ZK Ranches LLC

ZK Ranches LLC holds USDA establishment number M1702 at 5766 Highland Rd., Orlinda, Tennessee, in Robertson County. The federal record lists the plant for Meat Processing and Meat Slaughter, with a grant of inspection dated January 31, 2025. It is classed as a small establishment and reports slaughtering cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb under inspection. FSIS places it in slaughter volume category 1.0, meaning under 1,000 head per year. The plant also reports custom-exempt processing.

The business is a ranch as well as a plant. According to its website, ZK Ranches was founded in 2012 by sixth-generation cattle rancher Zach Knowles, and his wife Lyndi Adler-Knowles joined the operation in 2018. The site states the family oversees every step from raising and caring for animals through harvesting and butchering, and that its beef is harvested on the ranch under USDA inspection. A search snippet from the company's FAQ page states the harvesting facility in Orlinda opened in 2023, which precedes the grant of inspection date on file with FSIS.

Retail sales run through an online store and a storefront at 3610 Kelton Jackson Rd., Springfield, Tennessee. The site sells beef, pork, and chicken, and the Our Story page also names turkey, elk, bison, and a bourbon-finished beef. Beef is described as hormone-free and either grass-finished or grain-finished. A third-party directory snippet describes cattle, sheep, goat, and pig processing services for other customers, but the ZK Ranches website itself does not describe custom services, pricing, or booking for outside livestock, so those details are not yet on file here.

The federal record shows this plant is set up for both slaughter and processing of cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb, and it reports custom-exempt processing, the arrangement used when an owner's animals are returned for that owner's own use. FSIS lists it as a small establishment slaughtering under 1,000 head per year. One third-party directory describes cattle, sheep, goat, and pig processing services offered in Orlinda. The ZK Ranches website, however, presents the operation as a ranch harvesting its own animals and does not state booking procedures, lead times, minimums, kill fees, hanging weight charges, or cut and wrap options. Farmers should call to confirm whether outside livestock is accepted as listed. The FSIS record lists (432) 207-2171; the website lists (615) 991-1262.

ZK Ranches LLC reports custom-exempt processing to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

Households can order online through the ZK Ranches store or shop in person at 3610 Kelton Jackson Rd., Springfield, Tennessee. Beef is sold as whole, half, quarter, and eighth shares at listed prices of $3,600.00, $1,960.00, $1,132.50, and $650.00, and pork as half hog at $461.25 and quarter hog at $256.25. Smaller options include 10LB and 25LB boxes of specific cuts, one pound ground beef packages, patties, sausage, bacon, and assorted meal and variety boxes. The site describes the beef as hormone-free and pasture-raised, offered grass-finished or grain-finished. Delivery and shipping terms are not stated in the material on file.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.