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Open Range is a natural for Angus beef"I think people have forgotten what good beef tastes like and that is the concnept I am bringing back," Steve Willard said. "The only way to make this work is with consistency," Don Bush Sr., said. By Doug Rich When Don Bush Sr. moved his family to the Missouri Ozarks 15 years ago, he had retirement in mind. The same was true for Steve Willard, when he moved from Georgia to Missouri six years ago. Fate intervened and now retirement is out of the picture as Bush and Willard started a new venture together marketing all natural beef. "It is like a dream come true for us," Bush said. All natural Bush was interested in raising all natural beef and Willard wanted to open a steak house featuring all natural beef. Bush had a ranch, which included a small feedlot, near Koshkonong, Mo., just down the road from Willard's new restaurant, the Open Range Steak House, in Willow Springs. "Starting a restaurant, I wanted to go with something different than most steak houses offer," Willard said. His first thought was to sell only locally raised beef, but in the process of lining up local cattle for the feedlot, he discovered they could be raised as all natural beef just as easily. Bush knew that consumers want beef that is consistently tender and tastes good. He also knew that demand for an all-natural beef product was growing. "We want the very best and that is what we breed for and that is what we are serving at the restaurant," Bush said. The success of this ag marketing venture depends a lot on the genetics of the cattle that Bush is feeding on his ranch. In fact, that is how Bush and Willard first met. Willard had been in the cattle business all of his life and continued that when he moved to Missouri where he purchased bulls from Bush. This is also where fate stepped in to start the process. When Don Bush and his family moved to Missouri 15 years ago, they brought a commercial herd along with six registered Angus cows and a registered Angus bull. The plan was to breed their own cows to produce their own herd bulls. "We had more bulls than we could use and the neighbors wanted to buy some and one thing led to another," Bush said. "That kicked off our registered cattle business." Bush discovered that it takes a special kind of cow to survive in the Ozarks and that there was a real demand for cattle adapted to the Ozarks. These cattle need to be easy fleshing, fescue tolerant, heat tolerant with good feet and legs. "Other than the feedlot, that is what we base our whole criteria on," Bush said. "We are truly a beef oriented purebred operation." The six registered Angus cows that Bush brought to Missouri were purchased from the David Nichols herd and included the old Lula N9 cow. This cow was the dam or grand dam of a lot of really good Dave Nichols bulls. When Bush started DNA testing his bulls, he discovered something interesting about his cattle. "For some reason the cattle we chose were in the top six percent in the nation for tenderness," Bush said. "All of our cattle were testing very high for tenderness. What made that happen I don't know." One of their bulls, BUB Don Carlo J76, had eight out of 10 stars for tenderness. Don Carlo was a big frame bull with a 19-inch rib eye and an actual yearling weight of 1,500 pounds. "I called him our black Charolais," Bush said. DNA testing Bush is sold on DNA testing and it has become a valuable tool for culling. Bush said it is not everything they look for but, out of the 10 most important traits, it is probably number 7. This was exactly the type of genetics Bush and Willard needed to combine with their all natural production system to produce juicy, tender steaks for the Open Range steak house. This is how the BUB Ranch Angus Alliance works. Bush buys back calves from some of his best bull customers. These come to the feedlot on Bush's ranch where they are fed an all-natural diet. Buying back calves with known genetics, feeding them all in the same feedlot, and using the same ration for all the calves adds to the consistency of the product. "The only way to make this work is with consistency," Bush said. All of the animals are age and source verified. "Records are kept on every animal that comes into the feedlot and every animal that goes out," Bush said. When the meat is served in the restaurant, a customer can ask for the number and it tells them which farm it came from, what bull it is out of, and the date of birth. "If we are serious about having a good health food chain, we need to have those records," Bush said. "We have to change our ideas about traceability." Basically, Willard buys all of the calves. Bush makes arrangements with the cattlemen who sign up for the Alliance to handle the calves in a certain way consistent with their all-natural program. Bush brings the calves to their Certified Angus Source feedlot and oversees their development and gets them to a local processor when Willard is ready for more beef. Right now, Willard said he is using about seven head a week. They are making arrangements to sell extra calves to another all-natural processor. Bush takes no commission for handling the cattle but he is paid for yardage. All of the calves are delivered directly to their feedlot and there is no shrinkage or dockage for heifers. "These are healthy cattle that have never been exposed to anything," Bush said. Herd health is of utmost importance because they don't want to use any medications at all in their all-natural program. Bush said out of the 1,000 head they have fed so far, they have only treated three animals. Open Range Willard opened his restaurant, for business on March 17 and the response from his customers has been overwhelming. "Doing the processing local and raising them local and everything tied together, it is just like you would have it when doing your own butchering," Willard said. "I think people have forgotten what good beef tastes like and that is the concept I am bringing back." They custom cut beef at the restaurant so people can get just the steak they want and they can even take it home and cook it themselves if they prefer. The idea of an early retirement in the Missouri Ozarks is out the window for Don Bush Sr. and Steve Willard, but they have realized a dream. Their dream was to take a beef product all the way from registered cattle to steak on the plate. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304, or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. 9/29/08 Date: 9/25/08
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