Eighth, Quarter, Half and Whole Beef
$6.99 per hanging pound plus $1.90 processing. Standard cut or custom cut.
See beef pricing →USDA Inspected Beef in Morton, IL | Little Blue's Farm
Every animal we raise is processed at a USDA-inspected locker under federal inspection — the same standard applied to meat sold in any grocery store in America. That is what makes it legal for us to sell you beef by the pound, deliver it across six states, and supply schools and restaurants. Family-owned since 2012.
Have a question about how it’s processed? Call the farm: (309) 613-0563
Quick Summary
Little Blue’s Farm beef, pork and poultry are processed under federal USDA inspection, which means a federal inspector examines every animal before and after slaughter and the finished packages carry the USDA mark of inspection. Federal inspection is what makes it legal for us to sell beef by the pound, deliver across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri, and supply schools, restaurants and grocery stores. Inspection covers food safety — it is separate from how we raise the animals, which is on our own pastures without added hormones, without steroids, and without daily antibiotics. Call (309) 613-0563 or order online.
What Does USDA Inspected Actually Mean for Your Beef?
USDA inspection is a federal food safety program run by the Food Safety and Inspection Service. It is not a marketing label and it is not something a farm can award itself. A federal inspector is physically present at the processing facility and has to sign off before any meat can be sold. Here is what that inspector is doing:
Ante-mortem inspection. Every animal is examined while it is still alive, before slaughter, for signs of disease or distress.
Post-mortem inspection. The carcass and the organs are examined after slaughter. Anything that does not pass is condemned and never enters the food supply.
Sanitation and process control. The facility operates under written sanitation procedures and a food safety plan the inspector verifies.
Label review. Product labels are checked so what the package says matches what is inside it.
The mark of inspection. Product that passes gets the federal mark — a circle reading "U.S. INSPECTED AND PASSED BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE" with the plant's establishment number inside it.
That establishment number is the part most people never look at. It ties every package back to one specific licensed facility that a federal inspector walks through. Ours is on your labels — call (309) 613-0563 and we’ll tell you which locker your beef went through.
Where Little Blue’s Farm Beef and Pork Get Processed
We raise the animals. A licensed, federally inspected facility handles slaughter and cutting. Those are two different jobs, and it matters that they are.
The farm is where the animal’s life happens — our own pastures between Morton and Mackinaw, the feed, the care, the choice of grass-fed or corn-finished. The locker is where federal food safety oversight happens. A farm cannot inspect its own meat, and we would not want you to take our word for it anyway.
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On the farm.
Cattle, hogs and poultry are raised on our own pastures without added hormones, without steroids, and without daily antibiotics. Cage-free, crate-free.
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To the locker.
Animals go to a USDA-inspected locker, where a federal inspector examines them before and after slaughter.
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Dry-aged, cut and wrapped.
Beef is dry-aged 10 to 14 days, cut, double-wrapped and flash-frozen. Every package is labeled under federal labeling requirements.
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Weighed and priced.
All bulk beef charges are based on the official hanging weight recorded at the USDA-inspected locker — not an estimate from us. Beef is $6.99 per hanging pound plus $1.90 per pound for processing.
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To your freezer.
We deliver it ourselves and carry the boxes in, or you meet us at the Peoria Riverfront Farmers Market or our monthly Creve Coeur pickup.
See the full bulk beef pricing, cut lists and butcher dates →
USDA Inspected vs. Custom Exempt Beef: The Difference
This is the single most misunderstood thing in the whole bulk beef business, and it is worth two minutes of your time before you buy a quarter from anybody.
| Custom Exempt | USDA Inspected | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal inspector present | No | Yes |
| Package marking | "Not For Sale" | USDA mark of inspection |
| Who can legally have it | Owner, household, guests, employees | Anyone |
| Can be sold as meat | No | Yes |
| Can cross state lines | No | Yes |
| Can go to schools or restaurants | No | Yes |
Custom exempt processing is legal, common, and perfectly fine for what it was designed to do — but it exists for people processing their own animal. Under federal law, custom-exempt meat is stamped "NOT FOR SALE" and can only be used by the owner, their household, guests and employees. That is why some farms sell you a live animal share first: technically you are buying a live steer, not beef, and you pay the locker separately to process the animal you now own.
USDA inspected product is different. It has passed federal inspection, it carries the mark of inspection, and it can be legally sold as meat — by the pound, by the bundle, by the quarter, to a household, to a restaurant, or to a school district.
Ours is federally inspected. When you order a quarter from us, you are buying beef — not a share of a live animal — and you are not handed a box of packages stamped "Not For Sale."
Worth asking any farm you buy from: Is this custom exempt or USDA inspected? It is a fair question, and an honest operation answers it in one sentence.
Why Federal Inspection Lets Us Deliver Across State Lines
There are three tiers of meat inspection in this country, and the tier decides where the meat is allowed to go.
Custom exempt — no inspection, "Not For Sale," personal use only.
State inspected — inspected by a state program under an agreement with USDA. Legal to sell, but only inside that state.
Federally inspected — inspected by USDA FSIS. Legal to sell anywhere in the country, and eligible for export.
That middle tier is where a lot of Illinois farms get stuck. Illinois runs its own Meat and Poultry Inspection program through the Illinois Department of Agriculture, and state-inspected product is legal to sell — but only within Illinois. There is a federal program called Cooperative Interstate Shipment that lets some small state-inspected plants ship across state lines, and Illinois is not one of the states enrolled in it.
So when a central Illinois farm advertises delivery into Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin or Missouri, federal inspection is not a bonus feature. It is the thing that makes the delivery legal.
We deliver across all six states and carry the boxes in to your freezer. We supply schools, restaurants, grocery stores and caterers. Federal inspection is why we can.
Does USDA Inspection Mean the Beef Is Graded Choice?
No — and the two get mixed up constantly.
Inspection is mandatory and answers one question: is this meat safe and wholesome? Grading — Prime, Choice, Select — is voluntary, paid for by the plant, and answers a different question entirely: how much marbling does this cut have?
A grade is a quality opinion about fat distribution. It says nothing about how the animal lived, what it ate, or whether it was given hormones. Plenty of graded grocery-store beef comes from cattle raised in ways we would not choose.
What we can tell you, plainly
No added hormones. No steroids. No daily antibiotics.
Cage-free, crate-free.
Grass-fed or corn-finished — your choice.
Dry-aged 10 to 14 days, then double-wrapped and flash-frozen. Not vacuum-sealed.
Raised on our own pastures between Morton and Mackinaw by the same family that eats it.
Inspection covers the safety. The raising is on us, and you can call and ask about any part of it.
Five Questions to Ask Any Farm Before You Buy a Quarter
We would rather you buy from a farm you trust than buy from us on a guess. Here are the five questions worth asking anybody selling bulk beef in central Illinois — including us.
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Is this custom exempt or USDA inspected?
The one that decides whether you are buying beef or buying a live animal. Ours is USDA inspected.
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What does the package label actually say?
A mark of inspection means it passed. "Not For Sale" means it was custom exempt. Ask to see a label.
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Who sets the hanging weight I get charged on?
It should be the locker's official scale, not the farm's estimate. Ours is the locker's number.
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What did the animal eat, and who raised it?
A farm that raised the animal start to finish can answer in detail. A reseller cannot.
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Can I get the whole price before I commit?
Beef, processing, and any extras. No surprise locker bill at pickup. Ours is $6.99 per hanging pound plus $1.90 processing.
If any farm gets cagey on question one, that is your answer. Call us at (309) 613-0563 and ask us all five.
Our USDA Inspected Beef, Pork and Poultry in Morton, IL
Everything below is processed under federal inspection and available for delivery, market pickup, or our monthly Creve Coeur pickup.
Half and Whole Hogs
$4.49 per hanging pound plus processing. Bacon, chops, ribs, sausage, the works.
See hog pricing →Freezer Bundles and Specials
The Freezer Filler at $779.99 — beef, pork and chicken, already cut and wrapped.
Stock the Freezer →Chicken and Turkey
Whole chickens and turkey raised cage-free on our own ground.
Browse the store →Monthly and Quarterly Subscriptions
A dependable box of beef, pork and chicken so the freezer never runs empty.
Browse the store →Wholesale for Schools and Restaurants
Standing orders for institutions that require federally inspected product.
Call the farm →Common Questions About USDA Inspected Beef and Farm Meat
Is the beef from Little Blue's Farm USDA inspected?
Yes. Our cattle are processed at a USDA-inspected locker under federal inspection, and the finished packages carry the federal mark of inspection. All bulk beef pricing is based on the official hanging weight recorded at that locker. If you want to know which facility your order went through, call (309) 613-0563 and we will tell you.
What does the USDA mark of inspection actually look like?
It is a circle printed on the package reading "U.S. INSPECTED AND PASSED BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE," with an establishment number inside it. That number identifies the specific licensed facility where the product was processed. Federally inspected poultry carries a similar mark shaped like a shield. If a package says "Not For Sale" instead, it was custom exempt.
Is USDA inspected the same thing as USDA certified organic?
No. They are two separate programs. Inspection is a mandatory food safety check performed on every animal sold commercially. Organic certification is a voluntary paid program with its own standards for feed, pasture and inputs. We are not certified organic and we do not claim to be. We raise without added hormones, steroids, or daily antibiotics, and we will tell you exactly what our animals eat.
Does USDA inspection mean the beef is graded Choice?
No. Inspection is mandatory and answers whether meat is safe and wholesome. Grading is voluntary, paid for by the plant, and rates marbling and quality characteristics. Beef can be federally inspected without ever being graded, which is normal for beef sold direct from a farm. Grade tells you about fat distribution — it does not tell you how the animal was raised.
Can USDA inspected beef be shipped across state lines?
Yes. Federally inspected product can be sold in interstate commerce anywhere in the United States. That is the key difference from state-inspected meat, which can generally only be sold inside the state that inspected it unless that state participates in the federal Cooperative Interstate Shipment program. Illinois does not participate, so federal inspection is what allows our delivery routes into Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri.
What is custom exempt beef and why is it not for sale?
Custom exempt is processing done as a service for someone who already owns the animal. No federal inspector is stationed there, so the law limits the meat to the owner, their household, guests and employees, and requires it be marked "Not For Sale." It is a legitimate option if you own a steer and want it processed. It is not a legal way to sell beef to the public, which is why our product goes through federal inspection instead.
Is your pork, chicken and turkey inspected the same way?
Our pork is processed under federal inspection alongside our beef. Poultry falls under the Poultry Products Inspection Act rather than the Federal Meat Inspection Act, so the mark is shaped a little differently, but the idea is the same: an inspector examines the birds and verifies the facility's sanitation and food safety plan before product can be sold. Call (309) 613-0563 if you want the details on a specific product.
Who inspects the beef, the farm or the processing plant?
The processing facility. Federal inspection happens at the licensed establishment where slaughter and processing occur — a farm cannot inspect its own animals or issue a mark of inspection. What the farm controls is everything before that point: pasture, feed, care, and whether hormones, steroids or daily antibiotics are used. Ask a farm about the raising, and ask about the plant for the inspection.
Does USDA inspection change how the cattle are raised?
No. Inspection is a food safety program focused on the animal's health at slaughter and the sanitation of the facility. It does not regulate pasture, feed, hormone use or antibiotic use on the farm. That is why "USDA inspected" and "raised without added hormones" are two separate claims, and why it is worth asking a farm about both. Ours are raised on our own pastures without added hormones, without steroids, and without daily antibiotics.
How can I verify a processor is USDA inspected myself?
Look for the mark of inspection on your packages and note the establishment number. USDA FSIS publishes a public directory of federally inspected establishments you can search by establishment number or plant name. You can also just ask the farm — any operation using an inspected facility knows the name and the number and should hand it over without hesitating.