Star Haven Farms
Growing a Business on Grass
Iola, Texas
The adage "Necessity is the mother of all invention" proved true for
Ray and Karen Hadaway of Star Haven Farms in Iola, Texas. "When
we started five years ago, we simply didn't have the money to buy the
quantities of grain feed needed to raise beef cattle to maturity.
It
prompted us to ask questions, think out of the box and challenge the
way meat is typically raised here in Texas," explains Karen. Such
creative energy today fuel a committed passion for grassfed meats,
growing their local niche in health-conscious customers seeking
natural, locally-raised beef.
The couple, both in their mid-50s with grown children, moved in 1999 to
a forty-acre farmstead in east-central Texas originally part of Ray's
aunt and uncle's land. "Everybody around here is related to my
husband," Karen says with a laugh. Karen, too, grew up with rural
roots having spent time on her grandparents' farm.
"Unfortunately, the land had been farmed to death with no nutrients
added back into the soil and Texas was right in the middle of a
five-year drought, so we had our work cut out for us," explains
Karen. With frugal resources and a desire to improve the soil,
Karen and Ray tapped into the Natural Resource Conservation Services
(NRCS) and other area resources and connected with a local farmer, Gene
Sollock, who was pasture-raising beef on grasses and ball clover.
Each spring, Gene and his wife, Ruth, host a "Clover Field Day" to show
others how raising animals on pasture can benefit not only the farmer,
but also the livestock and soil. "Gene hasn't used any commercial
fertilizer on his pasture for twelve years, neither feeds nor cuts hay,
and can support one hundred head of cattle on his 54 acres by utilizing
intensive grazing. We said, this is for us! Gene mentored
us, getting us started planting our pastures," Karen adds. Star
Haven Farms currently has twelve acres in ball clover and plans to
double that next season. A perennial crop, ball clover also
restores nitrogen to the soil and as the cattle graze it, they take
care of replanting.
Karen and Ray manage a herd of thirteen cattle: a registered Brangus
bull, six females and the remaining calves raised for meat.
"We raise Black Brangus cattle since this breed does well in the hot
Texas climate and,
with the Angus influence, produces well-marbled
beef," Karen says. The herd rotationally grazes through five
field paddocks, making a full rotation every twenty-eight days.
Balancing Ray's job with the electric company and Karen's
administrative job at the Texas A&M University, with all that's
needed to run a successful farm, is difficult. Karen looks forward to
retiring next year to devote more time exclusively to the farm.
Grassfed cattle take longer to reach maturity, typically 22 to 24
months verus 18 months for grain fed beef. It represents a
challenge that must be factored into business planning for Star Haven
Farms. As a steer matures and has enough protein intake, its meat
naturally marbleizes with an increase in fat content, thereby
tenderizing the meat. Conventionally, a steer is fed large
amounts of grain in a feedlot to accelerate and unnaturally expand this
process. As grassfed cattle graze freely on grasses and clover,
it takes longer for them to add naturally add the needed fat-cover.
Higher sales pricing and a growing market demand for pastured-raised
beef and other products offset the expense of this longer time
commitment for grass fed beef. "A 1,100 pound steer at about 22
months will bring in around $.90 pound at a conventional livestock
auction. By comparison, we sell our meat at what equates to $1.59
a pound directly to our customers, almost double the price we could
have received at the livestock auction house," explains Karen.
Most of their customers come through word of mouth, primarily families
that seek the health benefits associated with the healthy Omega-3 fatty
acids and conjugated lineolic acid (CLA) found in grassfed meats.
"Repeat customers hooked on the taste and quality of our meat form our
core sales base. You'd be surprised at how many people really do
want to know where their food comes from."
Customers typically buy either a "half" or "quarter" of the steer, with
the meat evenly divided between the front and hind section. This
enables everyone to get equal amounts of the desirable hind cuts such
as T-Bone and sirloin and the more budget front cuts like ground chuck
and rib steak. A "quarter" beef will typically last the average
family with two kids about three to six months.
When orders come in totaling a full animal, Star Haven Farms delivers
the live animal to the butcher. While Karen and Ray can process
meat year round, they try to gear most butchering toward late spring to
fall as this is when grass is plentiful and the animals tend to be at
their heaviest weight. Meat sells to the customer at a "hanging
weight" price ($2.77 per pound) and customers pay the butcher directly
for processing, enabling each family to custom order how they would
like the meat processed and wrapped.
Karen and Ray recently added a herd of seventeen goats to their
livestock mix. Boer meat goats are known for their easy-going and
affectionate nature and, importantly, they don't jump fences as other
goats often may do. Goats prove to be a nice compliment to cattle
as they will rotate into a paddock immediately after the cattle leave
and "clean up" vegetation such as brambles and vines that the cows
won't eat. So far, the goats have not yet been sold for meat but
Karen hopes to move into this in the future, citing a growing local
Hispanic and Muslim market interested in purchasing live whole goats
and processing the goats themselves. A few dozen eggs from
pastured hens are also sold each week. "Customers love the
eggs. I just don't have enough chickens to meet the demand,"
Karen says.
Karen looks forward to her early retirement in the next year and being
able to run full time with new business ventures for Star Haven
Farms. "I see strong potential in agritourism as many of our
customers ask us for organized tours and opportunities to be on the
farm," explains Karen. "We're exploring and developing the capacity to
host school field trips, barbecues, fishing in the pond and campfires
under the stars. Our family leans toward the musical side, so we
can offer singalongs and tunes around the campfire, maybe coax an
off-key 'moo' from a cow or two," she adds with a smile.
Regions:
TexasOrganization type:
Business - family