Iowa Beef: Rekindling an Epic Romance

There’s no denying the power of beef. The word itself is a synonym for substance. Politicians don’t ask, “Where’s the bran?” During the second half of the 19th century, beef became an international obsession and a status food which transformed the American range into the world’s largest feed lot. Between the Civil War and 1880, Midwest cattle populations increased 30 times. Because Iowa’s fertile soil grew the most grain, the state’s beef became the gold standard of the new food economy, when food drove all economies.

For a century, the status of Iowa Beef extended to New York City steak houses and beyond. In 1959, current Des Moines restaurateur Harry Bookey, then 11, told Russian Premiere Nikita Khrushchev that the USSR might have a edge in satellite technology but that our beef was superior. Khrushchev, a staunch Russian chauvinist, conceded the point.

When Khrushchev visited here, “Iowa Beef” represented the culmination of one of the great romances in the histories of both agriculture and human migration. Once Europeans got word about the fertility of Iowa’s black soil, immigrants flocked across oceans, mountains and hostile prairies to realize the American dream of owning land from which they could make a good life. By the end of the 19th century, those immigrants made Iowa a rich state built on fields of grain and pastures of plenty. The wealth of that romance was self contained. Fields produced corn in such abundance that farmers fed it to cattle who had grazed their youth away in clover. Those corn finished cattle moved short distances to packers and lockers. Iowa Beef was birth-to-burger Iowan and famous for its superior marbling.

Brisket at The Q in West Des Moines

Big changes came by the 1980’s, after it became more economical to ship grain out west, where land was cheaper, and finish cattle there instead of on Iowa farmland that could be plowed over and planted with corn and beans. By the end of the 20th century, most industrial batches of hamburger came from multiple plants, multiple states and even multiple continents.

Statistics tell the story. In 1970, 70 % of Iowa farmers raised cattle. Today less than a third do. Iowa led the nation in beef production between World War II and the 1980’s, peaking in 1969 at 7 million head of cattle. This year our inventory is around 3.8 million, up 40 % from ten years ago but now less than 4 % of nation’s herd. Despite that big increase in the last decade, our feedlot population is now at a post World War II low - 1.8 million. That suggests Iowa has a cow brain drain, its bright young calves are leaving the state. The further the center of the beef universe got from Iowa, the more its luster dulled. American beef consumption dropped by a quarter in the last decade as cholesterol paranoia and burger borne pathogens, from industrial plants out west, scared consumers.

A number of signs suggest that Iowa beef is making a comeback: It’s now the era of the locovore as fresh and local foods are trendy in culinary, political and medical circles. Both the federal government and Illinois have begun funding significant incentives to encourage more local production of foods. Stories are rife about reopening Iowa Best Beef, the non kosher arm of Agriprocessors of Postville, as well as the farmer-owned Iowa Quality Beef company of Tama.

Carpaccio at Fleming's in West Des Moines

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey keeps a close watch on beef trends.

“Nationally the beef herd is as low as it has been in the last 3 decades,” he said, adding that Iowa cattlemen have been working on a South Dakota model of owning cattle from birth to marketing though Iowans have yet to put together a viable business plan. Northey thinks that ethanol could figure prominently in increasing Iowa’s feeder herd.

“We are seeing more cattle feeding in Iowa again, in part because Iowa has an abundance of distillers grain due to ethanol production in the state. This makes wonderful cattle feed and makes the cost of feeding very competitive with feeding costs for cattle in other parts of the country. It is reasonable to expect that if more production would come back to the state that we may see more meat processing again in the state,” he said.

Atlantic’s Alan Zellmer is taking advantage of such distillers grain to raise Iowa cattle of such quality that they are again attracting overseas attention. Early this decade he started raising wagyu, a Japanese breed that is legendary for its marbling and its healthy profile of good cholesterols.

"When we started this project eight years ago, all the beef was raised for the Japanese market. Now it's almost entirely local, domestic," he said, adding that, in late September the market for high end steaks started coming back from a year long slump. Steakhouses had been hit harder than any other segment of the restaurant business after the stock market crash last October.

Pete Woltz of Timber Ridge in Osceola also finishes beef that nutritionists love. He buys Iowa calves and puts them in his Clark County pastures, supplementing their grass diets with a flax seed, vitamin E and glutens.

“Our cattle are given no antibiotics, no growth hormones, and no feed additives. We began this project about 2 years ago. During that time Iowa State University testing has shown our beef to contain nearly five times the amount of ALA omega 3's as corn fed cattle, 25% more unsaturated fats,” said Woltz, who directly markets in Iowa.

In Central Iowa, suburban sprawl challenges the locovore and the cattleman. LaVonne Griffieon’s family have been raising Limousin cattle in Ankeny since the 1960‘s. They began marketing their beef directly this year by opening The Farm Shed, a store on their property. Griffieon says it’s a matter of survival for a way of life.

Short ribs at Alba in Des Moines

“Thirty years ago this farm was 3 miles north of Ankeny. Now its surrounded on three sides by subdivisions. Ankeny has annexed 7000 acres of prime farmland in the last six years,” she cautioned.

Francis Thicke, who is running against Northey in next year‘s election, says a pork company has created a model that could work for Iowa cattlemen.

“What may be possible is for Iowa beef producers to create new markets – independent of the consolidated meatpacking industry – for high-quality Iowa beef that commands a premium price. A model for that is Niman Ranch Pork, through which Iowa pork fills a national demand for premium pork products. One possibility for a premium market that could be developed by Iowa beef producers is grass-fed beef,” he said.
Limousin also figure in a trend that resembles that model and that could restore prestige to Iowa cattle farming.

Red veal is red hot, supported by the growing demand for healthier and humanely raised meats. The Strauss Free Raised Veal company has been growing a humanely raised line by integrating farmers committed to their model, much like Niman Ranch has done with pork. Strauss farmers raise Limousin calves, the preferred breed for top of the line veal, with mother cows out doors on natural diets. Most industrial veal is raised in confinement, on formula diets that restrict their intake of iron - to turn their meat white. Red veal now commands prices that make it a delicious option to shipping calves out west for finishing. Strauss Veal’s president explained why.

Red veal chop at Sbrocco in Des Moines

“ As America’s proverbial bread-basket, Iowa producers have unlimited opportunities to increase the value of their livestock by responding to the demand for traceability, all natural, locally produced and locally fed, grass finished and more. Non-traditional markets are posing huge opportunities,” said Randy Strauss.

A number of the state’s finest chefs believe in the magic of Iowa Beef. Rube’s Steakhouse made a national name serving beef they raised themselves in Montour, Iowa. They also have supplied other steakhouses, such as Jesse’s Embers. Caffrey’s Steakhouse also uses an all Iowa line. Andrew Meek at Sbrocco features beef from Kristine and Ryan Jepsen’s Grass Run Farm in Dorchester, a certified organic pasture raised and grass finished farm. Matt Steigerwald of Lincoln Café exclusively uses Iowa beef: wagyu from Majinola Meats; and grass fed from the Jepsen’s farms. George Formaro has used Vande Rose Farms’ all Hereford beef from Oskaloosa plus the Iowa Best line at Centro, Django and Gateway Market Cafes. Court Avenue Brewing Company and BOS use Vande Rose‘s beef too. Dean Richardson of Phat Chef’s likes beef raised and finished on Calhoun County family farms where he grew up. Troy Trostel at Greenbriar is currently using Majinola’s wagyu as he waits for his long time Iowa beef suppliers, Iowa Best Beef, to reopen.

One new development has long term potential. Tenderizing technologies can now soften tough cuts without marinating. That’s why you see many new steaks - Denver, Cordelico, Cabrosa - at the supermarket. Many of those cuts (flap meat, ball tip, etc.) used to become burger. That’s suggests a message Iowa Beef could market - Why go out (of state) for burger when you can come home to steak?