Delivering Farm to Table Freshness
- Admin
- Apr 3
- 4 min read
in Northern Alberta and Beyond
Jackknife Creek Land and Cattle | Manning, AB
Today, sourcing locally-owned, raised and butchered beef in Northern Alberta has never been easier thanks to Jackknife Creek Land and Cattle in Manning.
“We offer a full range of options and generally have whatever cut of beef you’re looking to source,” said Jolene of Jackknife Creek Land and Cattle. “We either have it in our inventory already, or we can custom cut it for you.”
This was not always the case. Back in 1988, when Nora Paulovich and her husband Bob Noble took over the family farm, their focuses were split between grain-and-cattle farming and raising a young family.
It was not until their children—Jolene, Cara and Lee—were older that they decided to pursue and expand their beef business.
Then, in 2017, they launched their website with a bare bones price list and complementary social media pages. Their initial success led them to launch an online store in 2019.
“We went into it with the attitude of ‘Let’s see what happens’ and decided to try to sell more retail cuts and smaller boxes alongside whole and halves of beef,” said Cara. “Demand was higher than anticipated, and it took off pretty quickly.”
Both Jolene and Lee now work alongside their parents directly on the farm while Cara assists in online management and anything else she can while living near Waskatenau, AB.
Raising about 170 cow calf pairs—along with yearlings—and the cattle they use for their beef program, the family business offers what is known as single origin beef. This means all the beef they sell is born, raised, pastured and fed on their farm.
Controlling everything they can with the beef they grow and sell is integral to their operation. As a family, they take pride in managing every specific detail to ensure high quality beef is on their customers’ tables.
“Sourcing bulls that pass on good carcass qualities to their offspring is important, and so are the types of forages our animals eat,” said Jolene. “We even grow and combine our own barley to ensure they receive high quality feed when they are in the finishing stages.”
Purchasing beef is easy. Customers can choose from ordering online, sending a message on social media or calling directly.
“There are deadlines for certain cuts, but usually when an order comes in, we pack it at the farm and contact the customer for a delivery date,” said Jolene.
Offering a local delivery service ensures customers can receive their beef as fresh as possible. And, the family even caters to those who live further away.
“We deliver directly to people in Manning, and we drop off orders in our freezers at United Floors in Peace River for Grimshaw and Peace River customers,” said Jolene. “We also have an email list for orders from places like Fairview, Grande Prairie and Edmonton. We deliver to those locations every couple of months.”
When ordering from Jackknife Creek’s online store, customers can choose from a wide variety of options—everything from a whole cow to specific cuts such as steaks and roasts, smaller bundles, curated boxes or a la carte cuts.
All beef purchased from Jackknife Creek is dry aged, which is a traditional method to enhance flavour and tenderness. The beef carcass is hung in a cooler and carefully monitored for 14 to 21 days. This process lowers the water content of the meat before it’s cut, packaged and sold.
“All our meat is harvested, cut and wrapped at Johnny’s Sausage & Meats in Grimshaw,” said Jolene. “They do an amazing job and really bring our beef to a whole new level because they use traditional craftmanship in their operations.”
Creating a relationship with their customers is key, so the family not only provides great cuts of beef, they also help customers cook to perfection.
“On our website and in our newsletters, we share a lot of recipes and cooking tips for specific cuts, so customers can have a great cooking experience with the products they purchase,” said Jolene.
Showcasing the details of their beef production online has proven to positively impact their business and has given them a way to reach a larger audience.
“We’ve built so many relationships online. It allows us to show people how we care for our animals, how we farm and what our family values are,” said Jolene. “Our blog has connected us to so many new people too. We’ve even had people from Georgia reach out to us about how to cook a roast because of it.”
Looking ahead, the family team has some specific goals they would like to work on and achieve to ensure their business continues to run smoothly and efficiently.
“We’re currently looking at how we can fine-tune our inventory management and incorporate subscription boxes,” said Cara. “We feel this will improve our planning and serve our customers better.”
Always looking to up their game, they are also excited to implement regenerative agricultural practices into their farm to help improve their meat.
“We’re always updating how we operate. We’ve incorporated winter swath grazing on a cover crop, fine-tuned the genetics of our cattle and used longer crop rotation for better soil health,” said Jolene. “All these things will ultimately benefit our beef at the end.”
Running a family farm can be challenging, but they have found open communication, monthly family meetings and working toward the same goal makes all the difference.
“As a family-run business, we take pride in our business, and we recognize we wouldn’t get the same energy from employees. This is more personal,” said Nora. “We strive to do our best and keep improving as much as we can, together.”
By Dani Wearden | Samantha Rose Photography and submitted
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