Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats Marksts Organic Meat Locally

Testimonials

Waterloo Courier Article

By Nathan Phelps

A pair of Eastern Iowa farmers raising all-natural meats are hoping they can tap into the Waterloo/Cedar Falls market by selling their product at the Downtown Farmers' Market on weekends this summer.

Phil Hueneke of Bellevue and Jim and Elly Fink of Vinton, have set up their booth at the market and begun sampling and selling beef, pork, chicken, buffalo and ostrich under the name of Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats. They are also selling organic cheese.

So far the response has apparently been positive, and the farmers say they are glad to see their project supporting local businesses.

"It helps the community. ... We try to get the meat processed locally, which generates business for the local lockers and also the feed business that goes along with it. ... It's kind of a snowball effect when these things start taking hold," Hueneke said. "Some of this local marketing is more labor intense, but when you have young people that want to (farm) I think it's great they have this opportunity."

Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats secured a $10,000 sustainable agriculture grant from the University of Nebraska to take their product and sell it locally. They chose the Waterloo area as the site of the test.

"There is a niche market out there that is looking for locally raised food that is grown without chemicals," Hueneke said. "As a group we're able to do more than an individual on their own."

While only two farms are involved in the operation at this point, the group is looking to bring in other farmers interested in selling their product directly to consumers, rather than going through a packer and middleman.

Hueneke said direct marketing offers producers a chance to capture a larger profit than going through a packer, which juggles animal prices and dilutes profits going back to the ram.

"It's sad to say it has to come to that, the farmer's already busy enough without having to do the marketing, but the conventional marketplace wants to continue to buy at a low market price," Hueneke said. "If you have a quality product, why is it worth more one day than the next? There's no other industry out there that operates that way. I know it's supply and demand, but you don't see any price fluctuation on the retail end."

The small producer is the greatest benefactor of direct marketing.

"People that are really big are never going to be able to (do this), but on the other hand the small people have no other choice," Fink said. "I do think anybody who wants to stay on a 240-acre farm is going to have to do this. The more people you can cut out of the chain, the better off you are."

Both Fink and Hueneke call their meat "all-natural" and follow organic growing guidelines, but they are not certified as organic growers. Under the "all-natural" banner, the farmers don't use any hormones, chemicals or antibiotics.

That point isn't lost on consumers who are willing to pay a little more over grocery store prices for products like ground beef. Hueneke said prices for steaks and roasts are about the same as those in stores.

Prices may be higher, but the farmers say they feed their animals a higher quality food, and won't compromise the quality of the product to make bigger profit.

If the venture takes off, Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats will be in the market for more growers to help meet the demand of customers.

"I hope that we can ... take what we did this year and go to other producers in the area and get them involved," Hueneke said. "People would like to do it, but they need some guidance and something in place so they can get involved."

He added, "Once you start anything like this and it gets going, you're going to have to have supply on hand. You have to somehow match the supply with the demand."

Silos & Smokestacks helped the group secure the grant and got them involved with the Downtown Farmers' Market. Initially, the farmers were going to sell their product through the Sycamore Street market, but that project has been delayed.

Candy Streed, program coordinator with Silos & Smokestacks, said it's difficult for smaller farmers to get their products onto grocery store shelves, and the smaller market allows them to sell to area residents.

"The public market concept has always been to support local food systems and for people to be able to buy products from their local producers and that's what we wanted to do," Streed said. "Producers like Phil and the Finks are trying to find ways to get to the consumer in new innovative ways and to provide that product on a year-round basis to them."

Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats can be found at the market every other Saturday. They will be back in Waterloo Saturday.

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