Bear Mountain Beef Inc.

Bear Mountain Beef Inc. operates at 3901 West State Highway 313 in Hawk Springs, Goshen County, Wyoming, under USDA establishment number M47567. FSIS lists the plant for Meat Processing and Meat Slaughter, classes it as Very Small, and shows a grant of inspection dated August 25, 2022. Species reported slaughtered under inspection are cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, and bison. The plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter, where animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages are marked Not for Sale, and it reports retail-exempt sales. Its FSIS slaughter volume category is 1.0, meaning under 1,000 head per year.

The company website describes Bear Mountain Beef as a family owned local processor serving beef, pork, sheep and goat customers. According to the site, the business grew out of the 2020 pandemic, when two families, Mac and Celsie Sussex and Roger, Vicki, Chad and Nicole Uthmann, found it difficult to schedule beef processing. They partnered with Friesla, a Washington state company that builds USDA slaughter and processing units. Construction began in June 2021 and the business opened in December 2021. The website states the operation has grown to processing over 25 head of beef per week plus small animals. Note that the website's opening date of December 2021 precedes the grant of inspection date of August 25, 2022 on file with FSIS.

The website says customers can expect staff assistance through each step, yield tracking with a customer portal for viewing current and previous appointments, cut sheets designed to maximize yield, and vacuum sealed cuts. It also describes humane handling of livestock and daily deep cleaning. Mac and Celsie Sussex are described as the main owners operating the facility day to day, with the Uthmann family providing cattle feeding and beef sales in Colorado through Mountain View Feeders, Inc. Pricing, scheduling lead times, and retail product listings are not stated in the material on file.

Farmers and ranchers can bring cattle, hogs, sheep and lamb, or bison for slaughter under federal inspection, and the plant also reports custom-exempt slaughter for animals the customer already owns, with resulting packages marked Not for Sale. The website says booking includes staff assistance at every step, cut sheets designed to maximize yield, a customer portal showing current and previous appointments, and vacuum sealed cuts. The site states the plant processes over 25 head of beef per week plus small animals. FSIS places annual slaughter volume under 1,000 head. Kill fees, cut and wrap rates, deposits, minimums, and scheduling lead times are not stated in the sources on file.

Bear Mountain Beef Inc. reports custom-exempt slaughter 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.

The establishment reports retail-exempt sales to FSIS, and the website describes the owners' background in direct retail meat sales to local consumers, but no retail counter hours, halves and quarters pricing, bundles, delivery, shipping, or online ordering are described in the material on file. Households interested in buying meat directly should contact the plant at (307) 575-6332 to confirm what is available.

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.