National meeting of grass agriculture awards top producers
Grassfed organization rewards
producers for stewardship, food quality and servant leadership.
August 1, 2014, Columbia, MO– Livestock producers from New
York, Nebraska and Georgia received national awards at the sixth annual Grassfed Exchange meeting at Columbia, MO, Thursday
night.
The theme of the conference and of the awards was land stewardship, providing consumers with a healthy food product
and helping others.
Producers from 40 states and three Canadian provinces applauded as award winners at this annual
conference for producers of grass-finished livestock products, which has been a small but rapidly growing segment of agricultural
production.
This year’s Producer Award went to Morgan Hartman from Berlin, NY. Hartman is the managing partner of Black
Queen Angus. The farm raises Angus seedstock with focuses on maternal efficiency and the ability to work in a grass-finishing
environment. They also direct market 100% grassfed beef and have a customer base across several states in the Northeast.
Hartman also was instrumental in the founding of the Winter Greenup Conference held each year in Latham, NY. This is one of
the largest and most influential grazing conferences in the northeastern U.S.
The thing that sets Hartman apart, said those
presenting the award, is Hartman’s role in acting as a steward of the land instead of just an owner of that land. This love of the
land is what led him to share his knowledge and experience with others through the Winter Greenup Conference, pasture walks at his
farm and numerous other events in the Northeast.
Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, GA, received the
Innovative Marketer Award. White Oak Pastures is a 150-year-old farm in southwest Georgia, started in 1866 by his ancestors.
Harris’s daughters Jenni and Jodi are the fifth generation of Harrises working on the family farm. Harris also is a recognized
leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental stewardship.
As Harris thanked everyone for the award he said, “It was
about the people, land and cattle and not about the process. You have to take care of those three things first then everything else
will fall into place.â€
White Oak Pastures is a very diverse operation with an on-farm processing facility. It currently
processes 130 head of beef/week at their plant, plus 40 grassfed lambs and eight pigs per week. The poultry processing plant
processes 6,000 broilers weekly, along with 6,000 turkeys, 4,000 ducks and 4,000 geese annually. The farm also runs 7,000 laying
hens that produce approximately 3,300 dozen eggs weekly. Harris recently added 1,000 goats to his operation, along with starting an
agri-tourism business that includes on-farm guest cabins and a restaurant.
The Terry Gompert Memorial Pioneer Award
recipient was Wayne Rasmussen from Plainview, NE. Rasmussen is a rancher who finishes 600 head of grassfed beef per year, which he
markets through branded beef programs and directly to consumers.
He has been a true visionary and a pioneer, not just as a
producer, but in his strong desire to pass along his hard-earned knowledge and experience. Through the last six years
Rasmussen sacrificed his time and dollars to insure the Grassfed Exchange was a success. He has been instrumental in moving forward
and sharing his dream to make the national conference a reality. Rasmussen’s vision for this conference was to bring people
together to learn from and teach each other and to provide valuable networking opportunities.
Terry Gompert, for whom the award
was named, was a University of Nebraska Extension Agent, a Certified Holistic Management Educator and a great friend and mentor to
many in the grassfed industry. After six years, Gompert and Rasmussen’s vision of a conference that could bring producers
together from around the country to learn from and teach each other about producing and marketing grassfed beef, has finally been
realized.
The 2015 Grassfed Exchange will be held in Mount Pleasant, MI, Sept. 16-18.
Left to right: Kate McNutt(Gomperts daughter), Connie Gompert, Judy Rasmussen, Wayne Rasmussen, Will Harris, Morgan Hartman
Grassfed Exchange Awards NOMINATIONS
In order to recognize leaders in the grass-fed beef industry, the Grassfed Exchange Board solicits award nominations for three annual awards:
The Terry Gompert Pioneer Award
Grassfed Innovative Producer of the Year
This award honors an innovative seed-stock producer or finisher of grass-finished beef. This award recognizes a grass-roots producer that has employed innovative techniques, improved the genetics of grass finishing cattle and/or has become an expert in the art of grass finishing cattle. Additionally, the producer has a documented track record of dedicated environmental stewardship.
Grassfed Distributor/Marketer/Retailer of the Year
2015 Grassfed Exchange Awards Nomination
Form
