Dickinson Cattle

Out antiquing in Eastern Ohio (about an hour outside of Pittsburgh) with my Mom, and stumbled across this place. And, WOW!!! I feel like we found a different kind of treasure!!!
Up a long gravel road, among the rolling hills of the Appalachian Foothills is one of the largest Texas Longhorn breeding ranches in the country! Who knew?! (Note: George Lucas has bought their cattle.) Besides longhorns, Dickinson Ranch also raises BueLingo and Watusi cattle. All of the cattle are raised on the farm from birth — and you see them EVERYWHERE as you drive up to the main buildings.
Dickinson Ranch offers so many activities, from lake fishing to tours of the ranch where you can hand feed the cattle a high-​protein (soy, alfalfa, molasses mixture) treat the ranchers call «cow candy». You have to call ahead for tour info, but the «Longhorns Head to Tail» store on the premises is open daily from 9 to 5 — and that is where we found ourselves.
The store is jam packed with everything cattle; From cow-​skin rugs and pillows, to custom-​made chaps, to handbags, horns, horn jewelry, skulls, and all of the meat. This ranch is super eco-​friendly and against wastage — so you see products using every single part of every cow. They even sell canes/​walking sticks made from the bull’s penis. They definitely use ALL of the parts.
As for the meat, there isn’t a finer product. «Better than organic», the meat is all inspected by The Ohio Dept. of Agriculture or the USDA, free range and grass fed without the use of hormones, steroids, or implants. All the products are at least 94% lean, with most being in the 96%-98% range. Their products are low calorie and low carb. All of their products, including the hot dogs, summer sausage, jerky, and beef sticks are 100% beef. I ate two of the beef sticks this morning, and they are really tasty!
Prices here are comparable to the grocery store and/​or farmer’s market. Unless you buy in bulk; In bulk, you pay wholesale prices. Also, even though they sell every cut of meat, they don’t always have every cut available. When we visited, they only had two types of steaks available (one was filet). They also had ground beef, chuck roast, beef strips, beef bacon (their new product), beef brisket, beef wieners, cow tongue, ox tail, beef liver, beef jerky, beef sticks, sausages, etc. If you are visiting to stock up on meat you should call ahead to see what is currently in the freezer. The employee told us that they pull animals for consumption every 2 – 3 months, and their customers (70% of their business is repeat customers) come to purchase as soon as the meat hits the store. And, when it’s gone it’s gone.