How the Farm Works

Our Process
Most beef, lamb, poultry and pork producers – even small ones – follow a mass production style of farming. Animals spend little or no time in open pastures, are fattened up in crowded feed lots or pens prior to slaughter, and their meat, while technically "fresh" at some point, goes through many hands over long periods of time before it gets to your table … weeks at least, even if it is sold "fresh" versus "frozen". Fields of Athenry is a very different kind of farm operation. Our meats go from our pastures to our processors to you, following a very strict, managed-by-hand timetable.
Monday
Fields of Athenry customers place their meat order with us every Monday by noon, telling us exactly how much they want and in what form – for example: CHICKEN – 1 whole bird; BEEF: 6 Delmonico steaks & 3 pounds of ground beef; LAMB: 2 lamb chops and 2 pounds of lamb sausage; PORK: 4 pork chops. This customer-by-customer approach allows us to place our farm’s "cut" order with our processors based, not on how much we think we can sell that week, but how much meat our customers actually need..
Tuesday
Our animals are taken to our processors in small groups starting on Tuesday each week.
Wednesday
By Wednesday, freshly processed meat orders are being prepared for our customers’ pick up here at the farm or for home/office delivery. Meat that required hanging will have been cut just hours before we pick it up and prepare to get it to you. We do not process large numbers of animals, planning to freeze what we cannot sell.
Thursday
We treat each customer's individual order with great care. Home and office deliveries are made on Thursdays. Customers can also instruct us that they would like to pick up their order here at the farm (on Thursday, Friday or Saturday). The farm and farm shop are open 11 am to 6:30 pm on Thursday for both pre-order pick up or for walk in shopping and tours.
Friday
By treating each individual weekly order with great care, not only is the meat you get from Fields of Athenry hormone, antibiotic and pesticide free, it is truly fresh. Again, from our pastures to our processors to you! The farm and farm shop are open 11 am to 6:30 pm on Friday for both pre-order pick up or for walk in shopping and tours.
Saturday
The farm and farm shop are open 11 am to 6:30 pm on Saturday for both pre-order pick up or for walk in shopping and tours. Saturday is also the day we hold most of our Farm to Community Health Outreach events, and, it’s a great day to visit the farm with family and friends and simply enjoy the outdoors!
Sunday
We are not a meat CSA where customers sometimes buy in bulk and pack their freezers with a month's supply of meat. We are not an upper-end meat counter that puts the word "fresh" on meat that is actually days or weeks old. We hardworking, dedicated farmers committed to putting the same fresh and delicious meats on your table as we feed to our family and friends.