Organic beef & diversification

Raising organic beef offers producers diversification

BY SARAH FELTON, EWC INTERN

 

Sporting the motto, "wholesome beef raised nature’s way," six people are venturing to bring organic beef to the state of Wyoming by way of a family ranch.

 

Wyoming Pure Organic Beef, LLC was formed this year by Dallas Mount of the Platte County Extension Center and the Goertz family of Slater, who own the ranch.

 

"The company was formed in January, and we’ve been marketing for about three months," Mount said. "It takes three years of documentation to be certified as ‘organic,’ but we’ve been working to get licenses and get the product ready to sell."

 

The term ‘organic’ simply means that the animals were raised free of synthetic products in accordance to national organic standards. These products include antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, etc.

 

"The Goertz family was making a living off of one ranch," Mount explained. "Then, because his sons were coming back to ranch, they had to find a way to make that ranch support two or three families instead of just one."

 

The company shows proof of being a diversified agricultural project, and also a mode of getting more income to a single ranch.

 

"(At Wyoming Pure) we sell natural and organic beef directly to customers," Mount said. "It’s kind of a new way of buying food. In years past, people have been mostly focused on buying food for the cheapest price and the cheapest way possible."

 

Today, Mount believes that customers are more interested in safe, high quality food rather than whatever costs the least.

 

"People like to know how the food is raised so they can feel confident in feeding it to their family," Mount said. It’s nice to buy your food from someone you know, and you know it’s been raised right in a wholesome manner."

 

There are two separate ways that Wyoming Pure raises their beef: grass fed and corn fed.

 

"Corn fed beef are allowed to live on free-range pasture up until the last three months (before processing)," Mount explained. "We then bring them in and offer them grain as a diet. That gives them the corn-fed flavor that people like."

 

Though 90 percent of the animals currently being sold were raised as corn-fed cattle, Wyoming Pure feels just as confident in the quality of their grass fed cattle.

 

"These cattle are fed strictly on pasture or fed hay," Mount said. "They’re really an emerging market. They are a different type of beef, as they are a leaner, more wild characteristic of meat."

 

Mount explained that surprisingly, grass-fed cattle are more expensive to raise than the corn-fed beef, as it takes longer for the animal to be ready to harvest.

 

When compared to beef sold in the local grocery stores, Mount is confident that Wyoming Pure Beef is of better quality.

 

For more information on organic beef, please visit www.wyomingpure.com, or contact Dallas Mount at (307) 331-1176.

 

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