Salazar Meats is proud to source meat not only from our family farm, but also from Sweet Grass COOP, an exceptional group of ranchers in Colorado and New Mexico. Please learn about their careful management practices here: http://www.sweetgrasscoop.com/co-op-documents. Click on COOP Production Protocols for details. Carcass quality is measured before sending it to processing by ultrasound. This ultrasound provides data on the levels of backfat, tenderness, and marbling. Certain minimum scores must be met for the meat to be sold as a bulk pack to you. A low scoring animal will be destined for ground beef and beef jerky. Additionally, as we also control the butchery of these animals, we have the ability to inspect our animals before AND after the slaughter step.