SRF BLOG

Find the Silver Lining - Introducing American Wagyu Silver™ If you're a Snake River Farms enthusiast, you know about our Black and Gold marbling designations. SRF Black® (also known as Black Grade) represents our standard high level of marbling for our American Wagyu beef. Those looking for our top tier marbling select products with the SRF Gold®.   A third option for Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef is SRF Silver® with marbling that falls below SRF Black®.      How to Pick the Right Grade for Your Tastes To understand how we classify SRF beef grades, it's good to know the basics of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) beef grading. The USDA separates domestic beef into eight grades based on intramuscular fat, also known as marbling, and other qualities like tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. The two highest grades are Prime and Choice. Prime is the top grade on the USDA scale and features abundant marbling.  At Snake River Farms, we produce beef that measures above USDA scores. We use the 12-point Beef Marbling Score or Beef Marbling Standard (BMS) from the Japanese Meat Grading Association (JMGA) to measure the higher levels of marbling and quality that make our beef stand out.  SRF Black® and SRF Gold® both score above USDA Prime, while SRF Silver® has marbling scores like USDA Prime: SRF Silver® has a BMS of 4 to 5 with similar marbling to USDA Prime grade beef. SRF Black® has a BMS of 6 to 8 with significantly more marbling than USDA Prime grade beef.  SRF Gold® registers a BMS of 9 or higher and contains the highest level of marbling we offer.      Much More Than Marbling Marbling is a primary factor in determining beef quality. Other elements that affect flavor and texture are the cattle breed and how the animals are raised. Snake River Farms American Wagyu is a cross between purebred Japanese Wagyu and high-quality American cattle. These unique animals are raised on family-owned ranches and fed a special diet over a longer period of time than commodity beef. Both factors influence the final quality of SRF beef. The result is American Wagyu beef that has the rich marbling of Japanese Wagyu and the robust beef flavor that most folks associate with top-tier steaks and roasts.     Why Choose American Wagyu Silver™? While the marbling of SRF American Wagyu Silver™ is very similar to USDA Prime, it has other qualities that create a superior beef-eating experience. Meat scientists (yes, there really are meat scientists!) have run comprehensive taste tests and found that American Wagyu is significantly higher in buttery aroma and flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and umami. Although the results are from a scientific test, the differences are easy to detect for anyone who enjoys a good steak. SRF Silver® offers a new option to our full line of American Wagyu and USDA Choice and Prime beef. This new addition is a delicious option worth exploring.     

The world has changed a lot since Robert Rebholtz Sr. founded Agri Beef back in 1968. New conversations around sustainability, conservation, and the humane treatment of cattle, have pushed us to become peerless stewards of the land and the herd. Many companies will tell you who they are, then separately tell you what they do. At Snake River Farms, we are what we do.

The Visionary A photo of Agri Beef founder, Robert Rebholtz Sr., hangs in our Boise, Idaho headquarters. White cowboy hat on his head, red kerchief around his neck, he peers off into the distance like a man looking into tomorrow. As a child, he spent his summers working at a Basque lamb operation in Stockton, CA. This is where he developed his passion for ranching and livestock that would guide the direction of his life. It’s easy to care within the confines of the status quo. To care enough to follow one’s vision into something completely new is always a risk. The label of “visionary” is tossed around a lot these days, but when someone sees an opportunity no one else has the means or moxie to recognize then the label is justly earned. “He was an amazing man,” Robert Rebholtz Jr., Agri Beef’s CEO, says about his father. “Integrity. Hard work. He was an innovator within the industry.” Before 1988, Wagyu bulls were a rarity in America. Robert Rebholtz Sr. had been in the cattle-feeding and ranching business for twenty years, had done well in an industry that had hardly changed in decades. He could’ve continued riding the well-worn path, but on a trip to Japan he fell in love with an idea to bring something new and exciting to the U.S. market. Over years of hard work and persistence, Rebholtz Sr.’s vision became the full-scale Wagyu breeding program that today provides 100% of Snake River Farms’ beef. The reverberations of Robert Rebholtz Sr.’s vision are easy to be found. Bred from Wagyu bulls and high-quality Continental cattle, what’s now known as American Wagyu beef, began as a novelty but is now regularly found on the tables of fine-dining restaurants, home cooks, and grill masters alike. The spirit of innovation Rebholtz Sr. brought to his life and company are stitched into the fabric of Snake River Farms, where we continue to honor our founder’s visionary mission to look beyond what’s already here and find the best in what could be.   Lead Cowboy  Robert Rebholtz Jr. leans against a split-rail fence, the sun setting over the foothills casting golden light over the black cows in the Double R’s back pasture. To him, the view never gets old. Robert was just 10 years old when he went on his first cattle drive. He was cautious and a little nervous. He didn’t want to mess up. He had a job to do and his age meant nothing to the cattle. Though just a boy, he hopped into the saddle as just another cowboy helping drive the herd out through the sage and hills with the dust in the air and the sun on his face. In 1997, after his father’s passing and at the age of 33, Robert Rebholtz Jr. faced another immense challenge. He was now CEO of Agri Beef. He’d be responsible for the livelihoods of many people. He knew the company’s reputation was only as good as their next decision. He knew he’d have to navigate a spectrum of personalities in an industry in flux. There’d be many sleepless nights, risks he’d have to calculate, but like the 10-year-old cowboy, the 33-year-old Robert Rebholtz Jr. took the reins and drove the herd forward. As did his father, Robert Rebholtz Jr. leads Snake River Farms with a quiet strength, a foundational belief in kindness, and a passion for care. We could talk at length about the myriad of excellent business decisions he’s made in his tenure, the purchasing of the Washington Beef Processing Facility, moving the company into controlling every aspect of the beef supply chain, buying the Double R Ranch, putting more energy and resources into developing the Snake River Farms’ brand, but to understand Robert Rebholtz Jr. is to know he’d rather be called Lead Cowboy than CEO. There are companies whose leadership got their starts in other industries and took the blind-leap into the beef business. We wish them well. But in some things experience matters. There’s no replicating a lifetime on horse-back in the herd, a long-held passion for the cattle and the land, and decades of relationships built to ensure Snake River Farms is not just another ranch-hand in a competitive industry, but through Robert Rebholtz Jr.’s example of hard work, integrity, and vision, we’ll sit as lead cowboy, tireless stewards of the best industry practices and the highest quality standards.    

The Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City decided to run a promotion. They’d make a hamburger out of  Snake River Farms American Wagyu Beef. They’d put it on the menu for $41, making it the most expensive burger in the city.

You’ll find our herd grazing up in the foothills east of the Double R Ranch in Loomis, Washington. The cowboys ride their rounds, tracking down stragglers, checking on the health of the animals. In small bunches, a dozen head here, a mother and calf over there, the herd mills in the cool shade within the pine and aspen, feeding on high mountain grass.

Home Free The Double R Ranch, the heart of Snake River Farm's Wagyu operations, is remote, breathtaking, and not for the faint of heart. But that’s why ranchers Kent and Lana Clark love it. Robert Jacob Lerma made his way to the ranch last fall and wrote down his thoughts and observations from the journey.     It’s nearly dusk when I hear Kent Clark tell the crew he’ll be cooking dinner: “Hope you like steak, because that’s what we’re having.” We all smile. Of course, we’re having steak.  “Can you season those strips while I get the grill going?” Kent asks.  When you’re in someone’s home, the answer is always yes. Always. But when that home is located on the vast Double R Ranch in rural Loomis, Washington, the foundation of the Agri Beef and Snake River Farms cow/calf and genetics operation … Well, you put a little more emphasis on the “yes.”  Kent’s wife, Lana, is in the kitchen preparing the sides as I season the strips. Being around Lana feels as if I have been in her home before, many times. She’s warm and hospitable, with a noble presence. It reminds me of being in an executive chef’s kitchen. I want to respond to her requests with, “Oui Chef!” I can’t help but sample some of Lana’s dishes as she makes them. Comfort food at its finest. I wander over to the covered patio to talk to Kent as he gets ready. The Argentinian-style grill is set up inside a large stone chimney adjacent to the dining room and I can already feel its heat. “This thing gets pretty hot,” Kent proclaims.  How could this not be good? Sometimes, this is all you need in life.   As the sun sets, cold air starts to settle into the valley. The temperature drops rapidly. After all, we’re in far northern Washington, about a stone’s throw from British Columbia.   As Kent cooks the steaks, I find a place on the grill for the corn on the cob. Relaxing on nearby couches are Kent’s children and the rest of the crew: World-champion barbecue pitmasters Tuffy Stone, Myron Mixon, and Chet Gentry. They have the night off — it’s Kent and Lana’s show. I just try not to burn the corn.        The Tranquility. The Cattle. The Land.   The Double R Ranch covers roughly 100,000 acres of private and permitted land. The setting is bountiful. Miles and miles of pines and sprawling mountains go on for as far as the eye can see. It’s no surprise why people would want to call this place home, yet few people do. With a population of 159, give or take, the cattle far outnumber the people in this part of the country.  Around 1,500 mother cows and their calves are on the ranch at any given time. It takes a lot of commitment and technical expertise to raise calves into the finest beef in the land.   The work on the ranch is plentiful. “There’s always something to do around here. Always something to fix, cattle to move,” Kent says.   It takes a particular personality to thrive in near-total isolation. As recently as a few generations ago, this is how most people lived. Not these days. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who could survive without all the conveniences of modern society. Not Kent.   “I grew up in a place smaller than this. I never wanted anything different,” Kent proudly says, which is partly what makes the Clarks a perfect fit for the Double R Ranch. They love the work. The tranquility. The cattle. The land.  You could say Kent and Lana were destined to live this life. Away from it all on a ranch while raising their family alongside the cattle raising their own calves. Kent was born in rural Burns, Oregon, population 2,806. He grew up in even more rural Drewsey, Oregon, population “about 25.” His school had only 120 students from all over rural eastern Oregon. Lana was born in Lakeview, which bills itself as the “Tallest Town in Oregon.” Population around 2,400.   “I’m a fourth-generation cowboy,” Kent says. “My great-grandfather homesteaded our place.”  Some people spend their whole lives seeking purpose, trying to find that one job that gives them satisfaction while providing financial resources. Kent didn’t have to look further than his own father. And grandfather. It was all he knew growing up, and that was just fine with him.   To Kent, cowboying isn’t a job; it’s a way of life. A lifestyle. “The cows don’t take weekends off,” Kent says. “Holidays either. They need to eat. You have to want this life.”   After high school, Kent went off to Oregon State University to study animal science, thinking briefly about becoming a game warden. That never happened. After graduation, Kent went right into cattle operations in Paisley, Oregon, where he stayed for 14 years until he applied for the ranch manager position with AgriBeef in 2011.  As fate would have it, he already knew his future supervisor, Wade Small, the Executive Vice President of Business Development for AgriBeef. They had met in 1999. Small world, especially in the cattle industry. Most people know or know of each other. In fact, Wade went to school at Oregon State with Lana. The stars couldn’t have aligned any better for Kent, Lana, and the road ahead.  These days, cowboying seems to be having another day in the sun with the popularity of shows like “Yellowstone” and “1883.” To the people who live the life, it never went away.   But unlike television, life on a working cattle ranch is a little different. “I watched one episode of Yellowstone, and I kept shaking my head,” Kent recalls.   The actual life of a cowboy is not filled with the drama of TV. It can’t be. There’s work to be done. There’s no off season when you’re raising cattle. The days are long, from sunup to sundown. Every day.   “I get up about an hour before sunrise and quit work after it goes down,” Kent says. “The summers are long because it stays light most of the day here.”            Labor of Love Every season has a specific focus. Calving occurs from February through late April. In May and June, the focus is on artificial insemination, along with turning cattle out onto spring pastures. And the cattle don’t move themselves. While technology has greatly improved systems, processes, and quality consistency, much of the cowboy work is performed the same as it ever was: on horseback, 24/7/365. “We do almost everything on horseback, moving the cattle from pasture to pasture,” Kent says. “Sometimes it takes a week to move a herd. Then it’s time to move another. And another.”   Summertime is when cattle start to feed on about 2,500 tons of hay, getting ready for winter. By the end of the summer, the cows are about 25 miles from the main ranch house, grazing in each pasture from spring to about the end of October.   It’s a labor of love that Kent and Lana wouldn’t have any other way.  It takes a team of dedicated individuals to get an operation of this scale and importance right. Remarkably, the Double R Ranch has only four full-time employees, plus Lana and Kent, who manage the herd and responsibilities. Our modern world has evolved to include various specialized jobs with fancy titles. Not for cowboys and ranchers. They don’t do one thing; they do everything. This is the way on a working ranch, the way it has been for generations.   These days, it’s not as easy finding people who seek this life, unless they grew up in it. And that’s not always a given, with sons and daughters sometimes forging their own path outside of the ranching and cattle industries.   “It’s getting harder and harder to find people who come to us with experience,” Kent says. “They used to know how to cowboy. Not anymore. We train all the new people now.”   This seems to be the norm across many industries recently. Good people are hard to find. Good cowboys, even harder. Passion and work ethic is hard to teach. You either have it or you don’t. There’s not a lot of room in the middle. It helps when you have the support of a good organization.   “It’s great to work for a company (AgriBeef) that cares for its people and customers,” Kent says. “The culture is simply different. They form relationships and work with all levels of the business. Although I never met Robert Rebholtz Sr., his son (Robert Rebholtz Jr.) is genuine and our culture comes from his attitude.”   Riding around the ranch in Kent’s truck, it’s easy to understand why he and Lana love this place so much. The picturesque backdrop is captivating. Large swaths of pines and firs dominate the terrain. The air is crisp and fresh. Aside from the wind rustling through the trees and the occasional moo, it’s eerily quiet, which takes some getting used to. In the cities, we’re accustomed to tolerating constant noise.   As we drive up and down mountain passes, we see cows and their calves, here and there, along with other wildlife.   “My brother went to the big city (Portland, Oregon). I had no desire. This place) is already bigger than where I grew,” Kent says with a laugh.  After nearly 24 years of marriage, Kent and Lana still wake up every day with smiles on their faces, prepared for anything the ranch throws at them. They’ve created a beautiful life for their four children, Zach (23), Cody (21), Kaylee (18), and Sadie (15) to call home, along with eight dogs. Lana works beside Kent, “all day, every day,” as Kent puts it.   “She’s the real boss,” Kent says with a slight chuckle, yet with the utmost deference for his wife. Anyone who has a strong woman at home knows this to be true. And this mutual support and respect is key to the work being conducted on the Double R Ranch.   Time will tell how the beef and cattle industry will evolve in the future, but one thing is for certain: Kent will always be ready to saddle up and do what he’s always done.   “As long as there’s demand for a steak, there will always be a place for a cowboy,” Kent says.    God, I hope so. A world without steak doesn’t appeal to me.   Which brings me back to those strips Kent cooked for us. They’re about as good as any steak at any steakhouse I’d ever been to. And I’ve been to a lot of steakhouses.   But as much as I enjoy the food, what I appreciate most is sitting at Kent and Lana’s table, along with our friends and their family, listening to them share their story. To me, the best meals revolve around good people. Interesting people. People who endure, who teach you something about life, about yourself.   Don Draper once said, “make it simple, but significant.” That’s the Double R. That’s Kent and Lana.   

What is sustainability? How does Snake River Farms work to be a more sustainable company?Many companies use the term “sustainability” as a marketing buzzword, but at Snake River Farms we go beyond words to take real steps to lower our carbon footprint.

Snake River Farms is the Pioneer of American Wagyu beef. We're a family owned and operated company that's been in business for 55 years. Learn about our history, our integrated approach to beef production and how we work every day to achieve the goal of our founder, Robert Rebholtz Sr. “We want our customers to want to do business with us.”

For Snake River Farms, sustainable practices are more than marketing. They’re a treasured responsibility.

This year, we asked our Snake River Farms family members about their must-do holiday routines. And you know what? We discovered all traditions celebrate the same thing: the simple joy of being together.

SRF’s cattle are born and bred on ranches like Northern Nevada’s massive IL Ranch — and tended to by folks like Sam Mori. Photographer Robert Jacob Lerma talks life, love and land with one of our longest-standing producers.

Have you ever wondered why Snake River Farms beef tastes so good? The short answer: We're involved at every step of the process, from start to finish. Sometimes we call this comprehensive integration “Ranch to Table” to make it easy to understand. Read more about our unique approach and learn how Snake River Farms is different from other beef companies.

New to ordering our products online? We have years of experience packaging, shipping and delivering high quality beef and pork right to our customers' door. Put your fears to rest about shipping American Wagyu steaks to your door with detailed info about how we protect your Snake River Farms order on the road.

How are we so certain that Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef tastes better than the best wet or dry aged choices at most grocery stores and high-end restaurants?We’re so glad you asked! Here are four reasons SRF leads the pack:

Healthy cattle are the cornerstone of our American Wagyu program, so animal well-being is a priority. Decisions made to enhance animal health are also improve our sustainability Take a look inside the day-to-day choices that make Snake River Farms beef better for our neighbors, our animals and your family.

Discover how blast-frozen meat from Snake River Farms delivers safer quality, fresher flavor and more convenience right to your door for an elevated experience.

Get the lowdown on the surprising way Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef can be a heart-healthy addition to any diet, even if it sounds too good to be true.

How is Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef different from other online sources of American Wagyu? It all comes down to three things: fearless innovation, in-house excellence and forward-thinking sustainability.