page.
Every state has its own page listing the farms and ranches on record there, the nearest producers in neighboring states, and the ranches that ship. These states have at least one member today.
American Beef Direct is a registry of American beef producers. We help you find a farm or ranch and learn how it raises its cattle, then send you to the producer's own website, phone or store. We never take the order, the deposit, the payment or a commission, and the producer is always the authority on price, availability and pickup or shipping.
Search the map or open your state to find farms and ranches selling beef close to home.