KENNEWICK — Touchet rancher Shannon Crouthamel envisions perfectly seared porterhouse steaks from her cattle on menus throughout the Mid-Columbia.
“I would love to get my beef into restaurants,” said Crouthamel, who grew up on a ranch and now runs Crouthamel Cattle Co. with her husband, Cody. “But I have been scared to start that because I can’t get a consistent processing date.”
Senate Bill 5045 aims to make it easier for small and rural livestock growers like Crouthamel to get their meat directly to the plates of consumers.
“I would be able to go to farmer’s market consistently,” Crouthamel said. “I would be able to sell smaller packages of meat — not everyone can afford or have the freezer space (for a half or whole beef).”
All meat sold commercially — or in small quantities and sold by individual cut — must be butchered and processed in a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility.
The problem is there are very few facilities in parts of Washington state, making it unpredictable — if not impossible — for small-scale cattle operators to arrange.
There are nearly 140 USDA facilities in Washington state, but only three in the greater Mid-Columbia region do both slaughtering and processing.
And just two — McCary Meats in Mesa and Pure Country Harvest in Moses Lake — handle non-poultry meat.
“It has been really hard to get spots at a USDA-inspected facility,” Crouthamel said.
Even the non-USDA custom processors such as Bryan’s Meat Co. and Knutzen Meats, both in Pasco, are often booked out months, or even a year, in advance, said Jerry Haun, who runs Haun’s Meats in Walla Walla and is a third-generation processor.
“When things have been bad in the past — people always come back to meat and want to have meat in the freezer,” Haun said, who also is the executive secretary of the Northwest Meat Processors Association.
Being booked out has been even more true in the past year with interruptions in the supply chain as large processing facilities like Tyson Foods shut down to address COVID-19 concerns.
“There definitely has been a big push with local meats and local foods, and COVID has pushed it off the charts,” Haun said.
Legislation
The bill co-sponsored by Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, passed unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks on Jan. 21 and would create a state-run meat and poultry inspection program with requirements equal to those imposed through USDA.
Getting a license through the state program would be optional, but in theory it would open the door to increasing access for small growers and getting more locally grown meat in markets, restaurants and directly to consumers.
Rep. Sharon Shewmake, D-Whatcom County, a co-sponsor of a similar House bill, told the Herald that it remains to be determined whether a state-sponsored inspection program would be worth the cost and that will be part of the process.
”People really want this kind of meat right now,” she said. “People wanted to eat more locally produced meat and there is a demand for a more resilient meat system. That is a problem we are trying to solve.”
The Senate version goes to the Senate Ways and Means Committee Monday for a 10-year projection of the possible costs to taxpayers and ranchers.
Meat on the table
Crouthamel’s family’s registered seed stock ranch is their bread and butter and their primary business but they sell beef as Crouthamel Cattle Co. Quality, Natural Angus Beef on the side. They deliver to Tri-Cities as a way to supplement their income and allow her to cut hours working as a registered nurse to be home more with her three sons.
If more inspected meat options were available her options would expand greatly.
Processors who opt into the program still would need to develop their physical plant, operational processes and prerequisite programs that require a significant private investment and may drive the cost-per-pound up for consumers.
“The problem is to get in the business it takes a lot of money,” Haun said.
He says in the Tri-Cities area, as well as in Walla Walla, custom meat processors are generally not looking for more customers — which he says is what being either a state or federal certified facility would bring.
And that’s especially true this year and has barely been able to keep up with the demand as it is.
Haun says there is one motivation to get certified — money.
He doesn’t believe many small well-established custom meat processors will believe it’s worth the time and effort to make the necessary investment.
Warnick said lawmakers are researching grant and loan programs to help offset that after hearing from custom meat processors about the expense of updating equipment and facilities.
In addition, she said there’s also a need for programs that help processors with training and apprenticeships to continue the business when fewer people are choosing the career.
Haun said he is nearing the end of his career in his multi-generational family business and there is no one to take over when he retires.
“The pandemic has made us realize that there is a gap in the local food supply system, specifically local producers to local consumer,” Warnick said. “That gap existed prior to the pandemic, but became increasingly apparent when the large meat processors were closed for a time last spring and the food supply chain was interrupted.”
Local grower
That is true for Eltopia beef grower Jessica Wisse, who has found a way to sell beef in smaller amounts through subscription boxes when demand for local meat skyrocketed in the past year.
“Usually if we sold one or two steers a year we’d be happy. But (over the past year) we couldn’t keep up with demand, and the processors couldn’t keep up with demand,” she said, adding she sold 15 steers in 2020.
Wisse married the co-owner of Pacific Cattle Co. seed stock operation and now sells to consumers under the name Wisse Beef in addition to her full-time job in communications at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.
”There are a lot of people interested in buying a share (of beef) but can’t afford a share all at once and don’t have the freezer space — and that can be limiting,” Wisse said.
Wisse said that because she has been able to use a USDA facility she was able to tap into the clamor to buy local beef as well as distribute to local produce stands for resale.
But she gets nervous about maintaining a steady stream of product for her subscription meat boxes and sales.
“To depend on one processor, it can get kind of scary. You’re out of luck if you can’t get in,” she said.
February 06, 2021 at 09:00PM
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Small WA cattle ranchers struggle to meet beef demand. Bill aims to fix that - wenatcheeworld.com
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