Farmers Wear Different Hats

Family farms such as our Rain Crow Ranch allow for plenty of variety in your job description. As a grassfarmer we nurture the soil so it can produce better grass. We promote the grass growth for the maximum quality and yield while using sustainable practices.

Our cattle harvest our grass crop without having to use the first drop of fossil fuel. Our animals then support the farm as their harvest produces protein in sync with natures. This is all accomplished under our straw farmer’s hat. But how does this healthy and safe protein make its way to the table? The farmer needs some different hats.

Once harvested the farmer, in this case our son Peter, wears a white hard hat as he produces primal cuts of beef. The meat is broken down into what the industry calls primals. These primals are then fabricated into steaks, roast, and trim which is ground into burger or further processed into ready to eat products. These products are vacuum sealed and placed in the cooler or freezer ready for shipment or pick up.

Now the farmer must don another hat to market that beef as a product. It may be dealing with chefs in a 5 star restaurant or with a burger flipper in a diner, or a customer who calls on the phone and wants beef shipped to their door, or a retailer who wants to buy wholesale.

At American Grassfed Beef we do all the marketing. I wish at times that we were big enough to use marketing experts but for the most part we, the farmers, are also the marketers.

This is the case with many family grass farms that I know. Not trying to compete with the big boys in the meat industry, we keep our staff low and simply wear the right hat for the job. So, when our customers call to discuss the possibility of using our farm to source grassfed beef . . . they are talking to the folks who also grow the beef. As such we feel it a real privilege to have our beef offered in some of the finest restaurants and retailers in this part of the country.

We are committed to the partnership and the business of selling through the beef. We conduct training for restaurant staff and retail meat managers so they can explain to their customers why and how our beef is different from conventional grocery store beef.

We design and promote the use of educational brochures aimed at providing information to the consumer at the point of sale. We also do our part to provide in store sampling of our beef. Mark gets a kick out of going into the store and connecting directly with customers interested in buying our grassfed beef. We share our farm story, answer questions and ask them to try a taste. Mark explains in good humor that this is his chance to get off the farm and play “Emeril” for a day.

When you buy products from an American Grassfed Beef and other family farms like ours, you are investing in United States products raised with pride and care every step of the way until it reaches your table.