Wyoming

Beef From New Rancher-Owned Packing Plant In Nebraska Hits Walmart Shelves

Published

2 months ago

January 21, 2026

Beef From New Rancher-Owned Packing Plant In Nebraska Hits Walmart Shelves

The first thing Wyoming born and raised rancher Trey Wasserburger did when he heard that steaks from Sustainable Beef’s rancher-owned packing plant in Nebraska had hit store shelves was to go shopping for some of his own beef.

“I was there this morning,” he said. “And I bought New York strips, T-bones, and some ribeye tomahawks. So, it’s awesome. It’s fantastic.”

Wasserburger is a cofounder of Sustainable Beef, but he’s also a 2006 graduate of Campbell County High School and has family ties to the Bootheel 7 Ranch in Lusk, which celebrated 100 years of history in 2019.

He and his wife Dayna, who is a Nebraska native, bought a ranch near North Platte, Nebraska in 2017, where they now operate the TD Angus Ranch.

The ranch is known for the quality of its genetics and sells bulls across America — including a rather famous Angus bull named Doc Ryan, which sold for $525,000 in 2021.

Wasserburger said he believes some of the prime and choice cuts from Sustainable Beef should be showing up as of Monday in Wyoming Walmart stores as well.

Sustainable Beef sources a substantial portion of its beef from Wyoming cattle herds, which means some of that meat on Wyoming store shelves likely came from cattle herds in places like Torrington.

“We hope to be in all of (Walmart stores) fairly soon,” Wasserburger said.

That will just be a process of continuing to scale up their operation, which is focused on processing prime and choice cuts of beef for high-end dinner table menus.

Code m3199 marks packages from Sustainable Beef that have landed in Walmart stores. (Courtesy Photo)

Price Makers

It’s been a long and winding road from farm to table for American beef. Straightening up that path is part of the concept behind Sustainable Beef, in hopes it will help family ranchers hang onto more of the retail dollar from their beef.

Otherwise, their fear is that family ranches will become economically unfeasible and die out in America.

Ranchers have long faced challenging economics in the commodity markets, where they are the price takers, rather than the price makers.

That leaves them navigating things like drought and high production costs amid market volatility that sometimes means they’re not breaking even. Added to that difficulty are regulatory hurdles and labor shortages.

The challenges have pushed many ranchers into an early retirement, even as youths, meanwhile, are becoming less and less interested in trying to replace them, given high risk and ever higher entry costs.

Sustainable Beef just opened in May and is owned by a group of eight ranchers, including Wasserburger.

“We got together with some like-minded people, the Lapaseotes family, Bob Maxwell and some other cattle feeders who just believed in the same mission and goal to own their own destiny,” Wasserburger said.

“It takes about five years to complete the cycle, raise the calf all the way through to the food supply chain. And to just throw away the profit in the last 24 hours makes zero sense,” he said.

Pandemic Forced Their Hand

The ranch Wasserburger and his wife bought was the Rishel Ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Bill Rishel, the previous owner, had long been at the forefront of innovation in the cattle industry, and was among the first cattlemen to use carcass data and ultrasonography for breeding decisions.

The Wasserburgers planned to continue Rishel’s vision with the herd he had developed over several decades. But just three years into owning the ranch, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Things quickly became a little Western for the couple.

“We were getting shut out,” Wasserburger recalled. “We were having trouble getting our cattle in the store.”

That was a dire situation for the couple, who had mortgage payments to meet and bills coming due.

“I was definitely in over my head financially,” Wasserburger said. “I had to make a decision, a tough one, to continue down the road of being a price taker or become a price maker.”

Grocery stores, meanwhile, were facing their own difficulties getting beef on empty store shelves. Ultimately, it was the broken supply chain that helped Wasserburger and his partners make their dream of owning their own packing plant a reality.

“Walmart needed a way to get that beef, and we needed a way to get our premium cattle for a great price,” Wasserburger said. “So, we just met in the middle. we had the same goal, and it’s just been a great marriage. It’s been a great relationship.”

A tomahawk steak that originated from Sustainable Beef's rancher owned meat processing plant in Nebraska. — A tomahawk steak that originated from Sustainable Beef’s rancher owned meat processing plant in Nebraska. (Courtesy Photo)

Changing North Platte’s Future

Sustainable Beef is among the first new packing plants to be built in America in a generation. It’s not a new idea. It’s been tried before, but the time has come for this model, Wasserburger believes, to help family farms and ranches become more sustainable.

In the meantime, the Sustainable Beef experiment has already boosted economics for North Platte, Nebraska, which made headlines in 2021 as the state’s fastest shrinking town.

Early economic indicators have put smiles on a lot of faces in the small town, among them North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corporation President and CEO Gary Person. He weighs in about the changes he’s seen in a documentary put out by First National Bank of Omaha, which is the company’s banker.

“We have broken records in retail sales,” Person said in the documentary. “We grew valuation substantially. We will have crossed a threshold of $1 billion worth of retail sales and expenditures. That is exactly double what it was five years ago.”

New restaurants and small businesses have opened. The community’s hospital underwent a major expansion and its recreation center upgraded as well.

“We’re at $1.2 billion impact for our community,” Wasserburger said. “We had to figure out what we do best. And instead of hauling things in, trying to manufacture it and hauling it back out, which doesn’t work. We’ve got to assemble, or in our case disassemble. What we make in this community is cattle and corn.”

Nebraska ranchers built a producer-owned beef plant that’s reviving North Platte’s shrinking economy. Wyoming ranchers like the idea but say it’s challenging to copy in the Cowboy State. (Sustainable Beef)

Wyoming Plant Not Out Of Question

Initially, Wasserburger did try to build his rancher-owned meat packing plant in Wyoming, and was working with Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, on that.

Ultimately though, Driskill told Cowboy State Daily in an interview last year that there just weren’t enough of the right elements to create the total package in the Cowboy State for such a large packing plant.

“When you start getting into these 1,000-plus cattle head a day plants, it’s really complicated,” Driskill said. “I kind of looked around Torrington, and they didn’t have the labor market.”

Cheyenne had a great location for a packing plant, with an opportunity zone and easy railway access. But North Platte just had a lot more of the necessary feedlot infrastructure.

Driskill said if he were to try again, he’d probably look at smaller operations.

“The truth is, Wyoming would probably be just as far ahead, rather than to have a plant like the one they have (in Nebraska) to have three or four plants that did 500 head a day,” Driskill said. “Then you could scatter them around the state.”

The diesel alone from shipping processed beef to markets would be a huge economic boost for any small rural town in Wyoming.

Wasserburger, meanwhile, said he’s not opposed to building more rancher-owned packing plants, if the experiment he’s started in Nebraska works out.

“I’d love to build more,” he said. “But we’ve got to get this one going first.”

Contact Renee Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com

Trey Wasserburger with his wife Dayna and their children. (Courtesy Photo)

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.

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Wyoming

How Wyoming Game Wardens Cracked The Cody Serial Poaching Case

Published

6 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

How Wyoming Game Wardens Cracked The Cody Serial Poaching Case

For four straight nights, Game Warden Spencer Carstens and a fellow officer sat in an unmarked vehicle at a Cody city park, windows down, staring into the blackness from dusk until 3 a.m.

Nothing happened.

The poaching caper that would become known internally as the “Cody Park Case” had been building since late August 2024, when residents began finding mule deer carcasses in their front yards and floating in a pond at the Park County Complex. The deer body count reached nine.

According to Wyoming Game and Fish, all nine were killed “right in the middle of town where deer like to hang out” by the library, not far from Canal Park and Glendale Park

All shot with a compound bow, all left to rot.

By the time wardens launched their stakeout, and the only lead was grainy security camera footage of a silver car cruising the neighborhood.

The full story of how the case came together is now the subject of an episode of the Wyoming Wildlife Podcast, hosted by Robert Gagliardi, the assistant editor of Wyoming Wildlife magazine. The podcast is a newer offering from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and this particular episode stood out for good reason.

“Our law enforcement stories, those are a fan favorite because they’re very exciting, they’re incredibly interesting, and they do a great job just highlighting just how much work goes into successfully investigating and closing a case like that,” Amanda Fry, public information officer for Wyoming Game and Fish, told Cowboy State Daily.

First Blood

In 2024, the first dead buck appeared in someone’s front yard near a city park, with a blood trail leading across the street and footprints disappearing into the grass. An arrow wound made the cause of death obvious.

“The first thing I kind of thought of was maybe it was a kid,” Carstens recalled for the podcast. A deer in a backyard, shot for fun — that was going to be the end of it.

But then, more reports came in the same day. A second buck, a couple of doors down, also arrowed.

Then a third, in a nearby park, where wardens recovered an arrow — an expandable broadhead fired from a compound bow, a typical hunting setup. Then deer four, five and six. Then number seven, found floating in a pond at the Park County Complex, requiring Carstens to wade out in chest waders to retrieve it.

All nine carcasses — two bucks, six does and a fawn — turned up within a tight radius around the county library and city park, right in the middle of town.

Every animal was shot and abandoned. None were harvested in any way.

“They were just killed and left,” Fry confirmed.

Silver Car

Being in city limits gave wardens tools they rarely get to use. Ring doorbell cameras from cooperative neighbors produced footage of activity on the nights deer were killed. Security cameras at a local business captured a silver car driving slowly up and down the street before parking, and a figure stepping out with a flashlight.

It was the first real break, but the footage was too grainy to identify a make and model, let alone a license plate.

“And of course, it’s one of those deals where there’s just silver cars everywhere you look, once you start looking for them,” Carstens said.

An early lead pointed to a group of teenagers spotted on Ring camera footage running around and riding in the back of a truck. Wardens tracked them down at a local school — only to learn they had been playing a supervised game that night, organized by Cody police. They were ruled out.

With no suspect and deer still turning up dead, Carstens and his team decided to stake out the park. They would sit in the dark and wait.

Forensic evidence was gathered from arrows to catch a serial poacher in Cody (Courtesy: Wyoming Game and Fish)

Fifth Night

By the fifth night of the stakeout, the wardens were running on fumes.

“We’re kind of tired, kind of getting sick of it, trying to figure out what are we going to do next because this isn’t working,” Carstens recalled.

Then they heard it — the unmistakable thwack of a compound bow firing in the darkness, followed by the sound of an arrow hitting flesh.

Using night vision, the wardens looked out into the park. A man was standing there holding a bow, standing over a dead deer.

Carstens crept out of the truck and got as close as he could before making contact. The man bolted.

“I actually get in a foot pursuit with this guy,” Carstens said. “He was a young, pretty fast guy, so he got away from me.”

But the suspect had to have driven there. Wardens fanned out and found the silver car parked about a block away. Peering through the window, they saw an arrow lying on the front seat that matched the one recovered from an earlier crime scene.

And the car was full of fresh groceries.

“Basically went out to get groceries, on his way home decided to pull over and shoot a deer in the park,” Carstens said.

Blood Science

The suspect — later identified as Joshua Tamirat Wielhouwer — fled the state. But wardens had his vehicle and, soon, search warrants for the house where he had been staying. Inside, archery equipment was scattered through multiple rooms. A second vehicle yielded more gear, including a bow and broadheads.

Some of that equipment had blood on it. In some cases, only minuscule traces.

Wardens had also been collecting the deer carcasses and storing them in an evidence freezer. They sent tissue samples from eight of the nine deer to the Wyoming Game & Fish forensics lab, along with every piece of blood-stained archery equipment from the house.

What came back was, in Carstens’ word, “remarkable.”

The lab matched all eight deer to specific pieces of equipment — individual broadheads, arrows and metal inserts — through DNA analysis. Trace amounts of tissue inside a tiny metal arrow insert were enough to tie a specific deer to a specific arrow.

“This is the first case that I’ve worked where we’ve actually been able to take nothing but DNA evidence and make a full case on it,” Carstens said. “Big kudos to the forensics lab. They really helped put this case together. We wouldn’t have a case without them.”

A cell phone search warrant then connected the suspect’s archery equipment to an older case — a beef cow shot with multiple arrows and left to die the year before, a case the Park County Sheriff’s Office had been unable to solve.

Serial Poacher

With a nationwide extraditable warrant issued through the Park County prosecuting office, officers in another state began looking for the suspect. He eventually turned himself in, flew back to Cody and sat in jail for 75 days before posting bail.

A trial was set for February 2025. Before it began, prosecutors and the defense reached a plea deal: guilty on nine of the 18 misdemeanor charges, $18,000 in restitution for the deer and one full year in county jail, with 73 days credited for time served.

The suspect also pleaded guilty to felony destruction of property for the cow, paying restitution to the rancher and accepting three years of supervised probation. All seized archery equipment was forfeited. 

A year behind bars is an unusual outcome for a wildlife case in Wyoming, where penalties more commonly involve fines and revocation of hunting privileges, explained Carstens.

“This guy had never purchased a hunting license in Wyoming,” Carstens said. “He wasn’t really a traditional hunter in the sense that he buys a license, goes out in the field and looks to harvest anything.”

The warden’s best guess at a motive: the suspect was into archery as target shooting and “maybe just wanted to take it to the next level and see what he could do with his bow.”

Forensic evidence was gathered from arrows to catch a serial poacher in Cody — who was also connected to a mutilated cow. (Courtesy: Wyoming Game and Fish)

Team Effort

Carstens credited his fellow wardens and the Game and Fish investigative unit — which considered the dead cow as a possible predator conflict before determining it had been killed by a bow — and the Park County prosecutor’s office.

“This was definitely the most collaborative effort that I’ve been a part of,” Carstens said.

The community played a role too. Neighbors willingly shared security camera footage, and residents who enjoy the town’s urban mule deer herd were eager to see the case resolved.

“Our hope is to cover everything Game and Fish is doing,” Fry said of the Wyoming Wildlife Podcast. “We have terrestrial habitat work, aquatic habitat work, but our law enforcement stories — those are a fan favorite.”

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.

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Wyoming

BLM and Wyoming Honor Farm to Offer Trained Wild Horses and Burros in May

Published

18 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

BLM and Wyoming Honor Farm to Offer Trained Wild Horses and Burros in May

The Wyoming Department of Corrections Wyoming Honor Farm and the Bureau of Land Management have announced they will host an adoption on May 9 in Riverton.

According to a release, for more than 35 years, the Honor Farm has shared the BLM’s commitment to place animals removed from overpopulated herds into good, private homes.

The event will offer saddle-started horses, halter-started yearlings and gentled burros for adoption. Photos of many of the available animals can be seen by following BLM Wyoming on Facebook or X. The organizations are currently developing a Flickr album that will premier in the near future. The horses to be offered all originate from Wyoming public lands.

The Wyoming Honor Farm is located one mile north of Riverton. Take U.S. Highway 26 to Honor Farm Road.

On May 8, gates open at 12:30 p.m. Preview available horses and burros in-person starting at 1:30 p.m. All visitors must be offsite by 3:30 p.m.

On May 9, gates open at 8 a.m. and the competitive-bid adoption begins at 10 a.m.

Both days’ events are free and open to anyone interested in wild horses, the Honor Farm gentling process and the BLM wild horse and burro adoption program.

According to the BLM, it will provide applications and information about how to adopt on both days. The BLM reports the horses and burros are current on their vaccinations, de-worming and Coggins testing. Only covered straight deck or stock type trailers with swing gate and sturdy walls and floors are authorized for loading.

The Wyoming Department of Corrections reports that since 1988, the Honor Farm has helped the BLM place thousands of horses and burros. The WDC has a low recidivism rate, and leadership feels this is largely due to the meaningful work accomplished by the Honor Farm inmates, including the gentling of wild horses. Inmates who are released after working in this program have a greater chance of succeeding in the outside world, according to the WDC.

Refreshments will be available during the event. Ice cream sandwiches will be provided on Friday, May 8. On Saturday, May 9, breakfast and lunch will be available free of charge for attendees.

All members of the public entering the facility will be subject to security checks conducted by GSecurity, including vehicle inspections. For the safety of visitors, staff, and animals – pets, firearms, and alcohol are not allowed on site.

The BLM wishes the public to be aware that cell phones, smart watches, cameras, video equipment and tobacco products must be kept locked in your vehicle while onsite. To maintain a positive environment for visitors, a reasonable clothing standard must be adhered to. Shorts and form-fitting clothing are prohibited.

To learn more about the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, including adoption requirements, visit blm.gov/whb or contact the national information center at 866-468-7826 or wildhorse@blm.gov.

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