Beef may be what’s for dinner in Nebraska, but in McCook, it’s served medium-rare with a side of locally grown jumbo shrimp.

The winter wind swirls around the McCarty farm atop M Hill south of McCook. The grassy landmark is named for the 78-foot-tall letter M made from white painted stones that has overlooked the community since 1957. The exposed escarpment receives the full blast of winter’s fury, but no bundling up is needed when checking livestock or water at the McCarty farm. 

The barn is buried to its roof in mixed grass prairie sod. Twelve-foot-thick concrete block walls help keep the facility almost tropical no matter the weather. Livestock animals feed and grow here like on other Nebraska farms, but owner Tyler McCarty doesn’t consider himself a farmer, not yet. Tyler works the barn with help from his wife Carrie, their children Cruz and Eva, and his father, Dave. Their uncountable troupe numbers in the tens of thousands.

Surrounded by a sea of cattle, corn, soybean, alfalfa and wheat production, this McCook farm family produces jumbo shrimp for a burgeoning inland seafood industry that they hope to help build on their hilltop island. They call their operation Saltwater Hills.

Chores begin early for the McCarty family. Before they leave for school, 12-year-old Cruz and 9-year-old Eva serve a breakfast of commercial fish food - a mixture of squid, fish and kelp - to the family’s crustaceans. Grandpa Dave takes water samples from the eight 4,000-gallon saltwater shrimp tanks.

Smaller than those repurposed above-ground swimming pools, two nursery tanks house week-old baby shrimp overnighted from southern Florida. The eyelash-size shrimp, collectively called fry, are so small that only their eyes are visible. Five feedings a day cause the shrimp to shed their protective exoskeletons three to four times a week as they grow, changing from iridescent bluegreen to brown and eventually pale green. When fully grown, each shrimp has 20 legs.

Used to doting on the young shrimp, Tyler was testing water quality one morning early in his shrimp adventure when he noticed something terribly wrong in the nursery.

He was growing shrimp from a new genetic line and was excited to see how fast they would grow. High hopes turned to heartbreak upon discovering that the 10,000 fry in the tank were dead. He believes that an overnight spike in nitrates may have been the culprit. “You can look across the feedlot or pasture and see if your cows are healthy,” Tyler said. “With tens of thousands of tiny shrimp, all we can do is feed them and take care of the water. And like a rancher losing a cherished heifer or calf, a tank of dead shrimp is a hit to the wallet.”

The science behind the operation includes three levels of biological filtration. No chemical or mechanical filters are used. The shrimp barn and lab are not heated. The comfortable atmosphere inside comes from the water tanks that are kept at a balmy 85 degrees year-round. The water is recirculated and reused. The family hopes to someday to use solar power to heat it.

A silent microscopic partner is critical to the family’s shrimping success. Beneficial bacteria, introduced by the McCartys, break down the shrimp waste and any leftover food. The result is an edible protein that makes up 25 percent of the shrimps’ diet. The McCartys take care of this bacteria almost as much as they provide for their shrimp.

After being transferred to the production tanks, the shrimp grow to jumbo eating size in only five months. “We don’t eat a lot of shrimp at home. I wish we did,” said Cruz, who likes his shrimp fried with garlic and butter.

Starting in the family business at a young age is tradition for the McCartys. Grandpa Dave was 5 when he began working at Mac’s Drive-In in McCook, stepping up on a wooden box so he could reach the sink to wash the dishes. Six decades later he owns the business known for its fresh fast food. Customers still place their orders from phones mounted in each booth or park in one of 18 drive up stalls outside.

Tyler grew up in the restaurant, too, taking orders and whipping up malts, shakes and ice cream cones. Now Cruz and Eva help at the restaurant when not in school or feeding shrimp. They are the fifth generation of the McCarty family to work at the restaurant founded by patriarch Rhea McCarty (pronounced Ree) in 1948. Mother Carrie helps as a carhop.

The restaurant’s beef is from Nebraska, and the onion rings are hand breaded. What you won’t find on Mac’s’ menu board is shrimp from Saltwater Hills. “Serving our homegrown premium shrimp at the drive-in would be like serving Wagyu beef at Carl’s Jr.,” said Tyler, who moved home to McCook from Omaha in 2018 to help with the restaurant and start his shrimp farm. The local shrimp is available at a pair of local dining establishments. Tyler said that two McCook chefs have extensive experience with seafood.

“McCook has a very independent spirit, and there is high-quality dining here in my hometown,” Tyler said. “We’re not a big enough market for most chains, so lots of independent restaurants here are doing well.”

When they produced their first crustacean crop, the McCartys put some shrimp on ice and took it to Adam Siegfried, owner of the Coppermill Steakhouse & Lounge. The McCook native and former Alaskan deck hand knew his way around quality shrimp straight out of the ocean. “He remarked at how fresh our shrimp was and he ate it raw,” said Tyler. Cooking shrimp well takes some know-how.

“If you want to take $18 a pound shrimp and have it turn out like cheap grocery store shrimp, all you have to do is cook it for 30 seconds too long,” Tyler said.

Bill Lesko, who owns Citta Deli with his wife, Jade, is known for cooking Italian recipes passed on from his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. When the Leskos opened the restaurant, they wanted it to be the town deli for McCook. They reached that goal. Their restaurant with Italian art above the booths and an arched entryway had to evolve quickly into a true New York-styledeli to meet their customers’ needs. Shrimp is a component of many of their entrées. 

“Here we are in the middle of Nebraska and I can get live shrimp whenever I need it. I’ve lived on the coast and know what fresh shrimp is. This is amazing for Nebraska,” Lesko said. “I bought everything Tyler had for Fat Tuesday and we sold out. People came out in droves for our creole shrimp fettuccini.”   

Before Tyler and Dave found the building, the structure had been abandoned for 30 years. It had once been used by an oilman to raise meat rabbits and chinchillas for the fur trade. Their poop was used to grow bait industry fishing worms.

The structure had been abandoned for 30 years when Tyler and Dave first looked at it. “Every feral cat in Red Willow County and some skunks were living in here, and the office looked just like the workers had just left for the day,” Tyler said. “It needed a lot of work, but the bones were good.”

Up and running since 2019, the McCartys personally deliver their shrimp on ice to restaurants within a 5-hour radius of McCook. They have accounts in McCook, and Kansas City, among other communities, Tyler said that McCook sits in a sweet spot between Omaha and Denver.

“The farm is exactly 278 miles from each of those cities, and I think we’ve got a product here than Nebraska can be proud of, just like our state’s beef.” Tyler said.

“I don’t consider myself a farmer, not yet. But I think I can get there from here.”   

Order Saltwater Hills shrimp at saltwaterhills.com/shop. The local shrimp also is available at Citta Deli, 110 W. First St. in McCook, (308) 345-1515, and Coppermill Steakhouse, 202 N. U.S. Highway 83 in McCook,(308) 345-2296. Bon appetit!