Organic Beef Sales Take Off

Capitalizing on Quality: Organic beef producers see a spike in sales
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Dey

The Idaho Statesman
Beef is still what¹s for dinner in the Treasure Valley, but since the
discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S. more local diners want organic or
grass-fed beef on their plates.

The discovery of mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalophaly, in a dairy
cow in Washington state last month has commercial beef suppliers concerned
that consumers will stop buying beef.

But sales of organic or grass-fed beef have been booming at local specialty
food stores.

³Sales have increased dramatically,² said Russel Naillon, meat manager for
the Boise Co-Op. ³I can barely keep organic or grass-fed beef on the
shelves.²

Naillon hasn´t yet calculated his exact sales figures, but he said that he´s
probably selling twice as much since the discovery of mad cow was announced.

The sales of organic beef are increasing despite the premium price that must
be paid < usually 30 to 50 percent higher than the beef in a grocery store.

Naillon said customers view organic or grass-fed beef as safer because it
comes from cattle that haven´t been fed commercial feed that some believe
can become infected with mad cow disease.

³It´s more expensive, but you can´t put a price tag on your health, and I
think people are finally starting to understand that,² Naillon said.

Jill Iris, of Boise, who was browsing through the Co-op´s selection of
organic beef last week agrees.

³I trust it and it feels healthier,² Iris said, adding that she also likes
the fact that she´s supporting local growers when she buys organic beef.

Demand for organic beef is also on the rise at the Eagle City Market.

³We´ve been seeing a lot more customers,² said Derek Joiner,. meat manager
for Aurora Custom Meats and Seafood at the Eagle City Market,

Before the mad cow case was discovered, Joiner said he sold about a side of
organic beef a month, but because of the demand he´s now selling a whole cow
every month.

³If it takes off the way I´m hoping I would like to be able to sell a whole
cow twice a month,² Joiner said.

The increase in organic sales is welcome news to Idaho´s organic beef
producers.

³Maybe people will now decide they want beef right off the farm rather than
from the feedlot,² says Rob Nelson, of Apple Valley Organic Farm west of
Parma. Nelson raises a herd of 45 organic cows.

Nelson is one of six certified organic beef producers in the state. That´s a
small percentage considering the state currently has 11,500 cattle ranches
and dairy farms.

Nate Jones, who has a herd of about 90 mother cows on his farm near Glenns
Ferry, is also excited about the prospects for organic beef.

³This is a great opportunity,² said Jones, who sells 50 to 60 calves a year
as organic beef under his own label, Nate n´ Annie´s Premium Beef.

Safer beef?

Jones calls the discovery of mad cow in the United States an indictment of
the industrial model of raising food.

He cites the cattle industry practice of slaughtering so-called downer cows
< cows that are sick or lame < as one example of the problems industrial
production can cause.

³I can´t believe a producer would need the extra $50 to $60 for the animal,
to risk the safety and health of consumers,² Jones said.

Organic beef production has never allowed the use of downer cows, but it
took last month´s discovery of an infected cow for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to finally ban the practice.

Jones and others in the organic industry say if consumers want to be assured
of the safety of their meat supply, the best bet is to buy organic beef from
their local producers.

³If an informed consumer puts a little thought into it, buying food locally
is your only guarantee,² Jones said.

In order to label their meat as organic, producers must follow guidelines
set out by the USDA:

* Organic cows must be tracked from birth to slaughter.
* Only 100 percent organic food is allowed.
* Producers can´t use growth hormones or antibiotics on their animals.

³More consumers now believe that organic is the gold standard for food
safety,² said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers
Association in Little Marais, Minn.

Cummins expects that the demand for organic beef will only continue to
increase.

Although safety is the No. 1 reason cited for buying organic beef, some in
the cattle industry believe the safety argument is being overstated.

Leah Morgan Clark, executive director of the Idaho Beef Council, says it´s
not accurate to tell consumers that organic beef is in any way safer than
other types of beef.

³I think the beef industry has done a great job providing different types of
beef for consumers and meeting their demand,² Clark said. ³But there is no
difference in nutrition and no difference in the safety. It is all inspected
the same.²

Keeping up with demand

The organic beef industry is small in comparison to the overall beef
industry, accounting for only about 1 percent of all sales, according to
Cummins.

But Cummins said the organic food industry as a whole is continuing to grow
at a rate of about 24 percent a year. He expects the rate in organic beef
growth to be even higher.

Cummins said that increase would have been larger if producers had been
allowed to market their beef as organic before 2002, when the USDA formally
approved the organic label for beef.

Given the expected upturn in demand from the mad cow discovery, Cummins said
he expects some traditional beef producers may start raising some of their
cattle organically.

Margaret Misner, the program director of the Idaho State Department of
Agriculture´s organic program, said in the last two weeks she´s received
five calls from producers inquiring about the state´s organic program.

Although there may be more interest in organic beef, Cummins and others say
increasing the production of organic beef is not something that can happen
overnight.

It takes an average of three years from the time a producer goes organic to
have raised their first officially organic herd of cattle.

³It´s a slow growth industry,² said Jones. ³You can´t just jump into it.²

Not only is there time involved in raising the first group of organic cows,
Jones said there also are issues as to where the cows can be slaughtered.

To keep the organic label, the meat must be processed at a certified organic
processing plant and many of those plants are smaller and wouldn´t likely be
able to keep up with a big jump in demand.

¹Natural beef¹

Although it may be more difficult to convert to organic quickly, Cummins
said producers could make the switch to natural beef or grass-fed beef
rather quickly.

Natural beef doesn´t have as stringent requirements as organic. The feed
doesn´t have to be organic, but the animals can´t be raised in feedlots, nor
can they be fed any animal byproducts. To be listed as natural beef,
producers sign a statement at the time of slaughter.

Although they stand to make more money now raising their beef organically,
both Jones and Nelson said money was never the driving force that made them
organic farmers.

In fact, Jones said before the mad cow discovery he could have actually made
more money selling his beef to the non-organic market.

And Nelson, who raises organic calves to sell to other organic producers,
has yet to have a lot of success marketing organic beef. He supports his
organic farming endeavors by working full-time as a rural mail carrier.

But they both agree that even without the mad cow scare they would still be
raising beef organically.

³I´ve seen the feedlot operations. They shoot animals up with steroids and
they use antibiotics for everything,² Nelson said. ³I raise organic beef
because I think it´s the right way to do it.²

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Ken Dey
kdey@idahostatesman.com or 377-6428