Meadow mist organic beef : from dream to reality

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MEADOW MIST ORGANIC BEEF:

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

by Albert Walter

Growing up on a family farm, I saw the early days of chemical fertilizers. Then came the so-called wonderful invention of herbicides for weed control and hormones for growth enhancement. I also got to watch the costs involved with the vegetation and livestock manipulators, not only in dollars but in human thinking, action and health as well. ;

The clincher of heading in an unhealthy direction came home to me back in 1984 as I was standing in our driveway one evening. About a third of a mile away, a neighbor was spraying herbicide on his mixed grain. The fumes of this mixture drifted over and as I breathed them in, I could feel a tightness in my throat along with a slight dizziness. (A rather frightening coincidence about that same neighbor is that his wife has passed away from cancer and he now has cancer and a short time to live.)

From that moment, the dream of being a steward of the land, of using only what the earth, air and water had to offer to raise food, took hold in my mind. I began doing away with chemical use on the land. The following year I completely discontinued weed control with herbicides, and a year later I cut out all commercial fertilizer except nitrogen on pasture ground. By 1989 I no longer used any man-made weed control products and fertilizers. The land seemed to go into withdrawal when chemical use was stopped, something like a smoker missing nicotine. I was concerned about being able to grow enough feed for my livestock because for three or four years, weeds grew with a vengeance. However, with the use of some summer fallow, yearly crop rotations to clover and mixed hay crops, and as few row crops as possible (we grow only silage corn as required), the weed problem has diminished.

In 1993, with the production end under control, I now turned my attention to marketing my organic beef. Up to this point, the cattle I raised as a part-time business were sold on the open market or to someone I knew who wanted a half or a quarter. But I knew that my product had to become known as something more desirable and special: it needed the right name.

I wanted a name that was both appealing and descriptive of my product’s origin. To the east of my home, there is low meadow where the cattle like to lie in the summer time. Very often in the morning a mist hangs over the area. The perfect name came to me at 3 o’clock one morning: Meadow Mist Organic Beef.

With the name decided, I had a product identification logo designed and advertising brochures printed. I attended various seminars on organic topics, but in the final analysis I found that marketing my product would be best done by my own individual leg work. I headed out to different restaurants, stores with meat counters and butcher shops to ask whether they might want to carry another line. These were not fruitful locations.

My product began being accepted when I started knocking on people’s doors. In this way, I could meet people one-on-one and explain to them how the beef was raised. I always had some product with me on ice. I found in eight out of ten cases that, after some discussion, individuals would agree to try a pound of hamburger, or a steak or a roast. I met some people who had quit eating beef because of allergies to it; they tried some of my clean, organically raised product and have been buying it ever since. Flavor and texture are what a lot of my customers like about my beef, but a great number appreciate the fact that it has been raised organically. Now I deliver orders regularly to many customers.

A friend suggested I try selling at the local farmers’ market. This has been a real promotion of my product. Goderich, Ontario, located on Lake Huron, is a cottage area in the summer and many people from surrounding cities such as Toronto, Hamilton, London and Kitchener buy my beef at the market on the weekend to take back to the city. (I have found that city people seem to be more concerned with what is in their food than are people in my local community.)

Word of mouth also does wonders for selling a product with consistent premium quality. Sales have further increased since I got my land and livestock certified in 1995.

When you are marketing your own product, you don’t have a large advertising budget. And people are interested in you as well as your product, so it is important how you approach them. You must look legitimate with what you are trying to sell them. Don’t try gimmicks or fast talk. Be ready and willing to give people personal service; this is the biggest asset you have going for you. Here’s an example to illustrate what I mean: one of my customers, an older lady living alone, likes her sirloin steaks cut in four so she can cook small portions for herself. Doing that extra little bit for her paid off in more than just repeat business; three of her relatives are now putting in orders as well.

Marketing is an ongoing job, and keeping an ear to the ground seems to turn up interesting new opportunities. Experience has taught me to be ready to sell my product in any situation, however unexpected. One day I was talking on the phone to a Bell operator in Toronto. After our business had been completed, I asked the operator how long she had been on her job. When she asked me what I worked at, I told her about my product. She had been wanting to try organic beef for some time. The following weekend, while visiting in the Goderich area, she came around to my farm and bought some! This sort of thing doesn’t happen often, but it shows the importance of always having an eye (or ear) to potential markets.

Albert Walter operates Meadow Mist Organic Beef at Goderich, Ontario.

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