Whitesell Farms Wagyu

Quick Reference:

If you are looking for Custom Beef by the side, you are in the right place - keep reading and scrolling down to the table below and look for entries with bold red text that say "Available".
If you are looking to shop at a Farmer's Market, check out our retail subsidiary North Alabama Wagyu.

What to Expect

Our beef are raised to exacting standards, following a process that we continue to improve as we gain more experience. For the first 205 days, the calf is raised primarily by its dam on milk and grass. At 205 days, they are weaned and vaccinated, held with unlimited access to hay, minerals and supplemental feed to maintain their weight and health. After they have come through the weaning process, they move either to A to Z feeders in Iowa, or our Yearling Pasture where they are supplied with ample pasture, hay, and mineral salts, plus access to a high-protein all-natural feed that is designed to provide enough bulk digestible material to limit over consumption. For our local steers, depending on the amount of Wagyu influence, they will transition to the final stage of the finishing process between 21 and 27 months of age. During this phase, for 100 days they will have free choice access to a high-quality, non-GMO finishing feed mix in addition to their hay and pasture. If we have done our job properly, they reach a high degree of marbling and build up an ample fat supply required for butchering.

How it Works for Custom Beef

For Custom Beef, we sell our sides of beef directly to the end consumer, however our responsibility ends with the delivery of the live animal to your preferred butcher. You are purchasing an interest in the live animal from us and you will then work with the butcher shop to specify how your beef is prepared. Delivery to the butcher is free within a 30 mile range of our farm or if it is going to one of our processing slots at our preferred processor. The butcher's fee is your responsibility and generally ranges from $1 to $1.15 per pound of hanging weight depending on the shop and options.

We price our beef based on the percentage of Wagyu Influence and their Hanging Weight. Wagyu Influence measures what percentage of the animal's lineage can be traced back to original imported Japanese Wagyu. As our farm has progressed, the vast majority of the beef we offer is an F2 (75% Wagyu) or better with most being Fullblood (100%) Wagyu. The Hanging Weight is the weight of the side after butchering but before it has been processed. This is the fairest measure of your eventual yield. For 2023, Custom Beef prices are as follows: F1 (50% Wagyu) sides are $4/lb of hanging weight, F2 (75% Wagyu) and F3 (87.5% Wagyu) sides are $4.50/lb of hanging weight, and Purebred and Fullblood Wagyu sides are $5/lb of hanging weight.

For 2023, we are producing and processing 2 steers every two months, and we have a dedicated slot for each animal at McBride Meats in South Pittsburgh, TN. Our target range for these sides of beef range from 350 to 550 lbs. Custom Beef can be processed anywhere, but that requires advance planning since it can be difficult to get a slot at most area processors. Potential new customers need to use the Contact Us form on this website to register interest. After we have talked with you and verified that you understand what you are getting into, we will work with you to select a side that fits your needs.

How it Works for Retail Sales

In 2016, we began to experiment with delivering our beef "into Commerce" as the USDA describes it - i.e. distributing our beef to a supermarket, restaurant, or end consumer at a Farmers Market. It turns out that to do this correctly is a bit more complicated than delivering Custom Beef to our direct customers. First off, the animal must be harvested at an USDA inspected processing facility. We are currently using McBride Meats, a Federally USDA Inspected facility, in South Pittsburgh, TN for this. After processing, the beef must be ferried in a refrigerated transport from the processing plant to the wholesale or retail outlet. This attention to details insures that we are meeting USDA and Health Department guidelines and that the beef arrives at the end consumer safe and sound.

Our beef that is processed for Retail Sales is distributed by our subsidiary, North Alabama Wagyu, LLC. Typically, we will bring a processed animal back to our walk-in freezer and sort it by cut and destination. We draw from these stores for inventory to be sold at local area Farmers Markets. Visit the North Alabama Wagyu website for more details.

How it Works for Wholesale Distribution

We love the opportunity to work with area establishments that understand the value of buying from local farmers! With some planning, we can deliver our beef fresh or frozen in our refrigerated truck. It can be packaged as whole loins (to allow the supermarket or restaurant to hand-cut their steaks) or as individual steaks and other cuts. We have a lot of flexibility in the processing options and pricing and work to design a program that fits the need. If you are interested in this avenue of delivery, please use the same Contact Us form for more information.

Available Sides

We process two steers every other month. Two of the four resulting sides of beef are earmarked for retail sales by North Alabama Wagyu. The other two sides are available as Custom Beef.

Additionally, we now have the option for our customers to purchase a side of our Wagyu beef that was finished by our partner, A to Z Feeders, in Iowa. Normally these steers are marketed nationally and end up in the finest restaurants in the country. We decided that since we transport our weaned calves to Iowa on a regular basis, we might as well bring some of the results back home with us on the return trip. It has worked out very well for those who have participated.

The best way to find out what is available is to check with us via the Contact Us button.