Good beef… naturally

All Natural Beef. It’s what’s for dinner at the 3-H Beef Ranch.

The Gene and Kathy Hommel family are in their ninth year of raising and selling USDA Certified All Natural Angus and Charolais Beef on their certified USDA All Natural Age and Source Ranch.

Each calf born on their ranch is under the All Natural Program, meaning they are personally cared for all the way through harvest and are never given growth additives, hormones, or antibiotics.

“These cattle are under strict guidelines,” said Gene, owner and manager of 3-H Beef Ranch. “You can’t give them anything that will leave residue in their system. Once a calf is doctored from a sickness, it can’t go back into the program.”
Gene cooked up the idea to grow and sell All Natural Beef about 11 years ago.

“I just wanted to get premiums and grow the best product we can produce,” Gene said. “There is a new market for it, and we decided we wanted to tap into that.”

To get into the program, the USDA had to audit the Hommels’ management system.

“They check records of when you turn your bulls out, when the first and last calf is born, how you identify calves you doctored, your cattle handling techniques, pens, water, working facilities and grass management,” Gene said.

“There’s a standard for everything you do when raising these cattle.”

The Hommels first marketed their all natural cattle through the US Premium Beef and Myers programs, but last year they decided to get a label and package their own brand of beef.

“Packaging our own beef is a way to take advantage of our genetics and what facilities we have,” Gene said. “It’s been a challenge getting our own label though.

You have to prove everything on it, even that we have five generations in our
family.”

In order to follow one of the many rules, the Hommels have to substitute paddles for hot shots and incorporate new techniques for handling their cattle.

“In the USDA guidelines, it says that ‘cattle must be handled quietly and firmly to avoid unnecessary distress or pain’,” owner and bookkeeper Kathy said. “There is even a certain way we have to put them down if we can’t get them well, like a
Hospice Center.”

Each animal in the program has an Electronic Identification (EID) tag that keeps record of them from their birth to when they are packaged.

“We have been EID tagging our cattle for several years now,” Kathy said. “Gene has truly been on the cutting edge of everything new that has come out.”

The EID tags and the All Natural Program helps consumers know exactly where their beef comes from and what processes the animal has been through up to harvest.

“Some people don’t trust big corporate organizations,” Kathy said. “They hear about beef on the news and then they want to know where it came from, and most people trust home-grown beef and the records we keep.

“We don’t cut corners, and our family works hard to produce a safe product that we can place on our table and one you can place on yours.”

The 3H Beef Ranch’s All Natural Beef brochure says that their healthy beef “emphasizes safety, quality, tenderness, flavor, and marbling.”

“Gene has heart problems, and since we started eating All Natural Beef he hasn’t had anything wrong,” Kathy said. “I know it has everything to do with Prayers, but
I also believe that it has something to do with our healthier diet.”

Gene and Kathy stress that their All Natural Beef is just an option, and they respect other beef production programs.

“We want to promote this positively,” Kathy said. “We also grow beef that isn’t All Natural, and if it was true that it is bad for you, then we wouldn’t be alive right now.”

The Hommel family is now in their 77th year in the cattle business through six generations. They plan to continue their legacy in the cattle industry through their All Natural Program.

“We want to pass this down,” Kathy said. “Gene’s granddad was very into passing the beef business down to our family. We want to make this size operation work so we can pass it on to our kids and grandkids.”