www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family holder-family Holder Family ERVIN’S GRASSFED BEEF Will and I started Ervin’s Grassfed Beef (EGB) in 1997. The company was named after my husband Will’s maternal grandfather, Ervin Hicks (right), who had a wonderful land ethic and a gentle way with animals. Originally, we tried to form a cooperative, including our neighbors and a few other ranchers who do […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family james-family James Family The James family, like the Salatins, has made a nice living doing things on a smaller scale. They slaughter their beef at around 950-1,150 pounds, the majority in the late fall, but also some in the spring. The beef is then frozen and sold throughout the year. Part of their marketing is done through an […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family hatfield-family Hatfield Family OREGON NATURAL BEEF There were two pioneers in the direct marketing beef business: Mel Coleman of Coleman Beef, and Doc and Connie Hatfield of Oregon Natural Beef. Mel basically modeled his production system after the conventional market and had mixed results (for a more detailed analysis, read his book Riding the Higher Range). The Hatfields, […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family elliott-rude-family Elliott/Rude Family Since 1999, Wende Elliott has raised poultry and lamb in a pasture-based system on her 120-acre central Iowa farm. With her husband, Joe Rude, she gained organic certification for her meat products, as well as alfalfa, oats and corn. As they fine-tuned their production, Wende and Joe pondered how to get the most from their […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family brownlee-family Brownlee Family For eight years, Bill and Denise Brownlee watched feed prices rise and pork prices fall, wondering all the while how they could make their Wil-Den Family Farms in Pennsylvania more profit-able. In 2002, they decided to exploit what they saw as a market advantage – for years they have perfected an outdoor production system where […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family hodge-family Hodge Family Bill and Di Hodge had raised a small cattle herd in addition to their “day jobs” for decades, but got serious about making the sideline activity a real income-generating enterprise after they saw the potential of marketing grass-fed beef. “Six to eight years ago, we suddenly came to the realization that a cow was put […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef carver-family Entrepreneurs: Carver Family With more than a century of sheep ranching tradition on their 30,000-acre central Oregon ranch, Dan and Jeanne Carver wanted to continue raising sheep despite declining lamb and wool markets. With a grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, they researched markets and launched a product line featuring uniqueness and quality. Today, […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef finding-a-niche forage Forage All forage is not created equal. You can work to improve both the amount and quality of your feed. Each season, we work to improve our pasture, and a large part of that is managing how the forage is harvested. You’ll want to put your brood cows on your poorest forage. Granted, they will do […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef finding-a-niche genetics Genetics There are a ton of different breeds of cattle out there. If you read the breeds marketing literature, they all seem to “calve well, gain fast, and do great under range conditions.” Of course, if this were true, we’d only need one breed of cow. In reality, we all live in different climates, and we […]
www.sare.org publications how-to-direct-market-your-beef finding-a-niche packaging-your-product Packaging Your Product Bulk ground beef is most economically packaged in small bags, usually referred to as chubb bags. They come in 1-, 2- and 5-pound sizes, and you can select from different thicknesses of plastic. You can buy them pre-printed with some standard design, and then have your label affixed when they are filled at the processing […]