OWNERS: MIKE WEST • BRAND NAME: MW RANCH TO TABLE BRAHMAN BEEF • RANCH NAME: MW RANCH
How did you get started selling branded Brahman beef? Because of the corrupted food sources in stores, the ranch to table is a growing trend.
What type of cattle are you using in your beef program? Registered Gray Brahmans and for crosses we use Hereford, Angus, Guernsey and Jersey.
How do you market your branded beef operation? Word of mouth and community connections, restaurant owners, and some custom food businesses, like Good Golly Tamale. They love the chuck roast for their homemade tamales.
Where is your product available for sale? At our ranch.
What cuts do you offer? What is the most popular? We offer all beef cuts including the Brahman Hump Roast, most popular is ground beef/hamburger meat.
How is Brahman beef different than other beef? Less fatty hamburger meat but still very tender and flavorful when using good genetics with EPDs for marbling and tenderness.
Are there any negative preconceived notions about Brahman beef from buyers? No, the average beef buyers don’t know about breeds. They return based on quality.
How interested are people in buying Brahman beef? We use and market registered Brahman so customers can see the pedigree, and they know about the animal lineage. They like to know where they are raised.
Are you retaining kill data to be used with other performance data in your herd? We are just starting to implement ultrasound scanning on our yearlings.
Do you have particular bloodlines that you think are superior based on the meat? We are getting good results out of our V8 279/LMC Polled Passion son, and our young son of the JME Suva Crat 225 bull.
Please describe the biggest challenges of owning a branded beef operation. For me it’s finding the time to get this branded beef where it needs to be as a full, self-sufficient business. The need in our area is here, and there is great interest in our registered Brahman beef. We are also using many of the university studies about how much healthier Brahman beef can be in our marketing and labeling.
• 901-603-9929
• 301 FROG JUMP ROAD, BRIGHTON, TN 38011
• FROGJUMPWEST@AOL.COM
