The “Hawkeye State” has a soaring $112.2 billion ag economy with 86,900 farms, including the best ground beef in Iowa producers, covering 30.5 million acres of Tama soils. In 2017, Iowa raised 3.85 million cattle on 461 million bushels and harvested 7.2 billion pounds of red meat. Let’s search 99 counties for where to find ground beef in Iowa.
Buy Ground Beef Online in Iowa
The Daily Meal reported that U.S. cattle consume over 36,000 tons of antibiotics each year before being injected for aesthetics, mechanically tenderized, and often minced with other cows. Luckily, you can skip supermarkets and order natural ground beef in Iowa from farm-to-table ranchers who abide by strict high-quality standards. For example, there’s Sawyer Beef in Davenport and Cory Family Farm in Des Moines. Perhaps order grass finished ground beef online in Sioux City from Thankful Harvest or Niman Ranch. Check out Big Boy Meats and NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids. Iowa City hosts the Rapid Creek Ranch while Waterloo offers Sievers Certified Organic Farm. Wallace Farms and Wheatsfield Co-Op help order ground beef online in Iowa too. Below we’ll detail more recommendations like Ankeny’s Griffieon Family Farm, Council Bluffs’ Mohrhauser Farms, and Dubuque’s Bear Creek Acres for where to order grass fed ground beef online in Iowa.
Best Ground Beef in Des Moines
In 2009, Cory Family Farm (10941 NE 56th St.) added Angus beef to its sixth-generation operation’s stock for processing natural meat at the USDA-inspected Mingo Locker. On Saturdays May through October, the Downtown Farmers’ Market (300 Court Ave.) attracts more than 300 rural vendors like 2XL Premium Angus and Ebersole Cattle. Trader Joe’s (6305 Mills Civic Pkwy.) and Whole Foods (4100 University Ave.) are two grocers stocking the best whole cow ground beef in Iowa.
Best Ground Beef in Cedar Rapids
Partnered with Mountain Lane Beef and Thousand Hills Cattle, Big Boy Meats (110 3rd St. SE) is a full-service, USDA-inspected butcher selling 85 percent lean ground for $6.49/lb. The Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers’ Market (501 First St. SE) is among the Midwest’s largest open-air Saturday events inviting 200 producers, including Doty Angus Cattle. Open Thursday to Sunday, the NewBo City Market (1100 Third St. SE) has 30 small-business shopkeepers like Wallace Farms in Rotary Hall. Thirty minutes south, the Coralville Trader Joe’s (920 Ponseti Way) sells grass finished natural beef in Iowa daily.
Best Ground Beef in Davenport
Freight House Farmers Market (421 W River Dr.) is a year-round, indoor Quad Cities venue for more than 180 artisans like Slagel Farms with 100 percent homegrown products. At Northpark Mall, the Davenport Farmers’ Market (320 W Kimberly Rd.) kicks off each May for Saturday gatherings of vendors, such as Meadow Haven Farm, from 8 AM to 12 PM. Similarly, the Bettendorf Farmers’ Market (2117 State St.) helps buy ground beef in Iowa next to the Alter Building each Thursday afternoon. Founded in 1950, Sawyer Beef (1103 Lost Grove Rd.) develops lean, Omega-rich meat without preservatives for sale online and at HyVee locations.
Best Ground Beef in Sioux City
Certified humane in 2016, Niman Ranch (11990 Grant St.) is a Colorado-based network of 720 farmers making free-range ground beef near Iowa for online orders via AmazonFresh. Managed by Becky Kempers, the Sioux City Market (505 Fifth St.) takes over the Tyson Events Center on Wednesdays and Saturdays to exhibit more than 30 producers like Dunn Farms. Thankful Harvest (5139 210th St.) raises organic, grass fed Holstein cattle for Northwest Iowa delivery for 16oz. beef packs costing $7.50.
Best Ground Beef in Iowa City
Heartland Fresh Family Farm (2699 Hwy. 27) provides a liberal return policy for farm-to-door deliveries in a 200-mile radius of holistically raised beef. Occupying 178 acres, Lipes Family Farm (1342 Plato Rd.) lets Black Angus cattle be natural ruminants on pesticide-free pastures for high-quality results. Featured in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Rapid Creek Ranch started online ordering and CSA subscriptions in 2014 for 27 beef products. Natural Grocers (1404 S Gilbert St.) also retails ground beef in Iowa inside a 15,000-square-foot store.
Best Ground Beef in Waterloo
From 8 AM to 12 PM on Saturdays, the Waterloo Urban Farmers Market (460 Jefferson St.) encourages economic vitality by hosting more than 100 vendors at the Riverloop Expo. Sievers Certified Organic Farm (3282 North Ave.) is a family-run, bio-diversified Tama ranch that’s raising Shorthorn cattle on 70 percent grass and 30 percent grains. Where to buy ground beef in Iowa includes the Cedar Falls Natural Grocers (5410 University Ave.) 11 minutes north also.
Best Ground Beef in Ames
Around Tom Evans Plaza, the Ames Farmers’ Market (304 Main St.) averages 3,100 visitors each Saturday for purchases from 118 vendors like Lucky George Farm. Profiled on PBS, Wallace Farms (1531 74th St.) is a 30-year agricultural veteran now shipping to 48 continental states with minimum $75 orders of hormone-free beef. Formerly the Mutual Aid Food Association, Wheatsfield Co-Op (413 Douglas Ave.) reached $2 million sales goals giving members farm-fresh, bulk items like Story City Locker’s meat. Compare the grass finished Iowa beef prices at the Clive Natural Grocers (8650 Hickman Rd.) too.
Best Ground Beef in Ankeny
The Uptown Ankeny Farmers Market (715 W First St.) celebrated its 25th year by constructing a second 100×50-foot pavilion to better hold more than 60 vendors like Holton Homestead on Saturdays. Coordinated by the Lions Club, the Johnston Farmers Market (6221 Merle Hay Rd.) runs each Tuesday from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM until October for area producers at City Hall. Griffieon Family Farm (11655 NE Sixth St.) has harvested natural ground beef in Iowa from its Limousin herd along Four Mile Creek since 1960.
Best Ground Beef in Council Bluffs
Bambi’s Green Acres (805 S Main St.) has 30 years of experience vending bulk health foods, including toxin-free meat, as the 12-year Daily Nonpareil Readers’ Choice winner. Located in North Omaha, Barreras Family Farm (1814 County Rd. P41) is where to buy ground beef near Iowa that’s dry-aged for 14 days at the USDA-certified Wahoo Locker. Given the 2013 Century Farm Award, Mohrhauser Farms (11080 SW 119th St.) is another Nebraska-based option shipping grass fed Angus nationally.
Best Ground Beef in Dubuque
Launched in 1845, the Dubuque Farmers’ Market (1300 Iowa St.) is the oldest, seasonal Saturday-only Hawkeye event accepting SNAP benefits to buy from more than 75 vendors. O’Connell Organic Acres (20595 Asbury Rd.) beats many online premium beef prices in Iowa at $4.77/lb for Devon, Hereford, and Angus mixes grazing legumes. Implementing the Neighborhood Delivery system, Bear Creek Acres (24364 Hamlet Rd.) has a certified-organic herd of 25 for producing 90 percent lean beef. Don’t forget the new Natural Grocers (3333 Asbury Rd.) among the best places to buy grass fed beef in Iowa either.
