Schotthofer’s Sunny Creek Farm LLC/
Sunny Creek Meats

Products & Pricing

JERSEY CATTLE – COWS, HEIFERS, BULLS

We operate a professional breeding operation, not a Commercial Dairy.  Thus, our primary focus is on breeding and raising high quality Jersey cattle, not commercially shipping milk.  Our herd was closed at its inception on September 15th of 2015, which means that we do not buy and resell any livestock that has not been bred and raised on our Missouri farm. Operating a “Closed Herd” requires vigilance in maintaining a high level of Bio-Security in order to protect the high health standard of our livestock.  When customers purchase their stock from our herd, they are buying an animal that has NOT been exposed to countless pathogens and incurable diseases from livestock that originates from outside sources or other herds. Those who purchase from “Open” herds are blindly buying what they see on the day that they make the purchase --- not knowing what that animal has been exposed to in the days or months prior to their purchase.  A number of the more well-known Dairy Cattle Diseases can take up to 2-3 years to incubate prior to exhibiting any signs or symptoms, some of these diseases cannot be picked up on blood testing, until as such time they have incubated to a specific stage in their cycle.  There are considerably more “Open” herd sources of Dairy cattle, then there are of “Closed” herd status.  If a herd has not been truly closed for over 5 years, the classification has little if any value, since some diseases can take 2-3 years to manifest.  If a Producer/Breeder/Seller claims to have a “Closed” herd and cannot credibly provide a plausible explanation providing the date in time that the herd was “Closed” then it is entirely of question as to its authenticity.  “Closed” herd livestock should cost more to purchase, but that is not always the case, as there are numerous less than professional individuals that are buying poor and low-quality Dairy animals out of sale barns and reselling them later with “Cute” anecdotal stories that are created to allow the reseller a “Fast buck” on reselling the animal to an unknowing buyer.  We recommend that one does due vigilance in qualifying a seller as being one of quality and integrity.  Once you populate your homestead or Micro creamery herd with an animal that is from an “Open” herd that is unknowingly shedding disease onto your premises, you as an operator may very well be forced to manage for that particular disease into perpetuity, as many pathogens become soil borne and can persist for decades in the soil on your farm.  When a buyer purchases livestock from our herd, it is sourced from a herd that has ”Hands On” interaction with the livestock multiple times a day.  Since our herd is of comfortable size, the health and behavior aspects of each and every animal in the herd are well known. When a buyer purchases stock from a typical Commercial Dairy herd, they are usually being sold animals with a “History” and/or Behavior problems, previous health issues or just low performers, when compared to the source herd as a whole.  When we explain to a buyer what the production history is on a milking animal, it is based on actual written records on that animal, as we keep milk production records on each animal, every time that it comes into the milking parlor for milking.  We have the “Old Fashioned” milk weigh jars that each individual cow’s milk goes into – this provides the actual milk performance on each animal, every milking.  Large herds today have the same capabilities using electronic meters and digital records requiring digital cow identification through collars on each cow.  Most cattle suppliers to the Micro creamery and or Homestead markets do not have or make such records --- we do.  If you are after a “Supreme” grade animal for your micro creamery, this will reinforce the integrity of the information that you are basing your purchasing decision on.  

Purchasing Livestock from our herd:

Purchasing your livestock from our herd, typically requires the buyer going through a process, prior to any monetary exchange. We are most interested in your management plan for your Dairy animal. Your property (Homestead or farm) attributes are of interest as well. Your expertise, training and or “hands on” experience, are also of interest to us. We strongly recommend a building of proper size and structure to work with, for the care and housing (during inclement weather) of your Dairy animal. If a buyer is a stark novice and requires guidance and direction and is willing to invest both their time and money in the Homestead dairying project, then we will provide no-charge consulting in an ongoing manner to support the beginner in their new venture. We do not charge for our consulting, as we do not want to see a person who requires help and guidance go without, because of monetary reasons. If you do not purchase livestock from our business, our consulting is also available to you, however it is not on a no-charge basis. A lot of time is spent in guiding our “New to Dairying” customers – our “mantra” is that there is no such thing as an unintelligent question. As long as you ask for help, we will provide no charge consulting to our cattle purchasers. We cannot guarantee you success, however we can provide direction to help you avoid many of the most common pitfalls in start-up Homestead dairies. Most folks are surprised to hear that the cow is NOT the bulk of their investment, as proper buildings, fences, feed stocks and “Your Time” all make up serious components to your “Total Investment”. Our preferred method of communication is via email, as it is in a format that the buyer can print off our information and save it for future usage, if so desired. Initial contacts via phone are acceptable, however we only close purchase transactions via written format via email – this protects “You” the buyer. Many of our buyers purchase long distance” thus an even stronger emphasis on written format for your purchase details. If we do not think that the sale is in the best interest of the animal involved, we will politely decline the sale – we have standards and some of those standards we will not breach.

When you are in the market for an expansion to your present herd or you are just starting out, we would be most interested in discussing your needs and plans regarding the purchase of Jersey Cattle.

Pasture Raised Jersey Beef

Priced by the pound (live weight) or by the animal (on the hoof). Check for availability. We recommend animals that are over 30 months of age be used for Ground Beef (only) and animals under 30 months of age be used for ALL CUTS (Steaks, Roasts, etc.). Our availability is limited so plan to purchase in advance of your immediate needs. Processing is the responsibility of the purchaser. Delivery can be arranged to local processing plants. Our Beef is raised on pasture, with a Grain/Mineral supplement fed twice daily. For the very best eating experience Jersey beef should be fed a grain supplementation along with their pasture and forage. Jersey beef is very lean by nature, so for the best flavor profile some grain should be fed to the livestock – without any grain supplementation the beef can be so lean that it will require butter to fry a hamburger. Our recommendations and husbandry practices come from over 25 years of experience in raising and retailing Fine Gourmet quality meat products of various species.

HOMESTEAD HOGS – Call to check for availability

Weaned Pigs (when Available) -- $100 each
Feeder Pigs 30-40 pounds $125 each
Breeding Sow -- $450
Roaster Pigs -- should be roasted at 125-150 pounds
Contract to Finish Pigs and Deliver them to a Local Plant -- $600 each
Note: Must be arranged/contracted in advance – check for availability.

SHEEP- We do on occasion sell some breeding ewes and or rams.

Note:
All of our livestock is raised without medicated feeds, Hormone injections or implants and No steroids. Our Jersey Beef, Heritage Breed Pork and our Traditional Specialty Breed Lamb is Naturally raised on an Organically managed farm.  We use NO Pesticides, No Herbicides and NO Synthetic Fertilizer on the soils of our Farm.  We do not feed lot any of our livestock and we do not slug feed our animals either. The Pork is fed full cream first quality fresh Jersey milk as their main diet – this produces a very unique meat. It is unlike any conventionally raised pork.  We also do not feed any byproduct or commodity types of feeds.  Our Jersey Cattle live outside on the pastures and are not confinement raised.  All items are subject to availability of livestock on hand.  We are a small Family farm that has a deep experience in providing properly raised livestock as Fine meats for your enjoyment. Please remember we are not an Industrial sized operation and thus we do not run to the sale barn and buy more livestock, when demand outruns stock availability.  Our availability will always be subject to what we have in production on our farm.  Since we raise our livestock the “Old Fashioned” way and do not take any shortcuts, it can take some time to re-establish availability. Your patience in this regard will be appreciated.

We are always interested in your experiences cooking and serving the fine meat products from our livestock.  Tammy and I have been raising and selling fine meats and livestock for our Customer’s enjoyment since 1996.  We closed our Retail store during Covid and now only sell meat on the hoof.   

--Steve and Tammy Schotthofer

Schotthofer’s Sunny Creek Farm LLC
SunnyCreekMeats.com
Steve & Tammy Schotthofer
2878 State Highway EE
Elkland, Missouri 65644

417-630-1456 - Steve’s Cell Phone
417-859-0101 - Office Phone

Email: SunnyCreekMeats@gmail.com

www.SunnyCreekMeats.com