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Co-op markets natural beef

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By Doug Rich

"It is a satisfactory way for me to sell my livestock," says Eugene Edelman.

Edelman and his sons, Lynn and Steven, are member of the All Natural Beef Producers Cooperative, formed in January, 1998, to market natural beef products. "Natural or organic is the way I like to market my beef," says Edelman.

Edelman and his sons farm 500 acres of grass and row crops, near Sabetha, KS, and maintain a herd of 60 to 70 head of beef cows. In addition to the calves they raise on their farm, the Edelmans buy calves to finish in their feedlot. Their crops include corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, oats, wheat and rye.

"I always wanted a channel where I could market from my farm to the store," says Edelman. "But with all the government regulations, that seemed like an almost impossible thing to do. I can't just set up, slaughter and haul to the store." The All Natural Beef Producers Cooperative has provided him with that direct link to consumers who buy his beef.

Edelman has been

farming chemical free for 15 years. "I was not happy with farming until we quit using chemicals," he says. "We always were on the edge about drift or mistakes with chemicals." Although his farm is not certified organic, most of his land is managed as if it were in organic grain production. "All the land we own or farm, if it is not qualified for organic certification, it is transitional land. That is land in the process of being qualified for certification."

Lynn Edelman has a farm that has been certified organic by the Kansas Organic Producers Association. No urea or synthetic fertilizers are used on this farm. For fertility, he used green, plow down, manure or fish meal. No herbicides or insecticides are used, instead Edelman uses crop rotations to control insects and diseases. He rotates soybeans, corn and grain sorghum with vetch, red clover or alfalfa as the plow-down crop. In 1997, he planted clear hilum soybeans for the first time.

Eugene Edelman began marketing his natural beef prior to the formation of the cooperative and after he was contacted by Melvin Endicott, a southeast Kansas producer. Endicott and his daughter, Diana, and her husband, Gary, were marketing natural beef to Hen House Markets, a grocery store chain in the Kansas City area, under their own label. "We have been in the market for two years," says Diana Endicott. "We raised beef on the farm and were looking for different ways to sell it." She contacted Hen House Markets, because it was selling hydropoic tomatoes to them. "So, we approached them with the idea of buying organic beef. It just happened that Hen House Markets was looking for a branded beef product at that time."

When the demand

exceeded his supply, Enidcott began to look for other producers who could provide him a few head of cattle that could be marketed as natural beef. Their product was labeled "Natural Choice All Natural Beef." As the demand continued to grow, the idea of a closed cooperative took form. "We decided it would be better for quality control if everybody had an investment in the business," says Diana Endicott.

To qualify for the all natural label, the cattle must be grown without growth hormones or the use of sub-therapeutic antibiotics. One-time treatments are allowed, if the cattle get sick, and there is a time for withdrawal before the cattle are slaughtered. The cooperative producers must raise the calves or know the source of them. Co-op members are not limited to a particular breed, but, like the cattle that Edelman delivers, most are Angus crossbreds. The Edelmans are using Angus and Amerifax bulls on their crossbred cows. Grain used to feed out the calves does not have to be organically grown. "Our goal is to be as natural as possible, including the feed," adds Edelman. He feeds his calves or 120 days and puts them on a 60% corn ration for the last 30 days.

Edelman prefers

to keep his spring calving cow herd on grass as much as possible. "We usually turn them out before the grass can support them, so we haul hay out to them on pasture. Cows run on corn stalks in the fall and winter months and then we drylot from the first of March until they calve and go to pasture. Calves weaned in October and November are ready for slaughter the following August or September. We will try to stagger the slaughter days by pushing the larger calves and holding back the smaller ones." If a carcass does not meet specific grade requirements, it will be discounted and not sold through the cooperative. The producer does have the option of buying back the carcass.

"Right now, consumers are asking for a larger beef carcass," says Edelman. They have been marketing their calves at 1,200 pounds or larger. Edelman delivers eight head every two weeks to the Adrian, MO, slaughter plant. This is a federally inspected slaughter plant. The carcasses are taken from Adrian to the Sambol Meat Co., in Kansas City, MO, for further processing. From there, the cuts are take to four of the 11 Hen House stores, in the Kansas City area.

In addition to the conventional meat cuts, the All Natural Beef Producers Cooperative is looking at other value-added products. "Our problem right now is the middle meats," says Diana Endicott. First among these products is a pre-cooked roast, with a recipe attached to the label. Besides this product, they are developing other value-added products, including summer sausage, baloney and all natural wieners, with help from Dr. Elizabeth Boyle, at Kansas State University. "We are trying to find ways to get value-added meats to up the profit per animal," says Edelman.

Marketing their beef through the All Natural Beef Producers Cooperative completes the circle, according to Edelman. It connects the producer to the consume to the benefit of both.

Category: Front Features