Marin Sun purchase of slaughterhouse could be a game-changer for sustainable meat

What started out as a nightmare for small cattle ranchers in Northern California could turn out to be the game-changer sustainable meat has been waiting for. Rancho Feeding Co., the Petaluma-based slaughterhouse that closed down last week after recalling 9 million pounds of beef because some of it may have come from what the Department of Agriculture has described as “diseased and unsound animals,” is being bought by Marin Sun Farms, one of the nation’s pioneers in grass-fed beef. And Marin Sun owner David Evans is promising to turn it into a one-stop shop that can provide every service a small rancher might need -- from slaughter to sales. “We’re going to completely rewrite the program of how animals are handled, we’re going to be a totally new business,” says Evans, a fourth-generation cattle rancher who began growing grass-fed beef back in 1998 on his family ranch in west Marin County. After decades of meat industry consolidation, independent slaughterhouses have become a rarity, particularly ones that will work with small farmers. Rancho was the last one in Northern California and without it, ranchers were facing having to truck their cattle south to either Los Banos or Modesto, a drive of several hours from the North Bay and even farther for ranchers in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. At a time when ranchers in general -- and growers of grass-fed and sustainable beef in particular -- are struggling to stay alive, that could have been a death sentence. “David is basically rescuing North Bay ranching,” says cattleman Mike Gale of Chileno Valley Ranch, located just west of Petaluma. “All of us who work with pasture-finished animals are grateful to him. This is really the hope of the future for sustainable ranching.” Now, if Marin Sun’s purchase goes as planned, not only will those ranchers keep their conveniently located slaughterhouse, but they’ll also have access to butchers who can craft individual cuts of meat from whole carcasses, marketers who can help sell and distribute the meat, and even a buyer for any meat they can’t sell to their own customers...more