Johnson County, Texas · Est. 2024
Pasture-raised meat,
raised the way it should be.
We raise sheep, pigs, and chickens on 28 acres in the Texas Cross Timbers — on pasture, in rotation, no routine antibiotics. We're opening up animal shares for DFW families later this year. Get on the list to hear when shares are ready.
We won't share your email. Unsubscribe any time.
Who we are
A small family farm in the Cross Timbers.
Mike and Amy run Cross Timbers Homestead on 28 acres outside Cleburne, Texas. Our pastures sit in the Eastern Cross Timbers — that strip of post oak savanna between the Blackland Prairie and the Western Cross Timbers — where sheep and native grasses have a long shared history.
We're not certified organic and we don't pretend our way is the only way. We just believe meat tastes better, and the land works better, when animals spend their lives outside doing what they were built to do.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
What we raise
Three animals, all on pasture.
Sheep, pigs, and chickens — each rotated across the same 28 acres so the land gets a turn to rest and the animals get a turn at fresh ground. Nothing here is finished on grain.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
Sheep · hair breed, mild and lean
St. Croix lamb
St. Croix is a hair sheep breed (no wool, no shearing) bred for hot, humid climates like ours. The meat is milder than wool-breed lamb — closer to veal than to gamey mutton — and it's naturally lean.
- · Entirely pasture-raised, no grain finishing
- · No routine antibiotics or hormones
- · Processed at a state-inspected Texas facility
- · Suitable for halal / dhabiha — talk to us about timing
We sell whole, half, and quarter animal shares — not individual cuts — under the Texas custom-exempt model. Reach out for current availability and a quote.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
Pigs · rotational grazing, woods and pasture
Pastured pork
Our pigs live outside on rotated paddocks with simple A-frame shelter. They root, wallow, and graze the way pigs are built to — which is hard on the soil if you don't move them, and good for it when you do.
- · Pasture-raised with rotational grazing
- · No confinement, no farrowing crates
- · Two pigs harvested on-farm so far — we know what we're putting in the freezer
- · Whole and half-hog shares
Availability is limited and seasonal. Email us for the current waitlist and pricing — we'll quote based on hanging weight and your cut sheet.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
Chickens · mobile coop, electric netting
Eggs & chicken
Our layers move across the pasture in a mobile tractor inside electric netting, so they get fresh forage and the ground gets a break. We also brood seasonal meat birds.
- · Fresh eggs in brown, cream, blue, and pink
- · Pasture rotation with electric netting
- · Seasonal meat birds — limited runs
- · On-farm pickup, or DFW delivery when we're already coming up
Egg availability varies through the year. Reach out and we'll let you know what's in the carton this week.
Around the farm
Cross Timbers, day to day.
Photo: Cross Timbers Homestead
How shares work
Whole, half, quarter — pick what fits your freezer.
Buying a share means reserving part of an animal before it's harvested. You get the cuts you ask for — chops, roasts, ground, organs if you want them — vacuum-sealed and frozen, all from one animal you can trace back to a paddock.
Whole share
The full animal's meat, custom cut and wrapped to your spec. Best for families that go through meat steadily or split with neighbors. Needs real freezer space — plan on a deep freezer, not just the kitchen one.
Half share
Half the animal's meat, sharing the cut sheet with the other half-buyer (we'll coordinate). The sweet spot for most households — meaningful supply without filling a freezer.
Quarter share
Available for lamb (and sometimes pork, depending on the year). A good starting point if you've never bought a share before, or if your freezer is small.
Why buy a share
Clean meat, local, from animals you can see.
A share isn't a subscription and it isn't a markup on something you could already get at the store. It's a different product: meat from one animal, raised within driving distance, on grass — no grain finishing, no routine antibiotics, no growth hormones, no anonymous supply chain.
- · Pasture, not feedlot. The animals spend their lives outside, rotated across paddocks. That's better for the meat, better for the land, and the part you can taste.
- · No grain finishing. Grain finishing changes the fat profile and is how most supermarket meat gets to weight fast. Our animals finish on grass — leaner, more flavor-forward, and a different nutritional profile.
- · No routine antibiotics or hormones. Animals get medical care when they need it; they don't get drugs as a production tool.
- · One animal, one freezer. Every cut in your share comes from the same animal we raised. You can ask us where it grazed.
- · Local money stays local. Your dollar goes to a Cleburne pasture, a Texas processor, and a family that lives down the road — not a multinational meatpacker.
- · Better per-pound value. Share pricing usually works out to less than grass-fed retail by the time you average across cuts, because you're taking the whole animal, not just the ribeyes.
None of this is a knock on grocery store meat. It's just a different product, sold a different way, for people who want to know where their food came from.
How to buy
Three steps, no subscription, no surprises.
- 01
Reach out
Email us with your zip code and the share you're curious about. We'll tell you what's available and the timeline for the next harvest.
- 02
Reserve a share
Once you're ready, we collect a deposit to hold your spot. You tell us how you'd like the meat cut and wrapped.
- 03
Pickup or DFW delivery
When your share is ready, you pick it up from the processor or we arrange a Dallas–Fort Worth delivery window.
Built for ourselves
Two small apps we use to run the place.
We built a couple of little tools to keep track of the homestead and our kitchen. They're still rough around the edges, but they work — and we're sharing them with friends and family.
Get in touch
Questions, shares, or just hello.
We read everything that comes in, even if it takes a day or two to reply.
Johnson County, Texas