Frequently Asked Questions

Four primary factors make Shipley beef unique:

• Breeding and Selection: we select calves for specific preferred traits among traditional English cattle breeds, which are bred by small family farmers we know well.
• Care and Feeding: our animals eat a primarily grass and forage based diet with a grain supplement developed in consultation with experts from the NC State College of Agriculture.
• Environment: our cattle spend much or all of their life in a low-stress environment in the cool, lush Appalachian Mountains, and always on pasture, never in confinement.
• Butchering: our beef is responsibly slaughtered and skillfully butchered by local independent meat processing shops and aged for tenderness and flavor. In our Signature Beef line, every bit of beef is dry aged, even our ground beef.

Great beef starts with great breeding. The Shipley family has 150 years of tradition raising English breeds of cattle such as Hereford, Red and Black Angus, and South Devon, breeds that trace back to the British Isles and were brought to America from England and Scotland in the 1800s.

W.E. Shipley pioneered Hereford farming in North Carolina, bringing the first registered stock to the state. These English breeds aren’t the largest cattle, but are known for providing the best combination of meat quality, efficiency, ease of care in cooler climates, and disposition.

Through selective breeding, we focus on traits such as body shape and frame, muscle mass, weight gain, tenderness, marbling, and disposition. More skittish or irritable animals are more prone to injury, and agitation or stress can negatively affect meat quality.

We raise beef from calves sourced from small family farms across North Carolina, the Southern Appalachian Mountain region, and surrounding foothills. All of our animals come from farms using the highest animal husbandry and environmental standards, and those farms adhere to our breeding and feeding standards.

The calves are raised outside on pasture, never in a concentrated animal feed operation or feedlot.

Yes, you can book online here: Book Now.

Yes. We do our absolute best to avoid stress throughout all stages of our animals’ lives, from beginning to end. Stress is bad for the animal, and it can also negatively affect the quality of the meat.

Our animals spend their lives grazing on lush, clover-rich pastures, eating well and growing at their own natural pace with no confined spaces, just open fields, shady woodlands, sunshine, and fresh water.

Shipley Farms beef is 100% pasture raised. Our cattle feed on what nature provides and are never fed hormones. Out on pasture, they receive a custom grain blend to supplement their diet, giving our cuts delicious marbling that contributes to their unique flavor.

Cattle are ruminants, which means they are designed to turn forage such as grass into high quality, nutritious fat and protein through fermentation in their digestive system. That is one reason our cattle are never confined to a feedlot, their primary diet is grass.

This natural diet is aligned with their system and produces meat that is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and other healthy nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

Only in rare circumstances, when medically necessary. Because our animals finish on pasture with a forage based diet, they face a lower risk of illness, so we do not feed antibiotics as a precaution or to accelerate weight gain. This is what we mean by “no antibiotics.”

Of course, we would use an antibiotic to treat illness or infection if an animal ever needed it. If so, it is used in a controlled manner under the guidance of a veterinarian, only as needed, and we adhere to at least twice the recommended withdrawal period before sending an animal to butchering to be sure any treatment clears their system before entering the food chain.

In industrial beef production, animals are often prepared for slaughter in feedlots and fed a heavy grain diet. In that environment, sickness can be more likely and can spread more easily, so industrial producers may add a low dose of antibiotic to daily feed to reduce risk.

All creatures naturally have hormones, just as humans do, so it is inaccurate to say “no hormones.” Shipley Farms cattle will never receive growth stimulants or growth-promoting hormones.

Most industrial meat production uses synthetic hormones, steroids, to promote more rapid growth and weight gain as a cost-saving measure. We are not critical of that practice, which the farming industry generally regards as safe and as one way to economically feed a growing global population. It is simply not the way we have ever done it, which is the standard we refer to when we say “no shortcuts.”

No; however, we don’t use growth hormones or antibiotics. Our animals are raised outside on pasture their entire lives. They are fed a grain that is free from animal by-products or hazardous chemicals.

We are also selective about weed and pest control and fertilization methods, avoiding even some certified organic chemicals that have higher toxicity than we desire. The cost of organic certification is significant, and we don’t want to pass that cost on to our customers.

Yes. Care for the land has been essential to sustaining us for 150 years and was particularly important to R.G. Shipley Sr., our patriarch who managed this farm for 86 of those years. A vocational agriculture teacher and early proponent of rotational grazing, R.G. continually used the farm as a teaching and research lab, always looking for ways to improve practices and production in a way that enhanced the long-term health and viability of the farm.

One of the great benefits of a pasture-raised program is the symbiotic relationship between the animals and the land. Our cattle draw nutrients from the grass and return nutrients to the soil through natural fertilization, which in turn feeds the grass. Grazing also stimulates plant root growth, helping break up and improve the soil.

Regularly grazed pasture will over time have much healthier grass and soil than idle grassland, and a well-managed grazing program can help rehabilitate degraded pastures and farmland. Much of the steep mountain pasture where our cattle live is unsuitable for crop production, so pasture-raised livestock is essential to meeting food demand.

We source exclusively from family farms practicing similar sustainability standards. We know all of our farmers by name and frequently visit them to ensure our standards never waver.

From pasture and land management, to rotational grazing, to stream and water quality restoration, and even to recycled and recyclable packaging materials, we pay careful attention to the long-term sustainability of what we do on the farm.

Simply put, dry-aged beef tastes better. It is a more complicated and expensive process and therefore is not usually found in grocery stores.

Our Signature Beef is dry-aged in a temperature and humidity controlled cooler. Moisture in the meat is allowed to escape and evaporate, which concentrates the beef flavor. Enzymes naturally present in the meat also break down the muscle tissue, resulting in improved tenderness, texture, and flavor.

Our pork comes from a trusted sister farm rather than our own pastures. Cattle thrive on our steep Appalachian mountain slopes, but hogs do better on flatter ground, so we partner with a nearby farm suited to raising them well.

That farm raises pork to the same standards we hold ourselves to on Shipley Farms, including pasture access, no shortcuts, and animals raised with care, so you can expect the same quality and integrity in our pork as in our beef.

All Shipley Farms meats are individually vacuum sealed in high quality, airtight packages to lock in freshness and ensure a long shelf life in your freezer. Ground beef and beef patties are vacuum sealed in convenient one-pound packs.

All products are frozen and packed in an insulated box with gel packs and insulation, for delivery direct to your door. All of our beef is USDA inspected.

UPS runs to the farm every day, so we can ship any day of the week. At Shipley Farms Beef, we hand pack each individual order to help ensure that your products are received in optimal condition.

Each order is packaged to maintain the appropriate temperature for your beef during shipping, using gel packs and insulation. All perishable products ship frozen and will arrive frozen or partially frozen.

We use sustainable shipping materials wherever possible, including repurposed, recycled, and/or recyclable packaging, wrapping, and insulation.

Orders for Shipley Farms Beef are shipped directly from the farm in Vilas, North Carolina. UPS collects at the farm on Tuesday and Wednesday, so a UPS order leaves the farm on one of those two days. An order that arrives after a week's collections goes out on the next one, which keeps your package from sitting in transit over a weekend.

We can give you an estimated delivery date for your address when you place an order. No signature is required for delivery. Please call us directly for special requests or accelerated shipping at 828-484-1872.

We ship with UPS, and we choose the service for you rather than offering a menu at checkout. Frozen and chilled orders travel UPS 2nd Day Air to the parts of the country far enough from Vilas that ground transit would put the cold chain at risk, which is most of the West and the plains states. Everything else, including frozen orders close enough to arrive cold by road and all shelf-stable orders, travels UPS Ground. There is no Next Day service and no paid upgrade. The service we picked and its cost are shown on the cart page before you pay.

On the day your order ships, you will receive an email with your package’s tracking number. We are unable to deliver to PO Boxes or APO/FPO Boxes. Call us for requests for international shipment.

Upon delivery, Shipley Farms frozen meat should be removed from the shipping container and placed in the refrigerator or freezer.

Your order is packed with gel packs and insulation. The gel packs may still be cold or partly frozen when the box arrives, which is normal. They can be refrozen and reused, or thawed and disposed of with your household waste.

Your meats should be frozen or chilled when you open the package. Contact us immediately if the order is not cold to the touch on arrival.

No, you do not need to be home to sign for your package. It is packed to stay cold for many hours after it arrives.

However, you should plan to unpack it and place it in your freezer or fridge as soon as possible. What happens to your package after it is confirmed as delivered by the carrier is your responsibility. Call the Shipley Beef Line at 828-484-1872 if you have any concerns.

Shipley Farms Beef is vacuum sealed. When maintained at the appropriate temperature with the packing intact, with no holes or tears, the frozen beef will maintain its quality and last for months or years in the freezer.

For best quality, thaw beef in the refrigerator, not at room temperature. Place the frozen package on a plate or tray to catch any juices and place it in the refrigerator.

• Steaks or ground beef thawed in the refrigerator will take 12 to 24 hours depending on thickness.
• Small roasts thawed in the refrigerator will take 3 to 5 hours per pound.
• Large roasts thawed in the refrigerator will take 4 to 7 hours per pound.

As long as the beef has not been completely defrosted and is still in its original, unopened packaging, it can be placed in the freezer without harming flavor.

If your beef has been completely thawed, Shipley Farms does not recommend refreezing it, as that may affect texture. Thawed beef can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 12 days in its original packaging.

If you are curious about the best way to grill a steak, braise a roast, make a delicious stir-fry, or perfectly brown ground beef, check out the recipes and tutorials on shipleyfarmsbeef.com and Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.

Please contact us by email or phone as soon as possible. We always do right by our customers. Our goal is to make sure you enjoy our meat as much as we do.

Call the Shipley Beef Line at 828-484-1872 and email photos to beef@shipleyfarmsbeef.com.

Given the perishable nature of the product, we cannot accept returns. If there is a problem with your order, we ask that you photograph everything, the box and the contents just as they came out of the box.

Call the Shipley Beef Line at 828-484-1872 and email the photos to beef@shipleyfarmsbeef.com. We will do our best to put it right.