
The Brasstown Beef Story
What makes Brasstown Beef different.
Steve Whitmire’s predecessors immigrated from Germany in 1757 — they farmed and raised cattle, and the family has been doing it ever since. When Steve’s father passed in 1998, he needed to figure out how to save the beautiful 1,020-acre farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Continuing as a cow-calf operation, doing things the same old way, would ultimately mean selling. So he changed everything.
With a lifetime of working cattle, a degree from NC State, and a stint as President of the Beef Improvement Federation, Steve put the pieces together: how to breed and raise cattle to produce the best-tasting, most tender beef in the business. Three centuries of farming instinct, modern genetics expertise, and one uncompromising standard.
“Just because an animal is black, or a cut is marbled, doesn’t mean it’s tender. Tenderness comes from genetics and bloodline — and that’s where we start every decision.”
— Steve Whitmire, President · Beef Improvement Federation
of farming
the same land










