The Cottrell Family
Six generations on the same Kentucky ground. We are not a brand with a farm attached. We are a family that raises cattle, and the beef we sell you is the beef we feed our own.
Same Family, Same Ground, For Six Generations
Our family has farmed this ground for at least six generations.
We took it on ourselves in 1985. This farm has been many things, from a row crop and tobacco farm early on to a large farrow-to-finish hog operation in the late 1990s. We have always had cattle along the way, but it was a small portion of what we did.
In 2001 that changed as we began to shift into a mainly cow-calf operation. Over the next years the herd grew along with the family, and in 2021 we began to hold a steer back to raise for ourselves. We knew where he had come from and what he had been fed, and once you have eaten beef you raised yourself it is hard to go back to buying from the store.
Friends and family started asking if we had one to spare. We did, and every year from there it has continued to grow little by little. That is how the beef shares started, and it is still how they work: the same cattle, off the same pastures, that we keep for ourselves.
When you buy from us, there is no corporation between you and the field. If you have any questions about your beef, feel free to contact us. The person who answers is someone who raised it.
Three Dates That Shaped The Farm Today
We Took It On
This generation took over the family ground in Sonora, Kentucky and got to work. Everything since has been built on top of what came before.
We Shifted To Cow-Calf
There have always been cattle here. In 2001 we moved to a mainly cow-calf operation, and twenty-five years of learning this herd and this pasture followed.
We Held One Back
We kept a steer back for our own family. Friends asked if we had one to spare, and the beef shares grew from there, a little more every year since.
Open Ground, Good Grass, Room To Move
Our cattle are out on pasture. Not in a barn lot, not in a feedlot, out on grass, where cattle are supposed to be, with shade and water and space to spread out.
That is the slower way to do it. Cattle on pasture take longer to finish than cattle packed into a confinement lot, and it costs more to get them there. We think it makes better beef and a better life for the animal, and we are not interested in the other way.
In their last months we finish them on grain, still out on that same pasture. That is what puts the marbling in and gives the beef the flavor your family is expecting.
What We Will Always Tell You Straight
Four things you can count on from us, every single time.
Never A Feedlot
Our cattle spend their entire lives on open pasture. Not a week in confinement, not a day. That is not a marketing line. It is just how we farm.
No Hormones, No Antibiotics
Ever. We raise healthy cattle on good ground with room to move, which is what keeps us from ever needing a shortcut.
You Talk To Us Directly
No call center, no middleman. Call or text and you are talking to the family that raised your beef and can answer any question about it.
We Eat What We Sell
The beef in our own freezer came off the same pasture, the same herd, and the same processor as yours. We would not sell you anything we would not feed our own family.
You Are Welcome Out Here
We mean that. If you are thinking about a share and you want to see the pasture your beef would come off of, call ahead and come out. Bring the kids, they will want to see the cattle anyway.
Not many people get to meet the farmer before they fill their freezer. We think you should.
Ready To Join Our Customers?
Reserve a quarter, half, or whole share and let us fill your freezer with beef you can trace back to a field you could stand in.
Or call or text us: 270-766-9041 · 270-268-4394