FEBRUARY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


27 Island Pastures Beef seeks expansion to meet demand


Cattlemen band together to add value to their Island-grown beef by TAMARA LEIGH


COURTENAY – A group of beef producers on Vancouver Island is working together to expand supply to meet the growing demand for high quality local beef and they are looking for new members. Over the past eight years, Island Pastures Beef has been working with producers and retailers to create a reliable and profitable market by working as a group to promote and market their product.


“When my wife and I first brought our purebred herd home to Vancouver Island at Heart of the Valley Farms, most of the people here couldn't afford to buy our bulls or cows, even commercially,” says Brad Chappell, a Red Angus breeder and one of the founders of Island Pastures Beef. “The problem was Vancouver Island producers didn't make much money on their cattle.” In the absence of a local market, Island beef producers were shipping their cattle to auctions on the mainland, incurring transportation and sales cost that cut into profits. Instead of accepting business as usual, Chappell saw a business opportunity. He started pitching the idea of a joint marketing initiative to other farms in the Comox Valley and drafted a protocol and mission statement. Not long after presenting the idea to the Comox Valley Farmers’ Institute in 2009, Chappell and two other farms joined together and registered the Island Pastures Beef Association as a registered non-profit society.


With the goal of creating a stable supply of verified,


traceable, high-quality Island- grown beef, the members of the new association


established strong animal care and herd health policies and started working directly with Vancouver Island-based retailers to develop a grass-fed and a grain-fed Angus line.


Instrumental support


“It was tough to get it going; a lot of people pooh- poohed it. I tell you what, our two main customers heavily supported it,” Chappell explains. “Country Grocer was our first customer and heavily supported our grass-fed beef, and Red Barn came on later and has really supported the growth of our grain-fed side. Our distributor is B&C Foods. I can't say enough about how absolutely instrumental those guys have been in developing this organization.”


Chappell says that the retailers they work with have shown their support by being willing to pay a premium for the local product to reflect the increased cost of production. Once they understood the economics of beef production on the island, they could sell it to consumers.


“We’ve always sold our beef as a premium product, never a commodity product,” says Chappell. “If people want to eat what's produced on this island, they have to recognize the inputs put into agriculture here often come from off the island and have costs associated with getting here that are higher than other agricultural regions.” Island Pastures Beef members adhere to strict protocols regarding animal husbandry, herd health and


See ISLAND on next page o


SUPPLIED PHOTO Brian Stelpstra of Liske Farm with his family: wife Jessaly, and three daughters, Jakayla, Braelyn and Abigail.


HARVEST ANGUS HEART OF THE VALLEY


3rd Annual Bull Sale 40 Black Bulls


H H


20 Red Bulls 30 Select Yearlings Sons & Brothers of these Powerful


Bulls Sell. View the catalogue at BUYAGRO.COM HARVEST ANGUS


Tom & Carolyn de Waal 4174 Cowart Road, Prince George, BC V2N 6H9 P: 250.562.5200


tom@harvestangus.com harvestangus.com


C: 250.960.0022


With guest Walkerbrae Farms


HEART OF THE VALLEY FARMS


Brad, Aleta, Hayes & Cowan Chappell 6409 Tsolum River Road, Courtenay, BC V9N 7J3 C: 250.897.0619


P: 250.337.8097


rdangus@telus.net or heartqh@telus.net


MARCH 11, 2017 BC LIVESTOCK WILLIAMSLAKE, BC


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