When seedstock producer Brad Chappell started Island Pastures Beef over 15 years ago, it was because he saw a need for the island’s ranchers.
At the time, Chappell, who lives in the Comox Valley, realized many ranchers on Vancouver Island couldn’t purchase breeding stock at market price from the mainland because of the B.C. ferry system. He says they had also lost the only auction mart on the island around that time, so most Vancouver Island producers were trying to ship their cattle to the mainland.
Because of this, transportation and sales costs cut into their profits.
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“When I would go around to meet people, or they would come to visit to talk bulls and bred heifers, they could never afford the better genetics,” Chappel says in an interview.
“So I had to find a way to help them get more money for their cattle. And I realized we weren’t going to get any more money for their cattle taking them to the commodity market of the mainland.”
He says Vancouver Island has a large beef-eating population, and he realized they could be successful direct-marketing beef. So, he decided to form an association to direct-market different rancher’s beef for a higher price.
Today, Island Pastures Beef is a group of around a dozen ranchers who direct-market their beef together. It is a commercial group, and the cattle are required to be grass-finished.
Chappell says when Island Pastures Beef started, they also included grain-finished cattle, but have switched to strictly grass-finished. Now, when people want to join the association, they must verify their cattle are grass-finished, and that their herd is strictly beef breeds.
Chappell says the association is successful because it created a market they didn’t previously have on the island.
“Even the cattle that weren’t going into our program, they were becoming a part of a market. And it really did… change things,” Chappell says.
“It is big enough to affect the economics for family farms. And that’s really all we were trying to do.”
On his own operation, Chappel says he’s seen a benefit from Island Pastures Beef, as well.
“I mean, we are receiving the highest price on Vancouver Island for live weight that the market would ever pay. We get a premium,” he says.
Chappell says they’ve also sold their beef as a premium product and not as a commodity product because it’s locally produced. He says costs of raising cattle on Vancouver Island are often more expensive than other agricultural regions. However, he says they’ve still had success despite their higher prices, with people from Vancouver Island wanting to buy local.
“People took a leap of faith.”
Island Pastures Beef can be found at places such as Country Grocer, a customer who has been with Island Pastures Beef from the beginning. They can also be found on Facebook.
