Montana rancher finds market for ‘free’ beef – Montana Ranch Brand

Tell a rancher there’s an upside to a 143 million-pound beef recall and you’re going to get some looks.

Public schools across America start dumping unopened cases of lunch program beef into area landfills and uneasy stomachs start to turn, particularly in ranch country where lately the news couldn’t get much worse. Consumers are suddenly questioning where their meat is from, what drugs it’s been subjected to and whether it walked to the slaughterhouse or was rolled there on forklift tines.

However, if your ranch has been answering consumers’ questions all along, maybe this is your opportunity. Ranchers Larry and Molly Descheemaeker would hope so. For six years they’ve raised "natural beef" – cattle free of hormones and antibiotics, free of chemically fortified food needed to add 100 pounds of unnatural bulk to a cow’s frame. They’ve also included contact info on their packaging, so if you want to know a T-bone’s home address, and it bears the Montana Ranch Brand http://www.montanaranchbrand.com/ label, you can call the company office in Billings.

By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/03/news/state/20-rancher.txt