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Brian’s dad, Tom Heffernan, was named Farmer of the Year by the Tehama County Farm Bureau in 1993. This week, Brian and I were asked to be the keynote speakers at the same Farm Bureau dinner where he was awarded this title all those years ago. Tom was a hard working and well-respected farmer. He earned an MBA from UCLA and served as an officer in the US Army at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. After the military, he left his early career in banking with his young bride Claire when Brian was a baby and moved their family from Ventura to Imperial Valley at the bottom of California to follow family roots back to agriculture. In 1987, he moved their family of seven up to Red Bluff in Tehama County to manage Pacific Farms after the family patriarch Vince Flynn, his good friend from state farming boards, died tragically in a small plane crash leaving his widow Jane Flynn, six children and a very large farming operation behind. Tom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at a young age (in his 40’s) and retired from farming, but continued to be involved in water rights and the agricultural community until he died 7 years ago. Brian wanted to follow in his Dad’s footsteps after college – but Tom’s sage advice was to start somewhere “safer” you could make some money and come back to farming later. Brian went to law school and we hadn’t planned it when we got married but our path led us back to agriculture serendipitously. I know Tom would be so proud of his first-born son and how hard he works to be a steward of agriculture like he was. His grandchildren were proud to see their grandfather’s name on the plaque when he was bestowed this honor, notably after only five years of farming in this agricultural community. It was extra special to have both Jane Flynn and Claire (Brian’s mom) there with us that night watching things come full circle. We all hope to honor Tom’s legacy of family, faith, farming and commitment to agriculture and his country, especially as we remember him and those commitments this Veterans Day. He was proud to serve our country 🇺🇸 and we know he’d be smiling big to see his granddaughter proudly honoring veterans in her favorite outfit today. 😊🇺🇸♥️

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Our customers always say never had anything like Five Marys Ground Beef. It’s special. But what makes it so different? Not all beef is raised the same. Did you know most commercial cattle change hands 4-8 times from birth to your plate? And one pound of ground beef could have DNA from hundreds of different animals? To get the very best quality beef – you want… 1) SUPERIOR GENETICS : our ground beef comes from the cattle we raise for really good steaks and you can taste it. Ground beef in stores can often come from older dairy cows or older mother cows that aren’t producing babies anymore or feedlot cattle trim. 2) TRACEABILITY & SMALL BATCH : We harvest cattle in very small batches each week and have complete traceability for each animal we harvest. One pound of ground beef in stores might come from hundreds of different cattle! So the chances of traces of pathogens getting into each helping of meat are massively multiplied. 3) QUALITY FEED FOR CLEAN MEAT : Feedlots feed cheap protein and depending on where cattle are raised, corn can be a common finish ration, but can lead to a yellow, thicker fat. We finish on green alfalfa grass, high quality grain hay and steam-flaked barley (all barley is GMO-free) because it’s a fantastic mixed ration for cattle to easily digest but also yields a very clean, white marbling and fat – with all the best flavor! 4) DRY-AGING : Dry-aging is an old world craft tradition that creates the best possible beef with that amazing “steak house” taste and tenderness. We don’t cut our steaks or grind until the entire carcass is dry-aged for 14 to 28 days. Most beef sold in the stores is “wet-aged” or put in plastic packages to age during transport to the next distributor. Ground beef that is dry-aged gives it a truly stand-out and memorable flavor – it’s rare and a true delicacy! 5) GRASS-FED & GRAIN+GRASS FINISHED : Purely grass-finished beef can be lean and gamey and doesn’t always benefit from dry-aging, but because we finish our cattle on barley, which results in natural marbling, dry-aging is an essential part of what makes our beef unforgettable. 6) NO HORMONES or ANTIBIOTICS : When we say this, we mean it.

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The girls spent most of the day Sunday at a vet up in Oregon getting x-rays on two of the horses – Petey was limping with a sore foot and Tater (Maisie’s new horse) got herself tied up in the fence while she was rolling and beat up her legs pretty bad. It’s always stressful to see horses hurt – and we have limited options for vets around here, but the girls have been doctoring the foot and legs and doing a great job caring for their four-legged friends. Thankfully they have lots of practice! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ #m5horses #fivemarys photo by @erinkunkel for #fivemarysfamilystyle

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Thank you for all the kind messages and your candles and pumpkins and prayers for Miles’ family from all over the world. It means so much. ✨ (Joy @weekleyj shared this beautiful photo of their family hands, they have a indescribable bond and the strongest love sustaining them in this unimaginable time.) I had the privilege to spend the day yesterday with Joy and the Isbell family, working on the plan for a celebration of life and memorial service for Miles. It was hard and gut-wrenching and not where any of us wanted to be. 😞 But in true Miles style… we have big plans to celebrate the big life of the boy who’s smile and heart touched so many. Locals : the celebration will be Saturday Nov 5 with more details to follow. If you’d like to help, we have a few things we’d love help with. I’ll be organizing the events so feel free to text me so we don’t burden Joy and Bradley with the details, they’ve got beautiful plans we can make happen together – for them and our grieving community. 💛 598.6094

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