How many cows or pounds of beef are sold under the NEFF label?
In 2008 NEFF marketed 420 cattle from 13 local farms. NEFF was created
to provide an efficient supply chain between artisan farmers in the
Northeast and customers who desire those products. In the last year NEFF
has worked with a total of 23 family farms raising cattle, hogs, sheep,
and poultry and 11 local processors. Through these programs, in the last
12 months, hotels, restaurants, country clubs, colleges, universities,
resorts, executive dining , catering, and food service management
companies have purchased over four million dollars worth of products
directly from these family owned businesses.
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How many people does a pasture raised cow feed?
A typical pasture raised beef carcass weighs about 700 lbs and from that carcass, there are a little more
than 400 lbs of usable cuts that are fabricated. Using a typical 4 oz serving, one beef animal can make
1600 servings.
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How much grass does a beef animal eat?
A grazing beef animal consumes 20-30 lbs of forage per day on pasture and 15 to 20 lbs of dried hay
during the winter.
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What breeds are commonly raised on pasture?
Typically, smaller framed, more traditional English breeds of cattle are best suited for grazing in Northeast pastures. Smaller framed, early maturing genetic lines of Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn are well suited for efficient gains on pasture grasses. Larger framed faster growing and later maturing breeds work better in traditional, industrial agriculture utilizing the Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) system. Many producers also use less common, heritage breeds like Devon, Galloway, Highland and White Park as they are more genetically predisposed to flourish on high forage diets. Because of the harsh winters in the Northeast, the farmers use cattle that are genetically suited for colder environments.
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How much pasture fed beef is eaten in the US today?
It is difficult to determine the percentage of pasture fed beef in today's market as much of it is marketed by individual producers and through farmers markets where there is little, if any, marketing data captured. However, natural, organic and grass-fed beef is the fastest growing category in fresh meats. All of the natural meats combined are somewhere less than 5% of the total beef consumed. Here in the Northeast producers are turning to these natural market sectors as higher priced land and labor make it prohibitive if not impossible to compete effectively in traditional agriculture. Natural,
organic and grass-fed beef commands premium prices in the consumer marketplace and allow these producers more opportunity produce meat animals profitably.
Historically, most cattle were grazed because that is what their digestive system was designed for. However, in colder regions, such as here in the Northeast, where pasture is unavailable during the long winters, producers supplemented the cattle diet with feed grains allowing more available energy for the cattle to stay warm and continue to gain. Traditional animal agriculture using feedlots or CAFOs were evolved primarily over the last 20-25 years as the cattle industry continually became more consolidated and efficient in the Midwest. Feeding low priced corn to high priced cattle in higher concentrations made cattle grow much faster. The more they gain, the cheaper they become. Feedlots got larger because both cattle and grain could be acquired cheaper in larger quantities. The same economy of scale is evident with the large processing plants. Most of the costs are fixed and processing more numbers lowers the cost per unit. Today the top four packers process 85% of the beef consumed in the US. Tyson, the largest beef packer, in seven plants, processes up to 36,000 cattle per day.
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Do most NEFF producers finish their cattle on grain or grass? Why?
NEFF cattle are born and raised on pasture, weaned naturally from their mothers and continue to graze on pasture during the growing season with some grain and mineral supplement during the winter until they are 16 to 18 months old. This is over twice as long in a pure grazing environment than most industrial feedlot fed beef. When the cattle are around 16 months old they are usually finished on a higher energy diet with a higher percentage of grain. However, the requirements are no less than 50% forage. Most producers finish the cattle around 75% forage and 25% grain. The grain is locally produced and natural as well. This allows more biodiversity as some farms can produce grain but not livestock and some grains can be grown on land that is not suitable for grazing. This biodiversity is
critical to build strong agriculture communities. Typical rations in industrialized CAFOs in the Midwest can be up to 95% grain.
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Throughout the animals life NEFF cattle are fed a vegetarian diet without the use of synthetic growth hormones or sub-therapeutic antibiotics. Antibiotics can be administered therapeutically in order to restore animals' health. Any and all treatments are
documented and allowed twice the recommended withdrawal period before animals are shipped for processing to assure no residual antibiotic in the meat. Some natural meat programs
claim “never ever” antibiotics. This is easier from a marketing standpoint and most of those programs are produced in large commercial feedlots where more marketing options exist. We believe the “never ever” philosophy encourages denial of medical attention as the alternative market, if available at all, is a significant discount. It is most important in our protocols that cattle have an opportunity to exhibit their natural behavior.
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What are the difficulties in raising, and then selling pasture fed beef?
The difficulty with raising pasture fed beef is that it requires more land and labor per unit of production than industrialized agriculture. To raise cattle properly on
pasture, animals must be rotated often. Depending on how many animals per acre
and the quality of the forage, rotation should be between daily or twice weekly.
Here in the Northeast, where the pasture growing season is limited, dried hay and haylage
(composted fermented hay) need to be harvested or acquired to feed through the winter. In
addition, it takes longer for the animal to grow to market weight. Industrialized feedlots finish cattle at 12-14 months of age versus 18-24 months for pasture raised animals. The cattle also finish at lower weights. Most farmers in this arena are much smaller and cannot benefit from the economies of scale of industrialized agriculture operations. All of these factors raise the costs per unit of this type of production.
The difficulties of selling this type of beef are multifaceted. The first obstacle is educating the customer of the need to pay a higher price for this type of beef and to understand that there is more variation in size and flavor of the cuts due to the greater number of producers growing in several regions who are dependent on the environmental conditions of nature versus the standardized environment of industrialization. As the pasture-raised program has evolved over the last few years, many farmers were doing their own merchandising and distribution of the product. This is very time consuming
as processing must first be scheduled, then transportation of the animals from the farm to
the processor must be arranged.
Next, there is a difficulty in merchandising the whole animal at a premium for farmers with limited knowledge of the cuts and preparation. Instructions as to how to process the cuts needs to be explained to the processor. If the farmer has created his own label, that label may need to be approved by USDA depending on the label claims. That can be a paperwork heavy and time consuming process. The producers need to learn about the various cuts of beef and their application to know who and how to market those cuts at a premium. Then the producer needs to arrange transportation from the processor to the customer for the cuts. The producer needs to calculate how much to sell each of the cuts in order to make a profit. Then the producer needs to bill the customer and collect the money. Many producers find the processing and distribution absorbs the majority of their time and resources leaving little time to do what they are most passionate about; caring for their land and livestock. As
their business expands, so does the time and attention needed to the processing and distribution. This is a cycle that often keeps the market from expanding.
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Why is there a need for Infrastructure?
The cycle of processing and distribution is where Dole & Bailey fits in. Dole & Bailey created NEFF to bridge that gap and keep farmers doing what they love and allowing us to do what we do best. Dole & Bailey has provided expert meat processing and high quality food distribution to New England's most discerning customers since 1868. Our NEFF Livestock Coordinator has a strong educational and practical experienced background in Northeast farm and range management. He works with local experts in pasture management, animal genetics and local government agencies to help provide more education to producers to create efficiencies within their operations. We also provide to the producers detailed carcass quality and cutability information on each animal processed at our approved facilities so
they may determine which genetic decisions and management practices create the best beef.
We buy the animals directly from the producers at a higher premium than any other program in the area. We help arrange for transportation to the processor and provide assistance to the costs of transportation if it is over 100 miles. Dole & Bailey has seasoned professionals who have spent their lives in the business of processing and distributing premium meat cuts. We have trained the processors to cut products to exact specifications that go beyond common industry specifications to give our customers more value. We also provide assistance to the processors in improving the food safety and sanitation practices to meet industry standards.
Once again, working with local processors is essential to building a growing industry. Helping our processors be more successful builds their skill and opportunity to expand. We then pick up the finished product on our truck and bring it back to Dole & Bailey. The Northeast Family Farms web site's Farm Locations Page provides a list of the farms by their location and name. Here you can learn more about every cut of beef, and see detailed information about each farm. Our sales management team works to educate our sales team and our customers of these processes how all of the pieces need to form together. Having a knowledgeable and passionate distributor like Dole & Bailey, keeps the passion of growing local and sustainable agriculture in the industry by letting each link focus on their specific specialty. We also provide marketing information for our customers to add to their menus or create their own marketing pieces.
NEFF is not about building a brand, it is about creating a supply chain that enables farmers to stay on the farm caring for the land and livestock, improving both for future generations and providing customers the opportunities to buy the cuts they want to prepare in a manner they are passionate about. This infrastructure is critical to re-building an industry with efficiency and consistency and keeping all of the participants in the supply chain excited about growing the business.
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