Diablo Burger: It’s all about local
The Bar T Bar nows supplies beef to Flagstaff’s newest burger joint, located in the heart of downtown. Diablo Burger uses local beef and produce to create quality burgers from the freshest ingredients possible. Our beef is range-fed and free of growth hormones and antibiotics.
Seedstock Plus, a cooperative
The Bar T Bar Ranch is a member of Seedstock Plus, LLC, a cooperative of independent seedstock producers. Seedstock Plus markets about 1,100 bulls and 1,500 females each year. It’s also the largest supplier of Balancer genetics in the nation.
Collectively, the individual herds that comprise Seedstock Plus offer customers more genetic breadth and options. Seedstock Plus members offer their entire weaning crop to the organization for selection. Selected bulls are then developed at one of six regional performance-testing facilities. Based on strict requirements for performance, pedigree, EPDs, structural soundness, and overall conformation, 15–20 percent of these bulls will be culled at the end of these tests. This means that bulls are not only developed and performance-tested, but they are also acclimated on a regional basis.
Currently, Seedstock Plus has 65 members (independent seedstock herds) in 17 states.
Country Natural Beef: A member-financed marketing cooperative with a consumer-first focus
We’re excited about our membership in this innovative group. We’re also pleased to see that our Bar T Bar genetics are working well in the Country Natural Beef system.
This unique, “pasture-to-plate,” branded beef program began in 1986, out of frustration arising from skyrocketing interest rates, plummeting land values, a surplus of beef, and mounting pressure from the environmental community. Sensing that the consumer was the key, founders Doc and Connie Hatfield approached retailers to find out what they really needed — and found a growing base of consumers who not only wanted to know more about their food but also wanted a direct connection to the people raising it.
The solution involved forming a cooperative of ranchers who would embrace the use of sustainable ranching practices and humane slaughter methods to produce natural beef, free of hormones and antibiotics. CNB members commit cattle 12–18 months before harvest and feed them out at one of two partner feedlots. When CNB markets the beef, members receive a predetermined price per pound, along with subsequent bonus payments and organization profits. CNB effectively functions as a wholesale meat company.
