Our ANIMALS
Livestock
IRISH DEXTER CATTLE
Irish Dexters are a rare breed of cattle, originating in Ireland, and considered as recovering by the Livestock Conservancy. Few chefs know about the amazing taste this beef produces. For the first time, in 2019, five ribeye steaks were submitted for judging, against all cattle breeds, to the American Royal Steak Competition in Kansas City. Grass-fed, grass-finished Irish Dexter, from Gladhour Farm in Missouri, was awarded the Grand Championship. What is key to Crest Point Farms’ choice of cattle is the taste.
Irish Dexters are half the size of commercial cattle. Becasue Irish Dexters are a smaller animal, you get very fine fat marbling, which enhances the flavor and insures tenderness. Another reason the flavor is so good is because of the difference in the fineness of muscle fibers. An Irish Dexter has the same number of muscle fibers as larger, industrial grade cattle, only it is compacted into a smaller frame, giving a denser, finer, and nutrient packed product.
Our Irish Dexters do not grow according to a a pre-set schedule, and we do not force them into certain age and weight brackets. We let nature take its own course. Grass fed only, from start to finish, on our USDA Organic certified land, they take at least 28 months to reach appropriate size. They are extremely hardy, very gentile, and eat half as much as other breeds.
Nate Overstreet, the former chef at Watershed at the Owl Restaurant in Grass Valley, selected our beef for its superb flavor. They were Crest Point Farms’ exclusive distributer during his tenure. He said, “When you start with the best, a good chef can then make it better”. Crest Point Farms Irish Dexter beef is 100% grass fed, 100% grass finished, in Grass Valley. Because it is Irish Dexter beef, and because of the way we raise them, humanely, slow, without added hormones, pour-ons, or unnecessary antibiotics and always on grass, we believe this is the best tasting beef, ever. We invite you to taste the love!
Livestock
NEW ZEALAND KUNEKUNE PIGS
The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. In Māori, Kunekune means round rolly-polly. They are fun, friendly, and easy to raise. The Kunekune breed is perfect for grazing completely on grass, right with the cattle, without rooting up and destroying the pasture. At Crest Point Farms, our Kunekune pigs have grazed the same pasture with cattle for years and perform very well. Most pig breeders choose to supplement their pigs with processed grains and feed. These grains will add undesirable fat, cause health issues, and diminish the taste of the meat. Grass is the only product we know of that has all 52 minerals in it from the mineral chart. When pasture animals eat grass, all these minerals are aggregated into the meat. This is what gives Kunekune meat its amazing flavor and taste. Crest Point Farms is all about the taste. For this reason, we do not grain feed our animals, choosing, rather, to allow the animals to feed naturally on grasses, veggies, fruits. In the fall, we finish them on acorns and apples.
Livestock
CHICKENS
For some reason, a farm just doesn’t feel like a farm without chickens and a crowing rooster to wake everyone up in the morning. Our chickens are egg laying hens. Wouldn’t life be grand if eggs were the color of the rainbow? Well, these hens lay delicious eggs that are white, green, blue, brown, and dark brown. We have a beautiful Americana rooster that loves to crow. Some of our hens are Copper Moran, easy to spot because they have feathers on their feet. Like everything else, the chickens are raised organically. They are fed with organic non-soy, layer feed blended by Modesto Mills. In 2009, we relocated from Silicon Valley, and yes, we were computer types. When we saw are neighbor’s chickens disappear in droves, we decide to modernize the neighborhood. We have a fully computerized chicken coop. At dusk, the chickens go into the coop, and the coop door automatically shuts, keeping predators, like skunks, racoons, bobcats, cayotes, and birds of prey out. At dawn, the coop door automatically opens and out walk very happy, egg laying chickens. When you visit the farm, ask about the computerized chicken coop, because it does a whole lot more. And, yes, we love our chickens.
