Field notes5 min
How we ship a whole cow across three states
Vacuum-sealed, hand-packed in insulated crates with dry ice. Here's the logistics behind a two-day door delivery.
EV
Ellett Valley
2025-11-01

Photo · Ellett Valley archives
A quarter cow is 90 pounds of frozen beef. Getting it from our processor in Elliston to your kitchen in Charlotte without a single thaw is more engineering than farming.
"Every cut is vacuum-sealed at the processor, blast-frozen for 24 hours, and inventoried by lot number so we can trace any package back to a single animal."
Orders ship Monday and Tuesday only. Boxes are packed with dry ice and reflective liners rated for 60 hours. UPS Next Day Air within Virginia; two-day air anywhere east of the Mississippi.
You'll get a photo of your packed box before it leaves the barn. If anything arrives above 20°F, we replace it - no questions.
- Ellett Valley, from the porch, Blacksburg VA

