Southern Farmer

Featured in Southern Farmer

Danny Ray Spalding

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St. Catharine Farm and a group called Kentucky's Choice Homegrown Beef were featured in the June, 2004 summer issue of Southern Farmer. Danny Ray Spalding, Farm Manager of St. Catharine Farm, has proven in a very short time that there is a market for hormone-free, antibiotic-free beef in Kentucky. St. Catharine Farm, a 700 acre crop and beef operation is located in the rolling hills of Washington County. Danny started supplying the residents of St. Catharine Motherhouse with hormone-free, antibiotic free beef about 16 years ago. Cattle are raised on St. Catharine Farm from birth through feedlot, to the processing plant. Danny knows where they came from and that they are fed what has been produced on the farm. In 2002 he started providing the beef for St. Catharine College students (750). It became evident that he could no longer meet the demand. He approached Rick Greenwell from the Extension Office and together they found other farmers in the area that could and world produce the same type of hormone and antibiotic free beef with crops grown on their own farms. Their combined herd numbers around 320 cattle. The farmers making up the group are Jeff Settles, Roger Wilkerson, T.R, and Janice Smith all of Springfield and Ray and Matthew Johnson of Lebanon. The cattle will weigh anywhere from 1,00 to 1200 pounds and must grade USDA Choice to be included in their program. News of this type of beef spread quickly and the demand has grown rapidly in the tri-county area of Washington, Nelson and Bullitt counties. Danny is so confident of his beef that when he serves it he gives you a plastic knife and fork to use. Kentucky Heritage Meats in Louisville, Kentucky and operated by John Medley markets the beef in his store. This has increased the demand in the Louisville area. To promote their beef they have been the food providers at several large gatherings of organizations. Among these are: Davis on the Highlands Bull Sale, Future Farmers of America, St. Catharine Golf Tournament. Word not only of their beef but also their grilling and cooking skills spread and now some of the local factories who want to provide something special for their employees will hire the group to put on the meal. This has proven to be a wonderful marketing tool. They hope that the group will expand but the farmer must be willing to produce the beef according to the set standards. This venture did not just happen over night. A great deal of study and research went into it. The help of the Extension Office of Washington County, The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture played important roles. Danny worked with a UK beef specialist on a special feeding program called intensive grazing for eight years and then with another specialist on meat cuts. The group has been a help to the farmers who had been former producers of tobacco. They hope that their business will grow to such an extent that they will no longer have to rely on tobacco as their cash crop. Getting this beef business off the ground was one of the options for which they used tobacco settlement money as they looked for ways to replace the income lost with tobacco. Rick Greenwell says, "We are trying to offer them a buffet of things. It use to be you took your cattle to the stockyard, but that's not good enough anymore. You've got to really think outside the box and get in there and hustle around if you want to stay in farming today. You've got to form alliances, cooperatives, partnerships. It's hard to make it by yourself anymore." For more information contact Danny Ray Spalding at 859-336-0444 (article adapted from Southern Farmer)