Key Takeaways
- Fall beef is finished on the richest grass of the year — the tail end of a full rotational-grazing season on Freedom Valley Farm’s Pennsylvania partner farms.
- Chicken production stops for the winter. Freedom Valley Farm only raises chicken in spring, summer, and fall, so fall is the last chance to stock up before next year’s batches start.
- Bulk orders (quarter/half beef, 12+ chickens) beat individual-cut pricing and are the most common way households fill the freezer for winter.
- Ordering in fall beats waiting for the holidays — it lets households plan around what they’ll actually use instead of scrambling in December.
If you’ve been putting off a freezer order, fall is the moment two separate production calendars line up in your favor.
Beef: the end of a full grazing season
Freedom Valley Farm’s beef comes from partner farms in Pennsylvania, not the Maryland home farm — a distinction the farm discloses openly rather than implying every animal is raised on-site. Those partner farms, run by George Lake, Bill Brooks, and Stephan Schoen, follow the same rotational grazing standard: cattle move through fresh pasture all season, with no grain finishing, no antibiotics, and no added hormones.
By fall, that means cattle have been on pasture since spring, finishing on the best grass of the year. Winter changes that picture — once pasture stops growing, cattle transition to hay, which is simply grass that’s been cut and stored rather than grazed fresh. It’s not a quality cliff, but it is a different stage of the season, and fall captures the peak of it.
Chicken: a shorter window than you might think
Chicken runs on its own calendar. Freedom Valley Farm raises its birds on pasture at the Maryland farm, moving them through fresh ground in batches timed to warm weather — and the farm does not raise chickens through the winter, because pasture conditions aren’t right for it. That makes fall the last stretch of the year’s chicken production, not an ongoing supply.
What that means for freezer planning
A quarter or half beef order is the most common starting point for households stepping up from individual cuts, with better per-pound pricing the larger the order gets. On the chicken side, whole birds, cut-up packages, and bulk orders of 12 or more are available while the season lasts.
Both pair well with a bulk order if you haven’t tried one before — it’s the standard way regular customers fill a chest freezer ahead of winter rather than buying piecemeal through the colder months.
If you’re still sorting out what “pasture-raised” actually means for chicken — and how it differs from free-range or cage-free — this guide breaks it down.
The bottom line: fall is the one time of year beef quality and chicken availability line up at the same time. Waiting until the holidays means paying more per pound and running the risk that this year’s chicken batches are already gone.
Ready to stock the freezer? Start with a bulk order or browse grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken directly.
Freedom Valley Farm
+1 443 752 4338
2523 Bradenbaugh Road
White Hall
Maryland
21161
United States
