Takeaways

• Farmers market customers are confused by the headlines about the border, the New World screwworm, and beef imports, and small ranchers like Jordan Classen are the front line answering those questions face to face.
• Many first-time buyers start with a single pound of ground beef, come back for a steak, and often end up buying a deep freezer for an eighth of a beef, which is why direct-to-consumer ranchers meet people wherever they are in the beef-buying journey.
• Schools receive commodity dollars that work almost like a voucher, and many spend them on protein without specific information on where the beef comes from, which is why Jordan is a strong advocate for country of origin labeling and local sourcing in school cafeterias.
• New federal efforts, including the Ranchers First initiative and USDA's Harvest to Hallways program ($25 million for Local Foods for Schools), are ones Jordan and Amanda are watching closely for what they could mean for rural America.

Summary of the episode

In this episode of Sizzle: The Salty Steak Show, Amanda Radke sits down with her friend Jordan Classen, who owns Classen Land & Cattle with her husband Travis in St. Edward, Nebraska. Jordan shares how the couple started their operation right out of college with a couple of cow-calf pairs, how they now run cattle on pasture and row crop ground within about 40 miles of home, and how she focuses on connecting with other families and taking the fear out of food. They talk about the small family business behind every box of beef, from the processor to the nutritionist, and about how, after roughly 10 years, they are starting to catch their stride.

Jordan explains what she is hearing at the farmers market, where customers want to know what is going on with the border, the New World screwworm, and beef imports. She shares how she answers by reminding shoppers that they get to choose where to spend their food dollars, and how a single pound of ground beef so often turns into a steak order and eventually a deep freezer filled with an eighth of a beef. Amanda adds why Bid On Beef keeps its roster to fewer than a dozen producers: the platform stamps its name on a premium, well-marbled, five-star steak experience.

Presented by Redmond Real Salt and Bid on Beef

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business