Every cow dreams of life on the McClatchy Ranch and a few special ones have enjoyed this idyllic setting for generations. The McClatchy family has been Hereford breeders for three generations and are widely known and have won awards for the high quality of our registered breeding stock. Hereford beef, like most English cattle breeds, have good flavor and are naturally tender, more tender than European, indian or African cattle. Our cattle have been tested and shown to have high levels of the tenderness genes and sonogram muscle density tests have shown our entire herd to extra tender. Our cowboys have been trained in gentle cow handling techniques to assure that the herd stays placid and content. Our cattle are not your ordinary commercial herd, they're something special and almost pampered but still hardy enough to thrive in our ever changing heart of Texas environment. McClatchy beef is not just grass-fed, it's grass-fininshed. Many times these terms are used interchangeably but they, technically, have different meanings. Grass-fed means that the animal has been raised mainly on grass most of its life. Grass-finished takes the concept a step further and indicates that the animal has been pasture grazed on grass all its life, the way nature intended, until it is "finished" or has attained the weight and the fat distribution and marbling desireable for market. It has not received grain supplements to unnaturally speed the finishing process. It's not enough to have healthy beef that's good for you, it has to be tasty and tender as well. The Hereford cattle that have been the pride of the McClatchy household for so long have also been measured, inspected and given sonograms by the top expert in the USA on tender beef, Mr. Gerald Fry. Gerald only performs sonograms on the most promising cattle and says he seldom sonograms over half the cattle in the herds he is asked to examine and inspect for tenderness, yet he performed sonograms on 97% of our herd. He said they were some of the best looking and best scoring cattle he had ever seen. We know cattle and we know he's right. Healthiness, Tenderness and taste are what it's all about in the beef business. We are supporters of the holistic approach to natural resource management and our ranch is managed as ecologically friendly a manner as we can and our downstream neighbors have nothing to worry about in terms of runoff because any runoff from our place is beneficial. We offer you an opportunity to know where your family beef comes from so you can feel safer and have better tasting and healthier food for your family. Our prices are a little higher than the meat you get at the grocery stores, but then the extra quality and flavor of our beef more than makes up the difference. Our beef is handled with loving care from the beginning all the way through the process from the cowboy to the butcher. Everyone here wants to make your dining experience more enjoyable and safer. We're your neighbors trying our best to please you in an earth-friendly way. Our beef is better on purpose, it's no accident. Natural beef is better beef.

McClatchy Ranch Operating, LLC 12300 FM 1176, Bangs, TX 76823 (325) 348 - 3049 - www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/mcclatchy.htm merridee@web-access.net This page last updated June 21, 2009