Welcome to the Festina Lente Cattle Company
The goal at Festina Lente is to produce excellent beef and we strive to improve the herd and beef quality.
Our Products
In 1563 the King of Spain ordered 200 cows, 200 pigs, 200 horses and 400, multipurpose, Chuarre Sheep to be transported to the settlement and fortress of San Augustine in what is today northeast Florida coast. These animals, many of which escaped into the semi-tropical backlands and swamps during the Spanish occupation, became the agricultural foundation of America. The Florida Cracker Cow, which evolved into the Texas Longhorn and the Chuarre Sheep, are key examples of this ancient bloodline.
At Festina Lente Agro Cattle Company we offer a healthy, earth-friendly alternative to commercial feedlot fattened, store-bought beef. Our cattle are sold from the estate directly to discriminating private buyers individuals, restaurants and gourmet butchers. Festina Lente markets its cattle and sheep three ways:
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On the hoof purchase through private treaty. The buyer selects and removes the live animal. All transactions are cash and non-refundable.
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Private individual buyer. Whole or half beeves are sold for custom aging and packaging. The steers will average 800-1200 pounds and are sold on the basis of full or half carcasses. Quarter (1/4) carcasses are also available; please contact us for more information. Rose veal is also available. These beeves will generally weigh between 500 and 600 pounds. Once chosen by - or for - a buyer the steer is estate finished for a month and put into the abattoir’s cycle. All our animals are ethically hand slaughtered and the meat aged from between 14 and 21 days. (General recommended aging is 18 to 21 days.) Abattoirs are both USDA and/or Florida approved and inspected. The buyer will pay 50% non-refundable deposit on his selection based on estimated hang weight. Price adjustments will be made on final payment based on the actual hang weight.
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Private individual buyers for swine are offered a variety of butchering cuts.
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The price for a 400-500 pound live swine at a hang weight of 300 pounds plus/minus is $650.00.
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Prepared barbecue whole hogs from 100 to 150 pounds is $400.00. Prices for larger prepared barbecue varies with size.
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Swine are Yorkshire or Blue Butts.
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Purchase of gourmet cuts directly from our dry-aged freezer menu.
Local buyers interested in option 2 or 3 should contact us for gourmet cut sheets or freezer availability.
No hormones, steroids, preservatives or chemicals are used at Festina Lente.
If an animal is in need of veterinarian attention, and antibiotics are required, it is pulled from the market cycle for six months. When harvested, all animals are antibiotic and hormone supplement free.
We offer both Kosher and Halal beef and lamb.
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Cattle
Our Braford cattle were bred to suit the scorching heat and dry Florida summers. The stock is a cross between the prized beef cattle, Hereford, and the heat and disease resistant Brahman or Zebu cattle. Brafords were developed almost simultaneously between 1946 and 1947 in Queensland Australia and at the Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce, Florida. Alto Adams Jr. registered his breed in 1947. The Festina Lente original mother herd is primarily Adams raised heifers and are bred with a pure blooded Hereford bull. Some of our original herd heifers also have strong Red Angus blood lines. The Braford heifers are noted for their pest and insect resistance, superior maternal ability, early puberty, fertility and ease of calving. For the initial F Cross we have introduced a registered Santa Gertrudis bull with our Braford bred and estate born heifers. Additionally we are trialing artificially inseminated Wagyu in Red Angus heifers
Sheep
The Florida Cracker sheep is the oldest sheep breed in America. While wandering in the predator infested backlands - overrun by wild hogs, panthers and black vultures, and native hunters - the sheep, through natural selection, developed special characteristic to deal with the semi tropical warm, wet predator infested environment. They became not only heat but also gastro-intestinal parasite resistant. Weighing between 90 and 180 pounds, they produces a fine wool with pre-Marino contributions and mild, tender meat.
The grass fed herd at Festina Lente is one of three identified and studied by the University of Florida for disease resistance. The three herds all come from Carol Postley’s Fair Meadow Farm in Ocala, Florida. Here she has spent 40 years astutely improving the breed. Carol's efforts enhanced the Crackers' disease resistance, lambing ability, wool quality, carcass characteristics and heat tolerance. The Festina Lente Cracker herd has cross traces with Finnsheep, Finnish Landrace, - notable for their fine wool, multiple births, vigorous lambs, succulent meat and resistance to intestinal parasites. We also have traces of Katahdin, famous for their heat tolerance, and French Lacuane noted for their milk, wool and meat quality. The Lacuane is not only the source of the world renowned French Roquefort cheese but the sheep are exceptionally hardy and able to resist dramatic temperature swings.
Our goal is to breed the definitive commercial ewes and grass fed lambs. Good health, parasite resistance and strong maternal and lambing instincts are central to all our activities. Festina Lente provides whole lambs, live or harvested, and both raw and processed fleece.