In October of last year, 50 farmers and ranchers attended the first ever Meat School, hosted in person and online by Colorado State University (CSU) and the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN). The school included 6 classes, covering marketing, production, and processing topics considered critical for direct marketing high-quality meat. Inspired by the format and topics of the OSU Grassfed Meat School held in Central Point, OR in 2018, NMPAN and CSU adapted the school to serve a wider audience and be available online.
Response to this pilot educational course was overwhelmingly positive. Producers really appreciated the opportunity to network at the in-person locations or to have the flexibility to still learn the course content from home. One Colorado grass-fed beef producer had this to say about the school, “Outstanding use of my time, rich learning experience, very targeted to the pressing questions and needs of my small, growing grass-fed beef finishing and direct marketing operation.”
NMPAN’s next goal is to take the Meat School to a much larger audience and start to offer it every year in winter when producers have more time. With support from the Globetrotter Foundation and the Western Extension Risk Management Center, NMPAN and project partners will be expanding the school to class sites in Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. They will also allow producers in other western states to take the course online as well.
Locations in Oregon have not been confirmed yet, but will likely include a central Willamette Valley, Southwestern Oregon, and a Central Oregon location. Please check the Western Meat School website for full details and registration. The Western Meat School will also include a live beef animal evaluation and yield analysis demonstration with Nathan Parker of the OSU Clark Meat Science Center.
As farmers and ranchers become better educated in how to produce consistent, high-quality, regeneratively-raised meats; how to get those animals processed; and how to identify and secure good markets, the availability of regeneratively-raised meats will increase. Consumers will have more access. More land can be managed holistically and regeneratively. More dollars will flow into rural economies, and more farm families will be able to thrive.
The Western Meat School is a modern, accessible, affordable, and time-efficient way for producers to learn the most practical aspects of producing and marketing meat while deepening their understanding of the full niche meat supply chain.
A deep thank you goes to the Western Extension Risk Management Center (a program of USDA NIFA) and the Globetrotter Foundation for supporting the expansion of the Western Meat School.
For more information, please contact NMPAN Director Rebecca Thistlethwaite at thistler@oregonstate.edu.
This article is taken from Oregon Small Farm News, Spring 2020.
