BOULDER, Colo.—If beef is what’s for dinner, officials in Boulder think it should carry the city’s name.
Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department is developing a “Boulder brand for natural beef,” according to city documents.
And at the same time, the department is looking at partnering with a mystery company to convert about 200 acres of open space grazing land into a large “farm-to-table” facility as part of the city’s push for more local food production.
The open space department now owns about 14,000 acres of land that is leased to local farmers for use in agricultural production. The uses include hay production and growing crops such as wheat, corn and barley.
But the vast majority of Boulder’s agricultural property—about 78 percent—is used for grazing. And because the city has put tight restrictions on the use of pesticides on pastures, city officials say cattle raised on the land could be labeled as “natural beef.”
“There would be a substantial advantage to develop a ‘Boulder brand’ for natural beef,” a recent memo to the City Council reads. “The Boulder brand for natural beef, which would require clear requirements and definitions, would allow lessees access to more consistent local markets and progress toward community interests.”
Mike Patton, the department’s director, said creating such a brand would require the city to develop strict criteria for cattle management such as prohibiting the use of antibiotics.
“There is no definition for natural beef or, really, any natural product,” he said.
In 1925, Boulder County was home to 27,499 head of cattle, according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. In 2007, the most recent year of the census count, the number of cattle in the county had dropped to 10,771.
About a half-dozen ranchers now have sizable livestock herds on city open space, according to Patton.
“If we looked at our current users, probably 60 percent would already qualify” as being natural beef, he said. “It’s an interesting prospect, and we think it has some real possibilities.”
He said the city might be able to work with those ranchers to provide natural beef directly to stores such as Whole Foods or Alfalfa’s.
“We might be able to cut out the middle man,” Patton said.
Brothers Babe and Leo Hogan are fourth-generation beef cattle ranchers who lease more than 8,000 acres of open space from the city of Boulder and some additional land from Boulder County. It’s land their family sold to the city and county in the 1980s.
On Monday, Babe Hogan said he’s supportive of the city’s idea to develop a local brand of natural beef.
So was Terry Fankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
“I’m sure that would be a welcome opportunity for beef producers,” he said.
Bill Capsalis, a natural foods consultant and a member of the board of directors for Naturally Boulder, a trade association representing the organic and natural foods industry in Boulder, also applauded the effort.
“The Boulder brand is definitely recognized across the country,” he said.
Creating a natural beef product would fit with the “long history of Boulder in the natural, organic industry,” he added.
“Maybe it’s a sign of things to come in terms of the local economy taking control of its own food production.”
At the City Council’s annual retreat Saturday, the leaders briefly discussed how to prioritize a natural beef program.
Councilwoman Suzy Ageton asked the staff to make the project “a very low priority.”
“There are other issues that I think we want to focus on,” she said.
But others, like Councilman Macon Cowles, said that developing a Boulder brand of natural beef would help further the city’s goal of promoting local food production.
And, he said, “We have a lot of beef eaters in the county.”
The council didn’t make the program a top priority, but it didn’t quash the idea either. That means the next steps for the open space department include assessing current beef production systems in Boulder and researching the best practices for producing natural beef.
Already, open space staffers have been working with lessees, local grocers and restaurant owners to develop a definition for Boulder natural beef and a plan for branding and selling natural beef to local markets.
Additionally, city documents show that the open space department is looking into partnering with a private vendor to create a large organic farm on open space lands that are now used for animal grazing.
“Open Space and Mountain Parks has developed a list of properties that can be converted from animal forage to local, organic food production,” a memo from the department to the City Council reads. “We are currently in negotiations with a local producer to develop a large, organic ‘farm to table’ operation that could involve three or more OSMP properties and would exceed 200 acres.”
Patton, the open space director, declined to identify the potential private partner on that project because the deal isn’t final. He said the partner is a “knowledgeable” producer and that an announcement on that project could come within two weeks.
A decision on the natural beef program is expected within 90 days.
