Where’s the Beef?
At Cowboy Meats!
Written by Cyd Hoefle
Photography by Stu Hoefle
It fascinated me. There’s so much science and flow to the deconstruction of a carcass.
- Charlie Hollenbeck
It’s Monday morning at Cowboy Meats in Forsyth, Montana, and all hands are on deck.
In the processing room, a team of eight is custom-cutting a beef carcass. As the quarters of beef come in from the hanging room, they are broken down into smaller portions and then laid atop two tables where butchers are standing shoulder to shoulder. Wearing heavy aprons and using knives sharpened to a razor’s edge, the team of seven men and one woman works quickly, efficiently and steadily.
The prime cuts are the first to be carved from the carcass. One butcher is trimming off the top layer of fat on the ribs, and another grabs them and takes them to the band saw to be cut into perfect steaks. The rib steaks pile up as another worker puts them into packages to be vacuum-packed, labeled and frozen. As the different sections of carcass work their way down the table, the butchers process them into a variety of cuts. At the far end of the room, the less prime cuts are being put into a machine to be ground into burger.
Despite the intense work, members of the team manage to badger one another, teasing as they go about their work. The camaraderie and playfulness show the depth of respect they have for one another and the enjoyment they have in their work.
Cowboy Meats was established in July 2020 when the Hollenbeck family bought C&K Meats. A Montana ranch family from Molt, the Hollenbecks raise cattle and sheep.
Charlie Hollenbeck, the youngest of three sons, was the first in the family to think about a meat processing plant. With an education in processing plant technology, he gained experience in the oil field working on wells and the construction of plants.
“I believe in helping stability by versatility,” Charlie said. “It’s what first got me to thinking strongly about diversifying the ranch into something more.”
When C&K Meats came up for sale, Charlie was working in Watford, North Dakota. Not having a background in meats, he would spend his free time studying how to butcher a carcass and watching “Butcher” on the History Channel.
“It fascinated me,” he continued. “There’s so much science and flow to the deconstruction of a carcass.”
Once the Hollenbecks — Charlie, his brother Henry and their parents — decided to purchase the business, the first decision made was that former employees would be given the option to continue working. Three of them stayed on.
“We were very grateful for that,” Charlie said. “It was a good starting point. They were familiar with the entire process and gave us a good start.”
“Everybody here tries to make everyone else’s life easier.”
One of those employees is Eric Lawrence, whom Charlie promoted to plant manager within months. For Eric, it’s been a great opportunity to continue the work that he started, knowing there is opportunity for advancement.
“I thrive on the intensity of this job,” he said. “Some days are 10 and 12 hours long, but they fly by because we’re so busy.”
The plant is currently processing about 10 head a week. But an expansion that is already under construction will allow that weekly number to grow to 16 to 18, with a long-term goal of processing 50 head a week.
“We’re growing, but we want to do it well,” Charlie said. “We pride ourselves on our consistency with our product. Billings is a huge market for us. At some point we will need to have a distributor handle the demand.”
Dustyn Anzalone is the smoke house manager. It’s his job to handle all the meats that need to be smoked, including hams, bacon, sausages, pepper sticks and brats.
“I really enjoy coming up with new flavors,” Dustyn said. “I’ve been allowed to be creative here.”
In addition to being the head of the smoke house, Dustyn has a reputation for being the fastest skinner on kill day. In fact, he’s been timed at skinning an entire carcass in just four minutes.
“It’s fun,” he said with a grin. “I learned how to butcher deer while I was growing up, but it was all wrong! It makes a tremendous difference when you’re skinning with sharp knives and right after a kill.”
The plant is on a two-week rotation, with all the carcasses hanging for two weeks from kill to cutting. Most of the beef comes from Hollenbeck feeder calves that are finished at a feedlot in Park City. But several nearby ranches also bring their animals in to be processed.
“We are 18 months out,” Charlie said. “The people that are our steadies know when they will need to bring animals in and they’re making sure they are on the calendar.”
With continued changes in consumer habits, many ranches have begun offering farm-to-table options for customers willing to purchase beef in larger quantities, including quarters, halves and wholes. Cowboy Meats also offers those options, and because they use their own beef, their customers know exactly where their beef was raised, how it was cared for and how they want it to be cut up.
By Friday if you’re not getting stronger than you were on Monday, then it might not be the job for you.
- Charlie Hollenbeck
Charlie said the plant operates somewhere between full-scale retail and full-scale custom. By offering both, it helps the company stay competitive in prices and offerings.
Kelly McDaniel began working at C&K Meats as a teenager. She is the processing room manager and makes sure that everything is organized on the days when butchering takes place. She assigns the positions in the process room and makes sure each team member is rotated for variety of work and to keep their skills sharp.
“I’m very grateful to Charlie for seeing the potential in me,” Kelly said. “He pushes us to be better at what we do and we strive to be better.”
Office Manager Bailey Wiggins agrees. “Everybody here tries to make everyone else’s life easier,” she says.”
Charlie said wants his employees to feel like a family. He holds weekly meetings on Monday mornings before the work starts and encourages his employees to offer up ideas on how to make things run better and more smoothly.
“He gives us responsibility and holds us accountable,” Bailey said. “It makes it a great place to work.”
It’s important to Charlie to run a business that not only makes money for his family, but that the employees share in the success.
“By Friday if you’re not getting stronger than you were on Monday, then it might not be the job for you,” he said.
At Cowboy Meats, growth will continue with the well-laid plans of the Hollenbecks, the supportive team of employees, the loyalty of customers and the pride of the community.