Meeting, creating demand for natural beef

Fred Wacker and his family run Cross Four Ranch in Miles City, Mont., which supplies Tyson Fresh Meats’ Open Prairie Natural Angus^® beef brand, raising all-natural, black Angus and Angus cross cows and calves as well as yearling cattle. Wacker and his wife developed the Cross Four Ranch business together over the last 30-plus years, and currently run nearly 5,000 cows and about 20,000 feeder calves. Wacker discussed his views on the industry, all-natural beef and other topics with Andy Hanacek, editor-in-chief of The National Provisioner.

Hanacek: How long have you been affiliated with or supplying Tyson Fresh Meats and the Open Prairie Natural Angusbeef brand?

Wacker: I’ve sold them cattle off and on for probably 20 years or 25 years. However, for approximately the last five years, I have had a very close association with them and for most all of that time, it has been with the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand.

Hanacek: From your viewpoint, what’s the biggest challenge to raising the breed to the specifications of the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand?

Wacker: In order to comply with Open Prairie Natural Angus beef specifications, there was no significant change from what we had been doing — virtually none. We don’t believe in implants, and we’ve never wanted to participate in the implanted antibiotic cattle area. We don’t believe in unnecessary antibiotics. We have a humane-handling program and practice it. Those are the basics of it.

Hanacek: You also have incorporated an extensive traceability function with your cattle, correct?

Wacker: The tags on all of our cattle track them from their birth until they are harvested. You can give us a number and we can go on the computer in a matter of seconds, tell you where that animal was raised, what feed it’s had, what pastures it was in, where it was fed and finished and what date it went to the harvest plant.

Hanacek: As a producer, has anything surprised you about the popularity growth of natural beef in general or the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand?

Wacker: I think it’s a fine brand, and it’s one way the beef industry needs to go. When you go to natural, you’re dealing with the finest, most tender, tastiest beef that can possibly be grown. In that, it’s a little bit surprising that we don’t have a bigger market share than we do.

Hanacek: What do you think may be holding back the popularity?

Wacker: In order to move it along faster, I think the general public must understand that if you want to buy a Chevrolet car, it’s going to cost less than a Cadillac car. When you buy commodity beef, it’s going to be priced less than natural beef. But you get what you pay for. With the small amount of money in consumers’ food budgets, the industry needs to get folks to understand that if they pay a little extra for some good, antibiotic-free, steroid-free, humanely handled beef, it’s a very good bargain.

Hanacek: Has working with the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand helped your business weather some of the economic headwinds? Or has raising the natural beef made the economic headwinds harder to handle?

Wacker: I think they have helped us weather tough times and tough markets — they have worked with us in every situation. We’re facing a drought up here. We’re going to have to market cattle differently. I think the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand has made life an awful lot easier for us.

Hanacek: What are some of the things you’re doing on your ranch to improve the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef product?

Wacker: We are looking for the ideal beef animal. We want to deliver to the Open Prairie Natural Angus brand [consistent,] high-yielding animals. We want those animals to be choice, but we don’t want a bunch of [yield] grade fours and fives. We work hard on studying the genetics, and our hope is that when we look at 10 years of records, we’ve increased the yield on our animals by as much as 3% more meat per animal. We have increased the amount of yield by, in most cases, as much as 100 pounds. Those are things that we can do. We’re doing that without giving up tenderness and without giving up flavor.

Hanacek: What do you think is needed from the processor standpoint and the retailer standpoint to further grow the Open Prairie Natural Angus beef brand, and in general, the popularity of all-natural?

Wacker: The industry needs to do some work in the marketing area for natural beef. I would like to see some research done on some microwaveable products and for some quick meals, so that the working mother or father can fix a real good natural beef meal and have it on the table in 15 to 20 minutes when they come home. I would like to see improvements in marketing, because I think the products ought to be really racing out the door at a premium price.