It all sounds incredibly complex, doesn’t it? But here’s the bottom line: We do all of the legwork – transportation, slaughter coordination, butchering, cutting, wrapping  – all of the tasks that can involve surprising hidden costs from other farms. And we charge a single, simple flat rate per pound that incorporates all of this work, so you don’t feel overwhelmed with the whole complicated process.

How do we arrive at that flat rate? Here’s an analogy: when you go to the grocery for broccoli, do you buy the whole stalks for $1.99/lb, or the crowns for $2.99/lb? The higher cost is the better buy, isn’t it, because while you’re paying a little more for the grocer’s work, you actually use all the product and are not being charged for weight that you don’t use.

It’s like that with meat. You start with three weights:

•      live weight (the living animal, all its parts in place) – let’s say 250 lbs
•      hanging weight (the carcass minus innards) – approximately 190 lbs
•      packaged weight (the total weight of the butchered cuts) – approximately 140 lbs

That doesn’t even cover the shrinkage that happens when a carcass is hung, or when the packages are frozen. So if you pay $2/lb for half a 190-lb pig, hanging weight, you still need to cover the cost of butchering and all the rest – and you lose a significant amount of the poundage you paid for!

With us, though, we figure all of those costs into our price per pound – so you pay for only the meat you buy!

“Customized” usually means “complicated,” right? Not here!  We’ve set up a convenient menu of optional cuts for each Variety Pack. Simply check off the cuts you want in a single Variety Pack when you place your order; then, if you’re ordering two or more packs, repeat the process for each additional pack. This way, you can create your own custom pack for each side or quarter, selecting among all the standard cuts: chops, roasts, steaks; or for pork, bacon, sausage and ham. Whatever you choose, all of the cuts in each pack come from a single animal.

Or if you’ve got grand plans and are looking for something special, we can help you customize your order just so, with a downloadable Butcher Cut Sheet here. We charge $15 extra for custom cut sheets.

You can select your mode of pickup or delivery when you place your order. We will notify you when your order is ready, and ask that you make arrangements to pick it up within a week, using your chosen method.

1. Pick up at farm (Free): Take a drive in the country, 15-minutes west of Saskatoon, pick up your order, and stay to tour the farm!  The other bonus is, you’ll get a chance to purchase other smaller items like honey, eggs, soap, etc. that are typically only available at the farm.
2. Clustered delivery at Odla Market ($5): We announce when we’ll be distributing orders to customers (usually during the week, over a noon hour) and you let us know if you can make it to pick up during that time.
3. Home delivery ($25): We’ll let you know when your order is ready, and coordinate a date and time for delivery.

That’s a good question – and unfortunately, we can’t give you an exact date. There is a host of unknown factors in raising animals – the date of their birth, when they go out to pasture, how fast they grow, even their genetics and personality (is this animal a jock or a couch potato?).  Because our local craft butcher only works with a limited number of animals at a given time, we can’t predict with certainty exactly when your animal will be butchered.

We often have product in stock and might be able to fill your order right away.  If that is not the case we will send you an email with when you can expect it to be ready.

All of our variety packages are pre-ordered and seasonal. You can reserve an order anytime, paying a deposit or paying in full as you please, but our products are butchered and ready for delivery and pickup in the Fall.

We have a limited supply of all products and accept orders only as long as supply lasts. Payments are non-refundable if you change your mind, but you can apply them as credits to buy another product, hold for a future purchase or transfer them to a friend/family member/neighbour.

If you pay a deposit, we will contact you several weeks before your order is ready, and you will be able to pay any remaining amount due at that time.

If you know your family loves beef, pork, lamb, or chicken, and you know you’re going to be picking it up again and again at the grocery store – why not save yourself the trips and the fluctuating prices and quality? With one bulk purchase, you won’t have to worry about buying meat again for a long time!

We guarantee that you’ll receive your selected amount of premium quality meat, in an assortment of different cuts from a single animal to ensure consistent quality and food safety.

This, by the way, is the only way you can secure all of our premium meat cuts, as we can’t promise the availability of individual cuts. And if you’ve never worked with a particular cut, just let us know – we’ll be happy to provide recipes and tips!

First of all – consider us artisanal! All of our products are raised with care on our small farm. We aim for extraordinary quality, not quantity…. so quantities are limited.

We work with a licensed, inspected, local craft butcher; a person processes the whole animal from start to finish. All of the cuts in a Variety Pack come from a single animal, and they’re not vacuum-sealed or factory-finished to a standard size, weight, or shape, like those you’ll see in a grocery store. For example, bacon (i.e., smoked pork belly) is the shape of a pig’s belly, sliced long strips tapering to short. Finally, because the size and body mass of each animal is unique, each Variety Pack has a varying number of packages of each cut (see the tables for more info).

Leaf lard is the highest grade of pork fat and it comes from the visceral or “soft” fat from around the kidneys and loin of the pig.  Leaf lard has a very soft, super spreadable consistency at room temperature and because it is very pure fat it has no meaty taste, making it great for sweets like flaky pie crusts, frying donuts, etc.

First let’s clear up this terrible myth that lard is bad for your health.  Animal fat has been demonized in our society thanks to a large deal of marketing brainwash to encourage people to buy hydrogenated vegetable oil.  Even lard that you can buy in the grocery store has been hydrogenated, which means it’s had an additional molecule added to it’s structure through artificial processing.

But natural pastured pork lard is 60% monounsaturated fat, which is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease (butter by contrast is about 45%).  And most of lard’s monounsaturated fat is oleic acid, a heart-healthy essential fatty acid found in olive oil and associated with lowering “bad” cholesterol.

Lard’s smoke point is high (about 375F) making it ideal for frying, grilling, etc. and offers lighter, fluffier, flakier and crispier battered chicken and pie crusts, without burning and turning carcinogenic.