SALT & IRONCATTLE CO.
SALT & IRON CATTLE CO. · PONDER, TEXAS
We raise grass-fed, grass-finished Dexter beef in Ponder, Texas. That means a lot of our work happens before the cattle ever take a bite.
WHERE OUR BEEF BEGINS
To be good cattle ranchers, we believe we have to be good grass farmers first.
That’s the idea behind Salt & Iron Cattle Company. We’re a family business in Ponder, Texas, raising Dexter cattle on grass and finishing them on forage.
So we spend a lot of time thinking about what’s growing under their feet. We plant a mix of forages, work with Dave from Big Little Farm on compost tea applications, and move the cattle so the pasture gets time to come back. Those are the decisions behind the beef we want to put on your table.
WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE HERE
“Regenerative” can cover a lot of ground. Here are some of the things we actually do.
Read about our grass farmingSOIL BIOLOGY
Several times a year, Dave Phillips of Big Little Farm sprays our pastures with freshly brewed aerated compost tea. We use it as part of our effort to support the soil’s living community.
Our compost tea program ↗DIVERSE FORAGE
We plant forage polycultures to feed the cattle and contribute to the soil. Native species, where they fit, are part of our goal for a more diverse, prairie-style pasture.
How our forage mixes work ↗ROTATIONAL PADDOCKS
Monil virtual fencing makes changing paddocks more practical for us. We can adjust grazing boundaries in the app while deciding pasture moves by forage and recovery.
Why we use virtual fencing ↗
WHY THE WORK MATTERS
We know that buying beef for your family is a decision you put some thought into. You want it to taste good. You want to know how the cattle were raised. And you want a straight answer when you ask a question.
That’s what we want Salt & Iron to offer: Dexter beef we’ve taken care in raising, and a clear explanation of the work behind it.
Professionally processed, USDA-inspected. All of our beef is professionally processed at a USDA-inspected facility.
Why we chose Dexter cattleHOW WE RAISE OUR BEEF
These are the practices we follow in our cattle operation.
Our cattle eat a forage-based diet through finishing. We don’t switch them to a grain-finishing program.
We don’t apply these to our pastures. We work on fertility through our forage mixes, grazing management, and compost tea program.
Our Monil collars let us adjust paddocks more easily. We make the grazing decisions by looking at forage, weather, and recovery.
We chose a hardy heritage breed for our grass-based operation. We raise our cattle without vaccines.
Our cattle have continuous access to 18 different free-choice mineral options alongside their forage-based diet.
All our beef is professionally processed at a USDA-inspected facility.
WHY DEXTERS
We wanted cattle that could make good use of forage, handle the demands of our land, and produce beef we’d be proud to serve. Dexters made sense to us.
Tenderness and rich beef flavor are two reasons we chose the breed. How we raise the cattle matters to us, and so does how the beef eats.
Dexters are known for being thrifty cattle. Their compact frame is a good fit for the kind of pasture-based operation we want to run.
Their hardiness is another reason we like working with them in North Texas. Good forage, water, shade, and daily care still matter, whatever the breed.
ROTATIONAL GRAZING
A grazed pasture needs time to grow again. We use our Monil collars to keep cattle in their rotational paddocks and move them consistently, while other areas rest.
The collars make changing a boundary easier. The grass tells us when to change it.
We keep the herd in a rotational paddock while other areas rest. The forage and ground conditions help us decide when to move.
An illustration of rotational grazing. Actual pasture moves depend on forage, weather, and recovery.
OUR FAMILY BUSINESS
Salt & Iron Cattle Co. is our family’s cattle business in Ponder, Texas.
We’re putting our name on this beef. So the details matter to us: what we seed, what we spray, where the cattle graze, and how long we give the pasture to recover.
We’ll tell you what we do and why. Some of it is simple. Some of it takes learning and adjusting as we go. We think you deserve that kind of honesty from the people raising your food.
THE SALT & IRON TABLE
If you care about how your beef was raised, you’re in the right place. We’d like you to get to know our cattle operation well enough to understand the choices we make—and to keep asking questions.
Start with the grass. That’s where we do.
Take a closer look at our pasturesQUESTIONS WE’RE GLAD TO ANSWER
About our cattle and our beef.
Read all our beef questions ↗Yes. Our cattle eat a forage-based diet through finishing. We don’t grain-finish our beef.
Yes. We provide continuous access to 18 different free-choice mineral options in addition to their forage-based diet.
All our beef is professionally processed at a USDA-inspected facility.