Focus on...
Shenandoah Valley Beef
By Philp Maras
Editor’s note: Maras is a student at the
University of Maryland who has been
working as an intern with the Rural
Utilities Program of USDA Rural
Development.
irginia cattle producers
in the Shenandoah
Valley have formed
Shenandoah Valley
Beef, a cooperative
created to help local producers gain
better control and returns for their
members’ livestock from the local beef
market. By pooling their resources to
pursue the “natural,” pasture-raised
beef market, the co-op hopes to serve
the collective benefit of both farmers
and consumers.
Shenandoah Valley Beef has attracted
the interest of 32 cattle producers and a
commitment of about 1,500 head of
cattle. Some co-op member families
have been farming in the Shenandoah
Valley for more than 300 years, and
they fear that if their farms fail, urban
sprawl will swallow the land (see
sidebar).
The co-op hopes to begin marketing
cattle in 2010. It will not be processing
the cattle, but plans to eventually
market beef under the co-op’s own
brand.
“Presently, there is a lot of consumer
interest in where food comes from,”
says Eric Bendfeldt, area specialist for
community viability with the Virginia
Cooperative Extension. Bendfeldt
helped Shenandoah Valley Beef get
started and has assisted other
agricultural cooperatives in the past,
including Friendly City Food, a co-op
with 560 members in Harrisonburg,
Va., and the Shenandoah Valley
Produce Auction, a limited liability
company in Dayton, Va.
Co-op members say their lush valley
is ideally suited for raising animals on
pasture. While much of the land is too
rocky for tilling, the soil is nonetheless
rich and receives plenty of rain to
support abundant grass growth. Indeed,
two acres of pasture in the valley can
provide enough forage for a cow,
compared to as many as 70 acres per
cow needed in some parts of the United
States.
“We formed this co-op based upon a
need to stabilize beef prices,” says Terry
Sager, president of Shenandoah Valley
Beef and himself a member of several
other cooperatives, including
Shenandoah Valley Electric
Cooperative, Rockingham Petroleum
Cooperative and Augusta Cooperative
Farm Bureau. Sager says the newly
formed co-op will implement “strict
standards” to ensure the cattle they
raise are free of growth hormones and
feed antibiotics.
Bendfeldt invited Doc and Connie
Hatfield, the driving force behind the
formation of Country Natural Beef
(formerly Oregon Country Beef) (see
July/August 2006 “Rural Cooperatives”)
to speak to the cattle producers of
Shenandoah Valley last March, during
the early exploration stages for a
possible co-op. Their appearance at the
meeting, along with a well-attended
follow-up session, proved to be a
decisive spark in inspiring the Virginia
producers to form a co-op.
The Hatfields explained the
motivation and methods that led to the
creation of their own highly successful
co-op, which emphasizes naturally and
humanely raised cattle and a long-term
focus on environmental stewardship and
support for rural communities.
Bendfeldt says many agricultural
cooperatives are finding success by
catering to consumer demand for fresh,
locally grown food that can easily be
traced back to where it originated, as
well as meeting the high demand for
organically grown food free of
chemicals or growth hormones. “One
way to actually meet that demand is to
have farmers work together
cooperatively so that they can produce
more product and gain leverage in the
market,” he says.
The co-op has yet to establish a
membership fee or issue cooperative
stock, but has nonetheless managed to
raise $8,750 for operations. According
to Sager, members of Shenandoah
Valley Beef will eventually pay a
membership fee, but will not be
required to commit all of their livestock
exclusively to the co-op.
From the co-op’s overview
statement:
“We are Moms and Dads,
Grandmas and Grandpas, Sons and
Daughters dedicated to farming as
our way of life. We are hard-working
folks who still believe in an honest
day’s pay for an honest day’s work.
We are fighting to keep our farms in
our families…
“This beautiful valley is heaven
on earth. The sun rises over the Blue
Ridge and sets over the Alleghany
Mountains. In the spring, the green
ascends up the tree-covered
Massanutten Mountains…With the
snows come the baby calves. There
is nothing better than to crest the
top of the hill and see a mother cow
tend to her newborn calf.
“Sadly, if we do not farm this
land, it will be sold to the highest
bidder, often to be converted into a
store, parking lot or subdivision, and
the beauty will be lost forever to
urban sprawl. This is why farm
families continue to work from
sunrise to sunset, caring for land
and livestock, 365 days a year.”
