Effective Technology and Easy to Understand Data_with Justin Sexten

 Shaye Koester (00:00):

Hey, Hey, it's Shaye Koester and I'm your host for Casual Cattle Conversations, where we talk about all things related to ranching, through sharing the stories and practices of different ranchers and their operations.

Shaye Koester (00:17):

All right, folks, welcome back. It is great to have you on here and seeing those download numbers increase. You have been phenomenal and thanks for being on my social media, whether that's Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. You guys have been doing a great job engaging with everyone, especially on those lives. Those Facebook and Instagram lives that I do. It's great to have that conversation with everyone. So if you haven't tuned into one of those, be sure to follow my Facebook and Instagram page where every other week we have a live conversation about whether that's episode recaps or a topic within the episode. And, we all share what we do as individuals on our operations and what others do and really just have a conversation around a specific topic. Now, today we are going to hear from Justin Sexten with Performance Livestock Analytics. Now, this is a great episode for anyone interested in new feeding technology for your small to moderate sized feeders.

Shaye Koester (01:14):

Justin comes from a strong beef background and he shares a lot of insight on the company and how this technology works. It's really a great episode. I enjoyed visiting with Justin and truly learned a lot about the company and new technologies that are out there. Remember that if you want to support this podcast or buy any merchandise, you can definitely go onto my website and that's casualcattleconversations.podbean.com. And through there, you will find links to the patron program where you can choose how much you'd like to donate as a patron. And in return, you will get, you know, potentially a coffee session with me. Uh, you could potentially read a message on the show or get some merchandise yourself, or if you're just interested in buying merchandise, that link is also in the sidebar of my website. So with that, let's get on with the episode and hear from Justin.

Justin Sexten (02:11):

Good morning!

Shaye Koester (02:11):

How are you?

Justin Sexten (02:12):

Good. I guess it's afternoon now.

Shaye Koester (02:14):

Yeah, it is (laughter) barely. Okay. So just to start off, what's your background with the beef industry?

Justin Sexten (02:22):

Yeah, I have a relatively diverse background. I'm a farm kid from Ohio grew up in Southwestern, Ohio on a diversified livestock and beef cattle operation. Um, and then, uh, spent some time in academia. I was an extension beef specialist, uh, initially out of graduate school. My training is as a nutritionist. Uh, predominantly my focus was a replacement heifer development. And so I spent quite a bit of time, uh, with the university of Missouri and then later transitioned to Certified Angus Beef where I spent time learning about the finished product side of the industry, as well as putting together a supply chain of high quality cattle and then joined Performance Beef not quite two years ago where I've gotten a lot of exposure to the technology side of the business.

Shaye Koester (03:20):

So can you talk a little bit about, um, what Performance Beef is as a company?

Justin Sexten (03:27):

Yeah, so Performance beef is the flagship program of Performance Livestock Analytics. And so we are a technology company that seeks to be a platform for the beef supply chain. Today we serve predominantly the feeding industry, but look to integrate back into the supply chain from our growing business with stockers and backgrounding operations and ultimately we'll get to offering solutions to the cow-calf segment as well.

Shaye Koester (04:03):

So how long has Performance Beef been a company then?

Justin Sexten (04:07):

Yeah, so, so Performance Livestock Analytics is, uh, was started, uh, by Dane Kuper and Dustin Bosley, uh, just a little over four years ago.

Shaye Koester (04:19):

Okay. So very new company. So approximately like what size are the operations that your company is serving?

Justin Sexten (04:27):

Yeah, so we would, uh, if operation size is quite varied across our user base, uh, we would have operations as small as 400 head. Uh, we have operations at, uh, 20,000 and beyond. Uh, our core business is in that thousand to 5,000 head, uh, farmer feeder market, where, uh, we were founded in Iowa. And so really that's where the core of our business started and has really grown around that core area. And as we move further South, uh, we see operation size just continues to expand.

Shaye Koester (05:09):

Well. That's pretty neat to see your varying customer base for the technology that you're offering. So can you explain a little bit about the main technology that is used when producers are using this analytics software?

Justin Sexten (05:24):

Yeah, the, the technology is, is relatively straightforward in that, and there's not a whole lot of, uh, significant setup costs Shaye, and that it is a point scale head that's ultimately Bluetooth enabled and that's really the foundation of the platform is, um, we capture feed data in real time. So whatever feed you put into the, into the mixing wagon and whatever's delivered, we capture that using a Bluetooth. So you have a scale head and an iPad, and then, uh, our platform runs on, on that iPad. And so the type of technology that we use is, uh, very affordable and easy to deploy.

Shaye Koester (06:13):

Well, that's awesome that it can be used in so many different backgrounds and for so many people. So what other functions are a part of this technology, other than just, you know, how much feed you've put out here and there?

Justin Sexten (06:26):

Yeah. Great question. So we continue to expand the product offering our core business is really around feeding cattle, uh, and the most simplistic way you can. But as of August, we launched our animal health platform, which was a module addition. And so that technology uses that same infrastructure, but now we use, uh, an iPad at the side of the chute and we use ultra high frequency tags and an ultra high frequency reader that we then can integrate as those animals come into the shoot and, and read those tags automatically. Or, uh, we did not neglect the existing infrastructure. You can use a low frequency wand reader that integrates with our system as well. So, uh, we want it to be, uh, we, we are fans of technology, but we'd like to be agnostic to the opportunities, uh, that producers may find that fit their operations better.

Shaye Koester (07:33):

Well, that's great to hear. So then with that, the information that producers are taking from the animal health side all gets put back into the same program if they're using it for their feeding as well. So it's all in one place.

Justin Sexten (07:45):

That's correct. So one of the things that, uh, an area of growth we see in, in a number of our operations really is the, the custom feeder. And, and that's, uh, an area where if you go and you're working cattle effectively, you can be ready to invoice the customer as you're walking in from the processing shed. And so that calculation of costs, the products that you use, uh, all matches right up to the, to the feed data. So there's no double data entry. Uh, we like to say we're busting data silos. There's no need to keep animal health data in one spreadsheet and feed data in another it's all together so that you can really get a pulse on the operation. And then also share that to, um, uh, your trusted advisors as well. Our customers have the ability to share their account to nutritionists. They can also share it to their veterinarians or, or the owners of the cattle at their custom feeder for example. So just providing transparency across all segments of whether it's feed animal health or anything else.

Shaye Koester (09:02):

Wow. So with all these data points coming in, what format is that combined and deliver to the producer, so that it's easy to understand?

Justin Sexten (09:13):

Yeah. So great question. So it comes in a number of ways and that, uh, we have a number of analytics that are in built into Performance Beef. And so you can pull up, the analytics tab and Performance Beef, and, and you would see when the cattle were fed, uh, you would see how that deviated from yesterday. You can see how much they were fed using a number of real-time charts. Now that said, you'll have a number of producers that would say, we appreciate how you guys graph it, but really I want to get it out to Excel. And so very much like how we operate the technology for gathering information, we send it to the producer the same way. So it can be exported in a CSV file into Excel and that gives them ultimately the flexibility to do with it, what they want, if, if the analytics we have developed it doesn't match up what they want to see, or maybe they want to pair data together in a different way that we don't normally show it.

Shaye Koester (10:25):

All right. So with you being a new company, you mentioned it's been about four years. So how have your customers adjusted to you being a new company and this new technology for them, how they adapted to that?

Justin Sexten (10:40):

Yeah. Well, one of the things that's unique about how we've grown, you know, as, as we've passed over, I guess, 2000 customers as of this month, um, as many of those customers, as I described, were really ready for us. Um, maybe before we even got to the market in that, you know, they had seen a lot of technology in their, um, tractors where they're planting, uh, or where they're harvesting or other aspects of their agricultural business. They had technology in their hands and in the livestock segment in some cases was largely lagging. And so when we took a very simple to use interface on an iPad, uh, the adoption rate was very quick in that, you know, they were already used to having that type of technology when they were using in the row crop business. So adapting it to livestock was a welcome change. And, and some of our best customers are those that, uh, you know, would say, they're not advanced in terms of technology. And in our core approach is we want it to be simple so that you don't have to be an early technology adopter. The opportunity to provide something that's very intuitive is really where we've adopted a number of customers early or quickly.

Shaye Koester (12:14):

Alright. So what are the main benefits your customers appreciate about the animal health portion of this platform?

Justin Sexten (12:22):

Yeah, animal health is growing in terms of the number of customers that we have onboarded for animal health. As we, as I said, you know, we launched that, uh, in August, and really there's a couple of key points along the way as it, it, it now pairs financial accounting with an animal health record. And so in many cases, you know, you've seen a number of those notes beside the chute of treatments that are applied to cattle, and whether that actually ever makes it to, to the office, we never know. Right? And, and the other way that we see that is, you know, you drive across the feed yard and you see a calf with two or three notches in your tag. You have an idea what has happened to that calf, but you may not actually know. And if you can read the date and, you know, when he was treated, uh, associated with those notches.

Justin Sexten (13:17):

And so what we've done with animal health is if you treat a calf on one part of the feed yard and the feed truck driver notices that calf, uh, at a different part of the feed yard at a later date, all of those records are combined now. And so it really has leveled the communication field and that you don't have to have that piece of paper that, that treatment was noted on. And it also provides a mechanism for, um, the cowboy crew or just different segments, of the operation where the feed truck driver sees a calf that's not doing so well. They can make a note and never actually have to talk to the doctor crew. The doctor crew can pull that calf and it is seamless in terms of that mechanism of communication. So we do a better job of keeping track of those financial treatments, but also we're able to track animal health outcomes, uh, in a way where you can see what's working and just enhance communication across the operation.

Shaye Koester (14:23):

Well, that's pretty neat. So what about, I mean, the benefits on the feeding side as well?

Justin Sexten (14:28):

And the feeding side is really where we, uh, you know, we've spent a number of years advancing thatbpart of our platform. And there's a couple of things that, uh, the producers find. You know, just one, it's very simple to use that that is really the hallmark of Performance Beef. It is simple to use. And, so an example from, from 2020, it provides a connected interface. And so at times when the nutritionist wasn't allowed to come to the feed yard, or maybe even wasn't able to do to, to travel, they could pull up that, that, uh, producers account and make ration changes while they're talking to the producer on the phone and it's seamless to the feed truck driver. So there's no need to recalculate the diet or, or, um, you know, as, as ingredients have gotten tighter, they can make diet changes seamlessly.

Justin Sexten (15:28):

So that interface with the consultant is, is a key feature. I would be remiss not to say that one of the key features is our customer success team and that we have a team that answers questions when producers call or text. And so as they're moving cattle around or have a question, we man that. When producers have questions, the customer success team is there to answer it. You're talking to a real person that knows a lot about the platform and is ultimately there to get you back to feeding. The other thing is because we're catching feed information in real time, that's probably one of the things that has enlightened producers more than we may even thought is that if we go back to the feed sheet model and the feed sheet says, I need to put 600 pounds of corn in there.

Justin Sexten (16:33):

If you put 650 pounds of corn in there that may or may not have actually gotten edited. And so we have a number of operations that are doing a better job of feeding, because one they're able to track that feed in real time. They also can see maybe a pen of cattle goes off a feed, and you don't know why. And when you look back in the records and maybe they got overfed a couple of days, or maybe the diet wasn't mixed exactly as it should be. So it brings some accountability to the feed side of the business. And our custom feeders would say that capturing a shrink pays for the program in just a few days.

Shaye Koester (17:19):

That is amazing. So you've brought up your customer success team and how closely you answer producers' questions whenever they call or text. But how else do you work with these producers when they're implementing this new system?

Justin Sexten (17:32):

Yeah, so that's one of the aspects of technology. You know, really you can be as hands-on, or as hands-off as the producer wants to be in that our growth manager team learns a bit about the operation and it fits them. And ultimately customer success gets their end set up, uh, gets their ration set up. And in most cases from, from the time they make the commitment until the time they're feeding that can happen in a couple of days, really only getting the equipment shipped to them. Then with about a two hour set-up process, which the producer provides a lot of that information we do on the back end, they're ready to feed in relatively short order. And so once they go through that feeding experience we follow up with them early for that first 14 to 30 days to make sure that everything is happening as they expect. And again, that customer success team is there for any questions they have beyond that.

Shaye Koester (18:43):

That's outstanding. So maybe you can't talk about it, but what new technologies are you working on that you can share a little bit about?

Justin Sexten (18:52):

So there is a number of things that, that we're working on. As I indicated, you know, we would look to expand to different aspects of the supply chain. And so one area that we're spending a lot of time in development is, you know, what solutions do we have for our cow calf, uh, aspects of, of the business and how can we take similar technology to that segment of the business and ultimately help, uh, producers track that animal from birth all the way through harvest and, and take the data that we're gathering and make better decisions. Because really at the core of our business is, you know, data gathering is table stakes anymore. It's how can I convert that data into some sort of usable decision. As we look from a development standpoint, uh, we'll spend time in areas of the business where people gather a lot of data, but aren't able to make great decisions from it. And so we think the first place is, is, um, the cow calf segment, and then we'll expand in areas around animal health from there.

Shaye Koester (20:05):

Well, awesome. So where do you see some new innovations and technologies heading for your small to moderate size feeders? And then, well, you've already mentioned the cow calf producers. So where do you see, um, new innovations and technologies heading for these small to moderate sized feeders?

Justin Sexten (20:24):

Yeah, there's a, there's a number of technologies that are available, uh, or emerging that are really focused on, um, you know, how do we do a better job with labor? Uh, how do we be more predictive in terms of animal endpoints also, you know, how can we be, um, more insightful into animal health outcomes? So those are really what I would call the three buckets. It's, you know, labor efficiency, animal health, and ultimately, how can we optimize the endpoint? And so a number of the technologies that are out there are focused on solving a very specific problem. And, and so while those technologies are useful, it makes it hard if they're not integrated into a platform, uh, ecosystem. And, and so another way you can think about that as you know, your, your cell phone has a number of apps that by themselves would not be very useful if they didn't operate on one platform across the system. And some of those that are the most useful actually integrate with others. And so we see our place is to provide that, that, um, that infrastructure for all of those point solutions to plug into and communicate financial data, feed data, animal health, data, genetic data, all into one place, so that you can use that information to make better decisions across the operation.

Shaye Koester (22:09):

Well, that's exciting to hear. And as we wrap up, I guess my final question for you would be, what advice do you have about adapting to new technologies in the beef industry?

Justin Sexten (22:20):

The, the first bit of advice I have is not to be afraid of it and that, you know, it it's, you don't necessarily have to, uh, adopt it, but always be keen on learning more about it. And that's the part I think, um, you know, you, there's a difference between cutting edge and bleeding edge, and it's maybe not always best to be on that bleeding edge, but you sure want to be aware of what's going on. And, and so that's the one where I, I think, uh, producers benefit from just continuing to keep their ear out there for things that may work for them. The other thing is I always recommend that producers think about, well, how does that integrate into my existing system? And not only that, but what is the ability to expand on that going forward? And so, as they evaluate technologies, does it use an old technology that potentially gets outdated? And so you have to kind of start over, or is it something that you see has continued to evolve over time that, you know, it doesn't require essentially a wholesale exchange. And so really technology is one of those aspects of life. You want to be flexible and, and the ability to, to upgrade and make enhancements along the way is a key feature, um, to making sure that you don't buy something that immediately it's out of date.

Shaye Koester (23:53):

Well, awesome. And thank you for your time today, those would be all the questions I have for you, unless you have something else you'd like to add and share.

Justin Sexten (24:01):

No, I appreciate the time.

Shaye Koester (24:05):

Alright. And that's a wrap on that episode. Thank you for tuning in, and thank you, Justin, for sharing about your background and the company that you work for. Performance Beef and Performance Livestock Analytics sure has a lot going on to help cattle producers. So I'd encourage you to go take a look at that company, um, and just on their website, or even contact someone if you're interested, remember that if you found something intriguing or like this episode, or really want to share a comment about this episode, go onto my social media pages. I have a post for each episode and leave me a comment there. Maybe I can direct you to someone else or someone else or another listener can answer that question, and let's just have a conversation about this. Also make sure you are tuning into my live events. If you want to engage with other listeners and mean who else is enjoying this podcast. Remember to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And with that, if you're interested in merchandise or becoming a patron of this program, please check out my website for more details. That information will be on the sidebar. It'll be on the left side, the left hand side. You might have to scroll down a little bit, but the links are there with that. Have a great day and tune in for the next one.

 

Marketing Beef Directly to Consumers on a National Scale

Shaye Koester (00:00):

Hey, Hey, it's Shaye Koester and I'm your host for Casual Cattle Conversations, where we talk about all things related to ranching, through sharing the stories and practices of different ranchers in their operations.

Shaye Koester (00:18):

To start things off, we're going to hear from one of the casual cattle conversations, patrons, Luke Frantz. Now, what is a patron? A patron is someone or a business who wants to support this podcast financially. How that works is through Podbean. You are able to donate anywhere from one to 20 to $50 a month of your choosing and through that you get different rewards, whether that's merchandise, a meeting with me, or in Luke's case, a shout-out on the podcast. And he is also able to read a message. There's also social media shout-outs available to you with that, thank you, Luke. And let's hear what Luke has to say about the podcast and the episode that you will be listening to today.

Luke Frantz (00:59):

Hi everyone. I'm Luke with Grazed Grass-fed beef, uh, just real quick wanted to mention, what we value the most in direct to consumer marketing for us, it's really the traceability that we're able to provide for our consumers. Um, people know exactly what they're getting, how their beef was raised and, you know, probably just as important they know who's raising their beef. Uh, we think being able to put a face with the product or face with the brand is important, and we really saw that value increase exponentially during the pandemic. And another thing, you know, why, why I enjoy the casual cattle conversations podcast is really just the diversity and the content, you know, from grazing management to ag policy, to beef marketing, there's a little something for everyone. And I think that's why it'll continue to grow.

Shaye Koester (01:46):

Thank you, Luke, for contributing to the podcast and for introducing today's topic on direct-to-consumer beef marketing. Welcome back. And thanks for returning I'm glad you're on here. As I watched the download numbers increase on this episode and my other episodes, you guys are stellar. Amazing. All-stars keep it up. Now. Let's talk about marketing beef direct to consumers. Now, this is a unique episode with Mary at Five Marys Farms in California, where Mary talks about how her and her husband are first-generation ranchers and started their business by selling directly to consumers, but shipping their product throughout the country and not necessarily selling completely local. Mary shares her experience in how they started and how they've grown, how they're employing others, how they are creating opportunities for other ranchers to learn how to market directly to consumers, as well as the education they offer to consumers or how their whole family is involved and the different stores and businesses, and even adding their own butcher shop. In addition to this, to what they're doing, they don't just sell beef. They also sell pork and lamb too. In this episode, Mary offers a lot of advice on getting started working through some of the hiccups, how to grow and when you decide to grow, please let me know what you think of this episode or other episodes. Give me that five-star rating and like comment. Let me hear it. I've appreciated everything you've said so far. Let me know what other topics you want to hear with that. Let's get on with the episode.

Mary  (03:32):

Hi, how are you?

Shaye Koester (03:35):

I'm doing well. How are you?

Mary  (03:37):

Good.

Shaye Koester (03:37):

Just to get started. Can you explain your background with ranching a little bit?

Mary  (03:42):

Sure. Um, so my husband and I are first-generation cattle ranchers. We started about seven years ago. Um, he grew up more in agriculture and, um, I did not grow up in agriculture at all. Uh, when we met, we, um, were both working in kind of a suburban more corporate settings and, um, seven years ago we just decided to make a total change to, um, ranch full time. So we moved our family out to some property that we'd bought in rural Siskew County, um, and really started from scratch.

Shaye Koester (04:17):

Well, that's awesome. So that's in California, correct?

Mary  (04:20):

Yes, far Northern California.

Shaye Koester (04:23):

Awesome. So can you talk a little bit about what Five Marys is today?

Mary  (04:29):

Today, Five Marys is a brand for our family business.

Mary  (04:33):

We sell our ranch, raised beef, pork, and lamb all over the country. Um, we ship to all 50 States, right from our farm store here in town, and all the meat is raised on our ranch. We also have a restaurant in town, Five Mary's burger house where we, um, all of our own meats on the menu. For, um, locals we do lunch and dinner six days a week for locals. And a lot of people actually come kind of from far and wide to experience Five Mary's and come to the burger house. And then we have, um, an entrepreneurs group where we help other small businesses to, um, reach the direct-to-consumer market most, um, entrepreneurs in agriculture who are working on setting up their own small businesses. And we have, uh, M Five ranch school where we, um, are working on kind of creating a year-long educational program to introduce kids who might not be familiar with agriculture to all the different components of an agricultural world, as well as the outdoors and trades. Um, and kind of some of those skills that we seem to have lost.

Shaye Koester (05:42):

That is absolutely amazing and so much going on. But with that, where did you start with that? So you have a bunch of different segments there. What was your, where was your starting point?

Mary  (05:53):

Um, I've always kind of been an entrepreneur and I love to see a need and fill it. So I wouldn't say we ever really had a starting point. It's just sort of an evolution of, um, how our business grows. You know, when we see something that, um, we feel like would make a viable business, it could be successful that could fill a need. Um, my husband and I really kind of just like to jump on it. Um, the last piece of our puzzle is the, uh, butchery. So right now we are using, um, outside third parties, obviously for, for our USDA inspected butchery before we sell our meat to our customers. Um, and we are hoping to kind of complete our vertical integration and have control of that process as well. There's a real need in it and agriculture to have more, um, small butcher shops. So we are building our own that we just got permits approved and should be, um, starting on pretty soon. Yeah.

Shaye Koester (06:48):

Well, that's awesome. So going back to, you know, selling your meat directly to consumers, did you start selling all three right away or did you start with one specific species?

Mary  (07:00):

We started with all three. We knew that we wanted to offer our customer base as diverse set of, um, of proteins. So if they wanted to order a monthly box from us, it could have all the options of beef, pork, and lamb. We don't do any poultry. Um, but we also pretty quickly realized that the direct-to-consumer market was going to be the only way for us to make this work as first-generation ranchers. Um, doing a really high-quality products was really important to us with an extended feed time and an extended dry age. Um, and those costs, you know, some extra inputs to make that happen. So, um, the direct-to-consumer market was really the only way that made sense for us to be able to put those extra inputs in and still find the margins in raising a great quality product.

Shaye Koester (07:47):

Wow. So you started right away putting these in boxes and sending them out, or was it more, Hey, um, just to a few neighbors here and there?

Mary  (07:57):

No, we kind of were like, if this is the plan of how this is going to work, this is what we need to do to make happen. Um, it took about a year of trial and error to figure out the packaging and the dry ice and the shipping carriers and how it was gonna work. Um, but we knew early on, you know, we chose this lifestyle to be on the ranch together as a family, to be the only ones taking care of our animals. And it just wasn't feasible to send one of us to a farmer's market or to be traveling for deliveries. Um, we wanted to use our energy to stay on the ranch and be taking the best care of our animals possible. So, um, you know, putting our meat in a box and sending it right from the ranch to customer's doorstep seemed like the best solution.

Mary  (08:38):

It was just, it was, it was difficult to work out the logistics of how to do that. Um, no one was really doing it. We didn't have anybody to look for. And as an example, who was a small farm, um, but after all that trial and error, we really wanted to kind of help create that roadmap and help other small farms do that as well. Um, so we have over 800 families in our small business course, and many of them are shipping direct to consumers, um, you know, getting their own ranch raised uh, operations up. Um, we'd like to think that, you know, there's plenty of mouths to feed in this country and we're, we're all in this together. So it's better for all of us when we work together and collaborate, instead of feel like it's competition,

Shaye Koester (09:22):

You said you have 800 customers now.

Mary  (09:26):

No, we've got, um, gosh, I don't even know. We've had tens of thousands of customers. We have 800 families in our, um, entrepreneurs group where we have 800 small agricultural farms and ranches who we work together as a community to help others ship their own meat as well.

Shaye Koester (09:44):

So what do people do to become a part of that community?

Mary  (09:49):

Um, we opened a online course. It also has digital, uh, we have 79 chapters of digital content with 20 hours of video. We do Q&A sessions that are always available to replay. We have three course books that really teach you the ins and outs of, um, building your small business, using social media to grow as well as how to ship, um, farm products like perishables. So we open up, um, in the fall and in the spring for a new session every year and people join the session, then they get access to all of the digital content, um, the workbooks, and then we host in-person workshops. Um, when we can to really help people kind of take their business to the next level, learn how to do their own branding, their own marketing, how to build their own website, um, how to do e-commerce and, and really meet directly to that, um, that customer base. So we, we, we bring new people in, um, about every six months.

Shaye Koester (10:47):

Wow. That is amazing. So what were some challenges you really faced right away when you were starting with your direct to consumer?

Mary  (10:58):

Um, shipping was the biggest obstacle. I mean, obviously in ranching, we face new obstacles every day with, um, the logistics of raising livestock, but, um, shipping meat to being a perishable product was a huge obstacle and trying to navigate, um, how to ship, how to find good quality insulated liners that would keep me frozen, but weren't styrofoam, you know, something that was more environmentally friendly, um, how to use dry ice, how to source dry ice, how long dry ice lasts, which shipping carriers work do you need to ship overnight, or can you ship on ground? Um, and it, it took us a while to navigate that and we're still learning and, you know, things change and things get easier for us, um, as we go, but it's, uh, it's definitely been, there was a very steep learning curve at first. Um, and, and, uh, it was a challenge to plow through that, but we really, we knew there was no other option, so we had to keep pushing.

Shaye Koester (11:53):

Awesome. So is there anything You wish you would've done differently as you started out?

Mary  (11:58):

Um, that's a good question. I feel like I wish I'd had like a, a network of people that I could rely on. We had, um, great mentors in actual ranching and farming and irrigation and fencing, you know, that, that helped Brian and I understand everything we needed to do to build this ranch, but there wasn't anybody that we could, um, talk to about, you know, how, how do you ship meat and how do you sell to a customer and what kind of cut list should we do the first time? Like, what cuts are people actually going to want to buy and how thick should the steaks be? Um, so it was, it was hard to navigate it without really any support, um, which is what I, I just love about our course and community is that now we have that support and people who are just starting now could go on our community at any point during the day and say, you know, here's my issue. The butcher sent me back and all the steaks are cut half the size. And, you know, uh, a few of us who are more experienced can say, okay, here we sell them as petite cuts, or here's an idea, or here's how you can market them. And, you know, just the feeling of, yes, we've been there before. We're all in this together, um, is a really neat thing.

Shaye Koester (13:09):

Well, that is awesome. So with you selling three different species, do you notice more of a demand for a specific one or are they, do you have almost an equal demand for them? What do you see there?

Mary  (13:21):

Um, beef will always be our number one product just in terms of volume. Um, we are harvesting 10 steers a week. Um, so we've got, you know, 20,000 pounds of beef a month to move and then pork. Um, there's a huge demand for pork and pork is really efficient to raise, you know, you get more meat for, um, for carcass and perks in easy sell. I always say, because you don't have kind of the odd cuts or too many roasts in winter, you know, it's pork chops, it's poor, gross, it's ground pork, sausage, and bacon. And those people know, they know what they're buying, that it's easy to sell. So we have a huge demand for pork. We just don't always have as much of it. Um, and lamb is actually a hard sell people who love lamb. Absolutely love it. They love our lamb because it has a really, um, mild yet like great flavor. I think a lot of people who don't like lamb have had bad lamb in their, in their past. And so they're more hesitant to try it, but, um, people who try our lamb love it. Um, but it definitely sells in the smallest percentage of, of what we're moving

Shaye Koester (14:29):

Well. That's awesome. So with your butchery, is that something where you're going to keep it just in house for you guys? Or will you open it up so that other producers can come and have their own butchered there too?

Mary  (14:41):

Our butchery will be open to the public. So we'll do about half our own work and half, um, other small farms and ranches. So we're excited to work with, um, some other farms and really help them get their product to consumer. It will be designed for people who are selling by the cut direct to the consumer. It will all be USDA certified, um, and we'll have great options for packaging and getting their label on the package. Um, and a lot of the things that were challenges for us in the beginning. Um, we hope to make that a lot easier for small farms and ranches coming to ours.

Shaye Koester (15:14):

Well, that's awesome. So with everything that you have going on, how have you learned to balance and manage all these different moving parts and pieces of your business?

Mary  (15:25):

Um, you know, my husband's a great partner and we work together to just, you know, keep pushing through and tackle the to-do lists every day. Um, we've got a great team in my shop here. We've got a great team at the restaurant. Um, everybody kind of works together and is a big part of the team. And, um, we all kind of have our, our big picture lists and our daily to do lists. And there's only so much you can do in a day, but we try to knock out as much as possible and, um, just keep pushing our brand forward.

Shaye Koester (15:53):

Awesome. So how many employees do you have then?

Mary  (15:57):

Um, but we have nine to 10 in my shop and about 15 at the restaurant, um, and only about one and a half on the ranch.

Shaye Koester (16:06):

Okay. So that's maybe more than some, but you're still all having full to-do lists there with that number.

Mary  (16:14):

The ranch is a lot and Brian covers a lot, but the girls are really helpful. You know, we have, um, our daughters are eight, nine, 11, and 13, and they're very capable. And, you know, by now raised on the ranch long enough that they, they know the ins and outs probably better than I do. Um, and so they're really helpful in the daily operation as well.

Shaye Koester (16:35):

Now you mentioned that you don't really come from an ag background. So what are some things you did to bridge that gap for yourself?

Mary  (16:43):

Um, just watching and learning and, and talking to people who've been doing this their whole life and, um, kind of learning the way things are done and somethings, you know, we see that we can do differently. We might do differently, but really we're raising our animals, um, in a very conventional way, the way it's been done for years and years, um, just the way we market our end product is a little different than what most people are doing.

Shaye Koester (17:07):

So with that, I guess, to wrap up, you really answered a lot and hit a lot of questions. About what advice do you have for individuals who are just looking at getting started selling direct to consumers?

Mary  (17:20):

I say a hundred percent go for it. You know, the time is now people really want to connect with the farm or the ranch raising their meat. Um, there's so many tools out there to make it easy to get started between, you know, the internet and social media and building a website. Most of these things just cost you your time. And if you're willing to invest the time to, um, build a brand for yourself and connect with your consumers, the market is there.

Shaye Koester (17:47):

Awesome. I, I do have one more question that I missed. How have you tied in advocacy to your business?

Mary  (17:55):

I think education is a big part of what we all do. And, um, I really use social media to kind of share our story and show, um, what it's like on a cattle ranch. And I'll have people say all the time, you know, I'm going to be so thankful that next time I have a bite of steak because I didn't know how much work went into raising animals, um, and showing, you know, the good days, the bad days kind of sharing it all so that people have a window into what it's like, um, to raise livestock.

Shaye Koester (18:23):

Awesome. Well, thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate it visiting with you and I'm sure the listeners will love this

Mary  (18:30):

Sounds great. It was nice to chat with you today.

Shaye Koester (18:32):

And that's a wrap on that one. I certainly hope you got a lot of value out of that and found some advice on marketing beef directly to consumers, or maybe just learned about a new approach to it. I learned a lot visiting with Mary. I enjoyed the visit. It was great to meet her. And with that, let me know what you the think. Follow me on Facebook. Instagram, Twitter got a little bit on YouTube, so check it out and let me know your thoughts. Have a great day.

Speaker 1 (19:06):

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