We manage our buffalo similar to a commercial cow/calf beef operation. The buffalo are not registered and we do not keep detailed progeny records on them. We butcher all of the calves in their second winter, at about 18 to 20 months of age. We specialize in growing some of the best steaks you have ever eaten. We rely on a repeat customer base and try very hard to keep them happy and coming back. Typically, the smallest increment we sell is a side (½ of an animal) although we do sell some yak and buffalo burger. All of our business is custom order; we haul the animals live to a local butcher, Lower Valley Processing, that cuts the meat to the customer's order. All meat is inspected by the State of Montana. Currently , we charge $4.60 a pound based on the weight of the finished (cut and wrapped) meat that is picked up from the butcher; this includes butcher fees. Pretty simple!

We also process yak using the same model and pricing. Locally you can purchase a great yak burger at Red's Wines and Blues in downtown Kalispell or purchase ground yak or buffalo by the pound at Withey's Health Foods at 1231 S Main St.

What we don't do is perhaps the most important part:

» Free Range. Our animals are never confined to a feedlot.
» Grass Fed. Free access to pasture grass and hay at all times.
» Finished with small grains. Buffalo and Yak evolved to eat grass and grass seed, not corn. We finish for 60 to 120 days using pasture grass, alfalfa hay and pellets made for us using wheat screenings. Wheat screenings are what is left over when they clean harvested wheat, it is mostly chaff and broken wheat grains. The pellets are very high in roughage and actually have less protein than the alfalfa hay. We do not over fatten them; for us the ideal carcass has a sheen of fat along the back and no intermuscular fat at all. Our steaks require no trimming of fat. The finish period and feed regimen is designed to provide a consistent product from animal to animal and year to year.
» No hormones used. We do not use hormones or growth implants of any kind.
»No antibiotics ever used. Animals destined for slaughter by Spring Brook Ranch have never had any antibiotics administered. In the unlikely event that an animal requires antibiotic treatment for an illness, that animal is sold to a local butcher and not sold under our label.
»All Natural. We feed an all vegetarian diet. We buy our hay and feed locally from people we know and trust.
»Flathead born and raised. All meat sold under the Spring Brook Ranch label was born and raised in the beautiful Flathead Valley of NW Montana, right here on our ranch.