Horney Toad Meats

Cindy Johnson and partners Lance Johnson and Rich McCartney formed a partnership and purchased Fallon Livestock Meat Processing. With this purchase, Horney Toad Meats was born in 2023, and Cindy became the managing director.

When Cindy retired from 30 years as a health care executive, she felt she needed something to keep her busy and productive. She wanted to rebrand Fallon Livestock Processing and thought crafting jerky from FLP meats would be a great start.

A name for the new venture was first on the list. When their sons were young, they would be out cattle working, branding, sorting, or whatever needed to be done at the time. The boys would get bored and have contests to see who could catch the most horned toads in a certain amount of time. The memories of those contests brought back many happy memories for Cindy and Lance. They wanted a name that was catchy and would be easy to remember. So, they decided upon a play on words, and Horney Toad Meats was the name. The logo, the roping cowboy lizard with a hat, was a process to decide; only a competitive roper knows how to hold a rope in competition; after a few design changes, their logo was complete and ready for the customer's approval.  Pictured above, Cindy with US Senator Mark Amodei. 

 The meat used in the jerky's making comes from Fallon Livestock Processing Plant, their original venture. The beef is locally sourced from their herd or other locally owned cattle. Rich McCartney personally selects the meat. The actual jerky-making process is outsourced to a company in the Carson City area.

The two main cuts of meat used are brisket and top round. The brisket is a large muscle on the front of the beef that runs down from the neck to between the front legs. There are only two briskets, left and right, which can make the meat expensive to sell. The other cut used is top round. There is no better way to use brisket and top round than in a tender and tasty piece of jerky. 

Horney Toad Meats has 21 flavors of jerky, 14 flavors use the brisket. It stays moist, is tender, and has a deep flavor that retains the beef texture while supporting the jerky flavors. They have two new flavors to add to the twelve original brisket jerky lineup: dill pickle and ghost peppers. The ghost pepper flavor brings heat into your mouth from the front, so you taste the flavor more quickly than the habanero flavor, which starts in the back of your mouth and slowly builds the flavor or heat. The three flavors using the top round cut of meat are the Cowboy, Old-fashioned, and Simple Five Dog Treats. The remaining four flavors, mako shark, alligator, buffalo, and elk, are considered exotics.

Horney Toad Meats jerky is currently sold in seven Golden Gate Truck Stops in Nevada, four Big R Stores in Nevada and the Big R in Burns, Oregon, Kent’s Supply, Wild Horse Café, 3 Dimensions Shipping, The Grid Marketplace, Just Country Friends, Big Mikes Guns and Ammo, Quik Stop Market, and The Flag Store. In addition, it is also sold in Arizona stores in Cave Creek and Wickenburg. The jerky will soon be traveling to Hawaii for the Allstars Regional Tournament, as the jerky will be featured as a “hometown” item from Fallon, Nevada, given out by the Fallon Allstar 12U players to their 60 fellow competitors and was donated by Horney Toad Meats.

Fallon Livestock Processing will expand and open a retail store, Horney Toad Meats, just south of the Processing plant on Allen Road in Fallon. A date for that has not yet been made available. The Horney Toad Meats jerky and any cut of meat from beef, pork, lamb, or any other protein source will be available to purchase. In the meantime, you may buy any of the 21 flavors from local merchants or order online by going to their website, www.horneytoadmeats.online; yes, that is correct dot online.