The family-owned shop is a staple in Medway and is relied upon not only for cuts of meat, but also for deli meats, cheeses, frozen products, homemade salads, pies, and much more. Mike Janow, head meat cutter at Copey’s Butcher Shop in Medway, says typically Copey’s processes not only their own livestock, but also does custom orders for families and farmers who need their personal supplies of meat butchered. She says between farmers like her bringing in more livestock for processing than normal and the increase in families buying entire sides of beef – for example – that need butchered, local processors like J&L are as overwhelmed with business as she is. Toops, who says she likes to plan ahead, already has dates on the books for taking animals to be processed at J&L, and she says she’s thankful to have that working relationship with another local business she knows and trusts. Stoops uses locally-owned J&L Farm Butcher Shop in Medway, which she said is fully booked through the end of the year. The problem, however, is in getting products processed quickly enough to meet the current demand. The biggest thing I struggle with is trying to keep up with demand.”īut Toops says customers shouldn’t worry if her supply of what they’re looking for low for one pick up date because there’s more to come and no shortage of livestock. “Everyone has been very gracious and patient because it’s been a learning curve.
“We’re all trying to provide for people, but with the panic buying, we can’t always keep up because this obviously wasn’t something we planned for,” she says. “Everybody has been very patient and grateful, and I try to make sure to explain to people that beef doesn’t happen overnight. I’m picking up a whole lot of product from my processor in a couple days,” she says. With her next Springfield pick-up scheduled for this Saturday, May 16, Toops says she’s currently low on available products. “My hope is that after all this, people will continue to support local farmers, and that they’ll remember that we were the ones still providing even when the grocery store shelves were empty.” “Coming out to the farm is normally a pretty good drive for someone in Springfield, so the pickups work. “It’s nothing fancy, but this way I’m able to provide for that customer base,” she says. To meet their needs, Toops set up an online ordering system about a month ago and began scheduling pickup dates twice a month in the parking lot of the Heritage Center. From beef to pork and chicken to lamb, Toops has built Red Moon Ranch from the ground up.Ĭustomers can call ahead and schedule a time to stop by the farm to purchase meat, eggs, or other items they’re interested in. Toops, a first-generation farmer, raises all the livestock on her farm by herself. “I really hope that after all this is over, that I’ve gained a lot of new local and Springfield-area customers.” “With all this going on, business has been better than it’s ever been,” Toops says.
While Toops has built up a business following through her visits to Springfield’s Farmer’s Market last summer and the Worthington Farmer’s Market starting late last year, nothing could have prepared her for the way her business would boom when schools were closed and stay-at-home orders were put in place.Īs it became difficult to find meat at some area grocery stores, Red Moon Ranch started getting a lot more calls and messages from new local customers. Though Shelby Toops doesn’t have a storefront out at Red Moon Ranch in South Vienna, she’s been overwhelmed with new customers and sales of her farm-to-table meat products since COVID-19 started changing how many people shop.
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