Page 24—Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22, 2000
Don Knore, vice president of cattle procurement for Laura’s Lean Beef Company, Winchester
and Lexington, Ky., seated with tie, spoke last month at the Pennsylvania Grazing and Forage
Conference in Grantville.
Pasture-Based Beef Can Pay Premium
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.)
Raising pasture-based beef can pay
some good premiums, particularly if
producers are willing to follow a
simple plan that delivers carcasses
under a brand name.
Producers can see up to $2O a
hundredweight bonus on Select
meat from a carcass with a Yield
Grade of .5 to 1.1, noted Don Knore,
vice president of cattle procurement
for Laura’s Lean Beef Company,
Winchester and Lexington, Ky.
Knore spoke in early March at
the 2000 Pennsylvania Grazing and
Forage Conference at the Grantville
Holiday Inn.
Laura’s Lean Beef Company
began in 1985 by Laura Freeman, a
seventh-generation cattle farmer
from Winchester. A political science
major from Duke University, Free
man, of Mt. Folly Farm, saw how
difficult it was to gain a profit from
marketing beef the traditional way.
After the birth of Freeman’s
child, the doctor told Freeman to
cut red meat from her diet some
thing she struggled with. As a result,
Freeman, with help from experts in
the field, came up with a way to pro
duce highly lean beef that remains
palatable and could carve out a
niche for itself in the marketplace.
Knore said that in the compa
ny’s first year, sales were about
$lO,OOO. By 1990, the beef brand
was available in 60 stores with
annual sales of $1 million.
Since 1991, the company has
experienced a 40 percent growth in
annual sales. In February, the com
pany saw its sales rise to $1 million
per week.
The branded product is low fat
with no additives, no growth hor
mones, with highly marbled, high
choice or prime red meat. The com
pany also added coupons and reci
pes to its in-store items.
Knore said the beef was the
first red meat certified by the Amer
ican Heart Association with the
heart checkoff. With that endorse
ment, sales rose 15-20 percent
“overnight,” he said.
The company employs about
80, of which half are in sales. They
purchase lean, heavily muscled ani
mals from the Limousin, Charolais,
Simmental, and other breeds, with
at least 3 A blood Continental (no
Brahmans or English breeds).
About 95 percent of the cattle
are out of Limousin or Charolais
bulls, Knore said.
The cattle must grade choice,
low or high select. Calves must be
weaned for 30 days, dehorned, cas
trated, vaccinated, dewormed, with
thin or average flesh, bunk broke,
and eating feed.
The calves need to be properly
vaccinated for shipping fever,
IBR/BVD, and other diseases, and
free from respiratory problems or
black leg.
The key components: no
growth hormones or steroids are al
lowed to be used with the beef, and
no animal tissue and by-products
can be fed. Also, the animals are not
allowed to be fed chemically or
genetically altered products (these
could have a “negative impact at
the consumer level,” said Knore),
and no fecal material or artificial
roughages are allowed.
Materials allowed are vitamins,
minerals, and natural feeds from al
falfa hay to yeast. Also, silages and
especially pastures are welcome.
Laura’s Lean Beef needs a car
cass specification of 675-700 pounds
at 20 months of age, backfat mea
suring 0.2 inch or less, with a ribeye
of 14-16 square inches, an internal
KPH fat percentage of 2 percent, at
a final yield grade of .7- 1.1. The
lower the yield grade, the better.
The cattle can grade Select,
Choice, or Laura’s Select (any stan
dard grade cattle with a ribeye mea
surement greater than USDA’s
schedule). For steers, desired car
cass weights are 515-800 pounds.
For heifers, desired are carcasses
weighing 550-775 pounds.
Any carcasses outside the
range will be discounted, Knore
noted.
To pay for the premiums at the
retail case, Laura’s Lean Beef
charges about 25 percent more per
pound, from $2.79-$2.99 pound for
ground beef that is 92 percent lean.
Steaks are about $7.99 per pound at
the retail level.
Laura’s. Lean Beef Company
will pay a premium up to 5 cents per
pound over the top market price for
cattle, according to information in
the company’s brochure.
Average rail price for Laura’s
brand last year was $1.17 a pound
for lean. Standard commodity
prices were about $1.04 per pound,
Knore said, for 700-pound car
casses.
The company markets more
than 40,000 head per year, besides
15,000 bulls, for the product. They
continue to look for cattle they can
purchase fed on grass.
For more information, contact
Knore at (606) 299-7707, or for ad
ditional information, (800) ITS
LEAN. The company also has a
Website, www.laurasleanbeef.com.