Historic Reesor Ranch adds VBP to their business plan

November 4, 2010

VBP fits this ranch's direct-to-consumer marketing

It's been more than 100 years since Scott Reesor's great grandparents left Ontario for the big sky ranch country of southwestern Saskatchewan. In 1904 they filed their homestead claim in the beautiful rolling lands in the Cypress Hills.

Like many in that era of western migration, theirs was a legacy of challenge, perseverance and eventual triumph. Today, Scott and Theresa Reesor and their children, the fourth and fifth generations of Reesors still live on that original homestead, still run a cow-calf operation, and like their forefathers are still adapting to write their own success story.

Scott and Theresa are building on the beauty and history of their ranch by diversifying their business base for the future. They have transformed a bed and breakfast started by Scott's mother into a thriving guest ranch, including new guest cabins built around an historic theme that enables them to share their heritage with visitors. They sell a small amount of beef off the ranch to guests and have expanded into selling bottled water from a spring on their land under the Reesor Springs label.

With many direct-to-consumer opportunities and an obvious passion for their industry, the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program was an obvious addition to their operation. They heard about VBP in the fall of 2009 and moved quickly to full participation. "It tweaked our interest when we first heard about it, and by December of that year we were at a VBP workshop and enrolled in the program," says Theresa.

Why VBP

At the year-round guest ranch, the Reesors have an opportunity to connect directly with consumers that most beef producers never get. VBP complements the conversations they are already having with guests and illustrates their commitment to livestock production.

"With our combination of tourism and the cattle business, we just thought it was a win-win for us. It gives us a chance to educate visitors about beef, on-farm food safety and to build consumer confidence as a Verified Beef Production operation," says Theresa who is a passionate advocate for the cattle industry and their way of life.

"People expect to eat beef when they come here so it is a great opportunity to talk about our beef and for them to take some Reesor Ranch beef home after their visit," she says.

The VBP process proved easy to adapt. After completing the workshop, they took the sample records and manual home to the ranch and haven't found much additional effort required in keeping things up-to-date. "They were all things we were doing already, it was just a matter of doing the paperwork and recording it," says Scott. "Any extra work that goes into it is outweighed by the benefits we get out of it."

The Reesors completed the initial validation audit in June and are happy with the process. "It was a really good day with our auditor. We went through the checklist and covered all the food safety issues, medication, safe injection sites and withdrawal times in just a few hours," says Theresa. Aside from reinforcing the best practices already in place, they picked up a few useful tips.

One example of improved procedure was the safe injection site protocol. Understanding the process at the packing plant helps to steer their choice of injection site. "Based on how meat is processed at the packing plants we found that the neck makes a better injection site than the rump."

They found the process of recording information makes them more aware of the things they are already doing such as medications they are using and withdrawal times. "It's just common sense and good practice," says Theresa. The program is also flexible enough to allow producers to use record keeping systems already in place.

VBP ambassadors

The Reesors have become a standard bearer for the VBP program, discussing it with family, friends and neighbours. "People see the sign on the property and on our website and ask what that means. We are always looking for good things that we can talk about and good stories in the beef industry," says Theresa.

"We get a lot of questions like 'What's that all about? Is that organic?'" she says. They take the time to explain how they raise their 100 - 150 head of cattle in a very natural setting which allows them to reduce the amount of additional work they need to do with the cattle.

Scott believes the majority of producers are already well versed in the Best Management Practices that are the basis of the VBP program. "They may not realize it and look at VBP as more work, but it fits within most programs. VBP could really build and have more people involved in it if the extra work was reflected in their paycheque at the end of the day."

The ultimate industry goal, Theresa adds, is for the market to recognize the additional value to consumers of having a strong VBP program. Stronger recognition of good stewardship practices will encourage consumers to eat more beef and will add value to the producer's business and to the industry as a whole.

For more information on the VBP program go to www.verifiedbeef.org. For more information on the Reesor Ranch go to www.reesorranch.com.