Farmers United says grassfed market is there for the taking

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Statesville, North Carolina — Sam Dobson saw a need to link grassfed beef graziers with wholesale markets looking for volume and consistency.

That’s why he founded Farmers United Cattle Company, LLC two years ago. Dobson has been building the business around filling that need, and says it is producing fast growth and interest from both graziers and buyers within its main operating area of the southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

Farmers United mainly works in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, with some production in Pennsylvania and New York as well.

99 Counties taps venture capital to achieve goals

By Martha Hoffman Kerestes

Keystone, Iowa — Nick Wallace’s grandmother took eggs and cream from the farm to sell in nearby Keystone. That era of small, diversified farms with vibrant communities is something Nick is hoping to recapture, at least in part.

To that end, he has started 99 Counties, a company that seeks to be the catalyst to a resurgence of grazing farms and communities.

The new venture follows Nick and his family’s two decades of experience raising and selling grassfed beef and pastured meats and sourcing additional meats from other farms as sales volumes grew. In addition to farming 200 acres of organic row crops, the Wallace family grazes 60 head of red and black Angus brood cows and 40-50 finishers.

By Allen Williams

While those of us involved in the grassfed world are very aware that the meats we produce are different than those those coming from grain-fed animals, most of us don’t fully comprehend the breadth of those differences.

This month, I want to summarize what’s been discovered by a large number of research projects over a period of many years. As you’ll see, this goes far beyond the differences in levels of CLAs and omega-3 fatty acids that are commonly understood by grassfed producers.

Hopefully this information can be of use when you’re talking with your customers.

New research performed by Stephan Van Vliet of Utah State University along with the Bionutrient Food Association, found that in comparison to grain-fed, grass-finishing increases a wide variety of health-promoting compounds in meat while improving animal health.