Homestead Natural Foods Returns to Greener Pastures

Twenty-five miles south of Marsing, on the way to the Jordan Valley, Ed and his wife Debby run several hundred “mother cows” on 11,000 acres – much of which has been turned into grass pasture.  As sixth-generation cattle ranchers, they carry on a long tradition, with one important exception – the Wilseys have gone back to raising cattle the way Ed’s granddad did: exclusively grass fed, with no hormones or antibiotics.

Ed Wilsey remembers the day that his granddad’s way of ranching seemingly changed forever.  “We’d been raising cattle on grass since we first started ranching, but one day some buyers came out to where me and my granddaddy were shipping two and three year-old steers off to market and said, ‘boys, you don’t have to do this anymore.  We can take ‘em out to feedlots and finish ‘em on corn.’”

Twenty-five miles south of Marsing, on the way to the Jordan Valley, Ed and his wife Debby run several hundred “mother cows” on 11,000 acres – much of which has been turned into grass pasture.  As sixth-generation cattle ranchers, they carry on a long tradition, with one important exception – the Wilseys have gone back to raising cattle the way Ed’s granddad did: exclusively grass fed, with no hormones or antibiotics.

Far from being a radical, Wilsey views himself as a “traditionalist”.  After all, he represents only the second generation of ranchers in his family to have been lured away from raising grass-fed beef.  “Back in granddad’s day, they’d sell big three year-old steers straight off the grass for slaughter.  When the industry went to grain feedlots, we were pretty much forced into going along to remain competitive.  We eventually even had to switch to the kind of cows that the industry wanted – ones that did better on corn and grain.”

If you are what you eat, Ed notes, the same is true for cattle.  “You don’t just get the cow, you get what they ate – including the omega-6 fats that come with a grain fed diet.  These are the kinds of fats that are more closely linked with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and immune system disorders such as arthritis and asthma.”

Economic imperatives notwithstanding, the nutritional implications of the feedlot industry troubled the Wilseys.  As a growing number of American consumers were similarly troubled by the consequences of consuming red meat infused with hormones and antibiotics, Ed and Debby decided that the time had come to turn back the clock.

“We got started in the natural grass-fed beef business five years ago”, says Ed.  “We didn’t know much about it, but we come from a background of people who were self-sufficient in everything, and we’re trying to get back to cattle that finish good on grass – back to real beef.”

If you are what you eat, Ed notes, the same is true for cattle.  “You don’t just get the cow, you get what they ate – including the omega-6 fats that come with a grain fed diet.  These are the kinds of fats that are more closely linked with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and immune system disorders such as arthritis and asthma.”

The Wilseys were not the only ranching family who came to the same conclusion about the health consequences of factory feedlots.  During the summer of 2009, they were joined by other grass-fed beef operations, including Bill and Carol Gate’s Mesquite Cattle Company in Middleton, Idaho, Keith and Sharon Huettig’s K-Bar-H Ranch in Jerome, and Mike and Joanie Fluit of Fluit Family Farms in Joseph, Oregon to form Homestead Natural Foods.  Also joining the group was organic poultry farmer Dennis Mason of New Generation Ranch.  Their collective efforts currently serve a number of highly regarded Treasure Valley restaurants that include the Red Feather Lounge, Bittercreek Alehouse, Café d’Paris, and the Cottonwood Grille.

“People appreciate that wild salmon raised on a natural diet taste better than farm salmon, which is raised on a diet of soybeans and corn, but it’s better for you as well,” says Bill Gale.  “It’s the same difference between grass-fed and CAFO beef, which are raised on the feed equivalent of soft drinks and candy bars.  If they weren’t slaughtered when they were, they’d probably die of a heart attack within a few months.”

Today, only one percent of cattle are raised organically – the other 99 percent start off on open ranges, but are transferred to “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFOs) to be fattened up as quickly as possible.  Because of the crowded conditions of feedlots, CAFOs typically add antibiotics to their feeds to prevent the spread of infection, and they also add growth hormones.

“People appreciate that wild salmon raised on a natural diet taste better than farm salmon, which is raised on a diet of soybeans and corn, but it’s better for you as well,” says Bill Gale.  “It’s the same difference between grass-fed and CAFO beef, which are raised on the feed equivalent of soft drinks and candy bars.  If they weren’t slaughtered when they were, they’d probably die of a heart attack within a few months.”

By contrast, Homestead Natural Food’s “beeves” are free of the antibiotics, hormones, and herbicide or pesticide residues associated with grain.  What they have is a higher concentration of omega-3 fats, more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA is credited with cancer fighting properties), more beta-carotene, more vitamin E, and less total fat and calories than conventional beef.  Grass-fed beef, like wild salmon, also tastes better than its factory farm alternative.  “Our steers look like they came right off the feed lot, with good marbling in the fat,” Ed points out, “but the fat tastes more like a fine olive oil, and the meat has an excellent flavor and tenderness.”

Ultimately, the not-so-free lunch of corporate farming practices rests on heavily subsidized corn – a fact that rankles organic farming advocates in a political climate that constantly lauds the virtues of the “free market”.  In the past decade, the Federal Government has pumped more than $50 billion into the corn industry to keep prices artificially low.

American agriculture has produced unlimited quantities of meat and grains at incredibly cheap prices.  Today, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), we spend less than 10 percent of our incomes on food, compared with 18 percent in 1966.  But the hidden costs of this miracle of productivity are paid for by our environment, the animals raised…and ultimately by those of us who consume them.

In the words of a senior scientist with the Food and Environment Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists, Doug Gurian-Sherman, “the way we farm now is destructive of the soil, the environment, and us.”  Homestead’s Dennis Mason, a former government food inspector, agrees with this assessment.  “Corporate farming isn’t sustainable anymore.  It’s utilizing a tremendous amount of natural resource to produce what they’re presenting to the public, and too much of what is being produced isn’t good for us.”

Ultimately, the not-so-free lunch of corporate farming practices rests on heavily subsidized corn – a fact that rankles organic farming advocates in a political climate that constantly lauds the virtues of the “free market”.  In the past decade, the Federal Government has pumped more than $50 billion into the corn industry to keep prices artificially low.  Notes Gurian-Sherman, “taxpayer subsidies basically underwrite cheap grain, and that’s what the factory farming system for meat is entirely dependent on.”

Homestead Natural Food’s approach to a more sustainable and healthy food supply is to begin with the soil itself.  “We’re all of us grass farmers first, and beef is the by-product,” says Ed Wilsey.  “My granddad always said, “take care of the land and it will take care of you.  We’ve cut our soil erosion down to practically nothing – the cows don’t take anything out that they don’t put back in.”

To raise livestock that thrive on natural pasture, the farmers of Homestead Natural Foods are also going back to genetic stocks in cattle and poultry that are to livestock as “heirloom seeds” are to organic produce.

Bill Gale, who got out of dairy farming just before consolidation and other market forces made small operations like his all but impossible, agrees wholeheartedly with Ed.  “We want to build our soil through natural manure and worm action.  Healthier soil means healthier plants, which means healthier animals…and healthier food.  I can take care of a huge number of acres without the need for fossil fuels.  It’s a very green approach that can be sustained for a very long time.”

To raise livestock that thrive on natural pasture, the farmers of Homestead Natural Foods are also going back to genetic stocks in cattle and poultry that are to livestock as “heirloom seeds” are to organic produce.  “Cattle have been bred to accomplish a particular mission,” says Gale.  “That mission is to consume large amounts of grain for four to six months to hit a marketing window and make a profit.  We’re going back to genetics that produce cattle that will fatten at an earlier age on grass.”

Like his cattle ranching counterparts, Dennis Mason has also been going back to older genetic stocks.  “I use modern genetics to raise heritage poultry breeds that don’t need hormones or tons of commercial feed.  They are pre-disposed to growth, flavor, and tenderness on natural pasture.”

For the Homestead ranchers, getting closer to consumers has been an unexpected benefit of their enterprise.  “When I was in the dairy business, the closest I got to the people who consumed our products was the tanker truck,” says Bill Gale.  “We are networking now with people in the organic and sustainability movements and getting more input from consumers…and we’re having fun.  We feel more connected.”

While beef and poultry from Homestead Natural Foods costs more than factory farm products, Homestead’s founders believe that consumers will be willing, in the words of noted food author Michael Pollan, to “eat less, but eat better”.  Treasure Valley restaurateurs like Dave Krick of the Red Feather Lounge and Bittercreek Alehouse have been buying from Homestead not only because of their commitment to local organic food producers, but because they believe the superior flavor of Homestead’s products are preferred by their customers.

For the Homestead ranchers, getting closer to consumers has been an unexpected benefit of their enterprise.  “When I was in the dairy business, the closest I got to the people who consumed our products was the tanker truck,” says Bill Gale.  “We are networking now with people in the organic and sustainability movements and getting more input from consumers…and we’re having fun.  We feel more connected.”

Looking ahead, Homestead Natural Foods hopes to bring other organic and natural pasture ranchers into their fold, and to expand their reach beyond Southwest Idaho, while maintaining a network of producers who remain within a short radius of the communities they serve.  Most of all, however, Homestead wants to extend its control over its products from pasture to plate – a goal that is especially dear to the heart of Dennis Mason.

“Ultimately, the way we can ensure the highest quality for the consumer, both from the standpoints of healthiness and flavor, is to control the process from the time an animal is born through the growth stage, to the processing and final presentation to the consumer,” says Mason.  “When I first began my research into organic foods, I realized this isn’t ‘natural’, this is the way I grew up!”  And Mason speaks for the rest of his Homestead colleagues when he adds, “we want to leave a legacy to our kids and grandkids.  We don’t want to relinquish what we have for subdivisions – we want to keep our properties intact and produce food that the public doesn’t just want, but needs.”