Small Minnesota farms feeling the impact of high beef prices

Beef prices have climbed to record highs this year, and consumers are noticing.

That’s due in part to the U.S. cattle herd being the smallest it’s been in 75 years due to drought and high feed costs. John Lauritsen shows us how that’s impacting smaller beef producers in Minnesota.

“In 2008 we started with three cows. And we didn’t sell our first beef to consumers until 2011,” said Josh Krenz of Windland Flats Farm near Princeton.

But for the past 15 years, Krenz said his Highland Cattle have been in high demand. The long-haired cows are a niche product, and over the past 5 years consumers have been contacting Windland Flats Farm for their steaks and ground beef.

“It’s super lean but really tender and has a lot of marbling to it still,” said Krenz.

The rising popularity of Highland meat has allowed Krenz to expand. The natives of Scotland are hearty animals and good grazers who need shade but not barns, so they’re cost-effective to raise. But lately, Krenz has wondered what the future holds for his herd, as consumers adjust.

“They are not buying in bulk packages that we used to sell. They are buying smaller just trying to go from paycheck to paycheck is what it feels like.”

Instead of buying 35-pound packages for about $450 like they have in the past, lately their clients have been looking to buy just a fraction of that.

“We just see people wanting to go down to 10 pounds or 15 pounds or maybe they aren’t coming back at all,” said Krenz.

And it’s forced Windland Flats and other farms like them to make a number of adjustments when it comes to promoting their product and limiting their overhead costs.”

“That’s what we are doing the most is watching our costs. Some of that is using technology to lower labor costs. Optimizing the land because we aren’t going to be able to afford to buy more land in 5 years if we aren’t going to have that income flow coming in,” said Krenz.

There’s still hope that things will turn around. In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the Highlands.

“Just as an economy as a whole, everybody is watching their wallet really hard right now,” said Krenz.

In Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, there are about 250 members of the American Highland Cattle Association.