Why You Should Consider Purchasing Beef Directly From The Rancher

 Most of us have heard the phrase “farm to fork”; which refers to getting food directly from the farm or ranch. Farmers markets, an excellent source of farm to fork products, are growing in popularity nationwide allowing for consumers to meet with their local farmers and ranchers, purchase goods directly from them and maybe even learn about the process of how their food was raised.

With meat easily available at our local grocery stores, why should one consider purchasing directly from a rancher? Speaking as someone who raises beef cattle for both conventional markets and the direct to consumer model, purchasing directly from the rancher allows for dialogue to take place where there otherwise wouldn’t, except possibly with your local butcher. This dialogue is important for both parties; it is especially important for the future of agriculture. 

For the consumer, especially when they aren’t themselves involved in animal agriculture, it can offer peace of mind knowing how animals are raised and where their meat comes from. This is a growing concern for many consumers that can be easily mitigated by purchasing from the source. Buying from the rancher allows the consumer to build a relationship with them and fosters a level of comfort and familiarity, two things that cannot be overstated. Consumers should feel comfortable going to the rancher with all their beef-related questions. Directly purchasing from the rancher is also a way to directly support the rancher, as opposed to more indirectly supporting them by purchasing from the grocery store; more on this later.

For the rancher, there is a sense of pride in raising animals regardless of if the animal goes the conventional route to the grocery store or the direct to consumer route. However, there is an even greater sense of pride associated with the latter. Personally, I prefer having full control of my animals throughout their lives as opposed to selling them sometime after weaning. From a breeding stand point, feeding them out really shows me what our herds genetics are capable of, and has the potential to expose some areas of opportunity. The first time we sold beef shares, even though it was just to friends and family, I cried because I was so proud that we were finally sharing our meat with others and all our hard work paid off!

Purchasing directly from the rancher is going to supply you with some amazing quality beef products! Because of the nature of raising beef direct to consumer, ranchers can often put more focus into individual animals to make sure they meet their potential when it comes to frame size and weight which translates to high quality beef. There is so much attention to detail involved in raising out beef!

It’s important to know that whether you purchase directly from a rancher or purchase from your grocery store, you are STILL supporting your local rancher (provided that you’re purchasing American raised beef); you’re also supporting a few other segments of the beef industry and that’s just great for the economy! Animals that we don’t select for our feed program still make their way to the consumer, they just pass through a stocker or feedlot first. So again, you are still supporting local ranchers just in a much less direct fashion.

With all this in mind, there may be confusion associated with the “product of the U.S.A” label; there is a loophole in the laws created for this! Foreign beef is legally allowed to be labeled as US beef provided it has gone through some processing in an American facility. This is a fascinating topic that is worthy of its own post at another time, so for now, know that purchasing directly from a local rancher supplies you with American bred, born, raised, and finished beef.

For those who are wanting a closer connection to their food, wanting to not only support American beef but to support locally raised beef, there is no better way to go than purchasing directly from a rancher. They are an invaluable resource for the consumer. There are so many ranchers nationwide who are selling their beef directly; if you have specific wants or needs I’m sure there is a rancher out there who can meet those needs! This is such a unique market and it’s growing in popularity, offering benefits to both.