OUR HISTORY

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In 1994, High Country Meats was started by Lee and Alexis Dixon in Estancia,
NM. They began custom processing beef, pork, and lamb for locals. This meant
that people would bring their animal to be butchered and packaged to their
liking. In 1999, Lee and Alexis caught wind of a meat packing plant that was
for sale in Raton, NM. After they agreed to buy the plant, they moved their
family to Des Moines, NM. Des Moines is a small village 38 miles east of Raton.
Cheyenne and Dustin, Lee and Alexis’ two children attended Jr. High and High
School in Des Moines. Cheyenne and Dustin would help at the plant on the
weekends, summers, and holidays. Now, Cheyenne works for United States Meat Export Federation and Dustin helps run the family business.

Going back to 1960, Joe Dennis built the original meat packing plant which was called Joe’s Packing Company. After Joe had ran the plant for a number of years, it was bought and sold a few times. Finally, the building found a home. Lee and Alexis Dixon purchased the building and it became known as High Country Meats. In Raton, the business flourished due to their grit and determination. Their dedication to their work is why they still have customers of 25 plus years coming back to have their animals processed. Now, HCM processes for customers all over New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado.

March 2018 Lee had a health scare. This was a very uneasy time for the family and High Country Meats. We weren’t sure what was going to happen, we just knew we had a ton of carcasses in the cooler that needed to be processed. With the help of family and friends we were able to get everything processed and out of the cooler. The plant set quiet for 3 months while Lee rested and we discussed what would happen next.

April 2018, the decision was made that Dustin and Emily Dixon would move to Raton, NM to help run the business.

April 2019, We started a very small retail shop in the front room of the market.

March 2020, The Pandemic began and the calls started rolling in. We received several calls from people wanting to book a beef or hog because there was so much unknown with our food supply. Currently, we are booked for the rest of 2022 and 2023.

April 2022, We opened our new retail space in the front of the building. We added 2,650ft in our expansion. This included a new freezer, office space, and retail space. We sell a variety of different types of specialty sausages and beef products. We try to put Hatch Green Chile in anything that we can! We can’t wait for you to come see us and try what we have to offer.

Thanks for taking the time to read about our history,

The Dixons