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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • FEBRUARY 2017
ISLAND PASTURES rotational pasture
management. Cattle are all pasture-raised and are typically turned out to graze from the end of March to November.
SUPPLIED PHOTO Red Angus breeder and Island Pastures Beef president Brad Chappell with sons Cowan and Hayes.
Canada’s Verified Beef Production Plus Program
Simple. Practical. Trusted. Developed for producers, by producers.
Ph: 1-866-398-2848 ext 2 Email:
VBP@cattlemen.bc.ca www.cattlemen.bc.ca/vbp.htm
Let us help you show the good things you already do for on-farm food safety, biosecurity, environmental stewardship, and animal care.
Today, Island Pastures Beef has 14 member producers in the Comox Valley, Alberni Valley and the Qualicum region, who run a combined total of 1,200 to 1,400 head per year. A $10 per head check-off fee funds the organization, as well as its advertising and promotions. Their beef is sold directly to retailers and is now available in 12 different stores between three grocery chains, and demand continues to grow. “We need more members, and specifically more cow-calf operators,” says Chappell. “We have more demand than we can meet at this time but, in saying that, it's something you grow esoterically. A lot of our producers here are birth to plate. They take their animals straight through from calving to finishing, and then they truck it to our abattoir, Gunter Brothers Meats. It's a very integrated model.”
Model program
It’s a model that works well for the members, too. Liske Farm joined Island Pastures Beef in 2012 when Brian Stelpstra and his family were looking to transition out dairy farming. Excited by the structure of the program and the prospect of developing a growing market, they made the switch into beef. Today, they are the largest cow/calf operation in the program. “We’ve always had people buying our calves through the program,” says Stelpstra, who is now vice-president of Island Pastures Beef. “Last year, when all the finishing facilities decided they weren't
Feb 18, 2017 — 22nd Annual
Pine Bue Ranch Horned Hereford Producon Sale, Kamloops
March 25, 2017—44th Annual
Dawson Creek All Breeds Bull Sale April 8, 2017 — 42nd Annual
Vanderhoof All Breeds Bull Sale
April 12 & 13, 2017 — 80th Annual Williams Lake Bull Show & Sale
BCHA President John Lewis
250-218-2537
BCHA Secretary Janice Tapp 250-699-6466
interested in doing it anymore, we expanded and took over one of the finishing facilities.” Working with Island Pastures Beef has allowed Stelpstra and his family to focus on developing their
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business and improving the quality of their cattle without having to focus on finding customers and marketing “We are a family-run farm and love doing what we do. It is exciting for us that since we are selling locally and the community is supporting our product, we are able to provide the local grocery stores, the local abattoir, and keep our animals and business on the island,” he says. “I love the opportunity for growth and inviting new members to join Island Pastures Beef. It has been hard with some of the producers who don't know about us, or don’t know there's a market for beef on Vancouver Island,” says Stelpstra. “It's nice if we can get out there and producers realize there's a market that's safe on the Island. Cattle are moving and there are local buyers for our meat. It benefits us a group to have new members so we can expand our meat products and go into bigger stores.” Island Pastures Beef is changing the economics of beef production on the Island, proving that there is demand, and raising the bar for beef producers. Producers have met the challenge by reinvesting in better genetics and breeding stock, often through Chappell’s purebred Red Angus program. Looking ahead, the association is trying to organize a buyer’s group where Island Pastures Beef members can buy and sell verified Vancouver Island cattle and build the program. It is expected to be ready by fall 2017.
“We are cutting out a whole bunch of the middle men that cow-calf producers in other areas pay,” says Chappell. “Organizations like ours are really important, but so is going out and supporting or demanding local product from stores. Ultimately, we're just trying keep family farms on Vancouver Island financially viable.”
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