Benton Ag Plus - October 3, 2020 by Star Publications

BENTON AG Plus

Sauk Rapids Herald | Saturday, October 3, 2020

Serving rural Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec counties

The path to

Backroad Meats Meat processor starts business in changing market BY ANDREA BORGERDING STAFF WRITER

deer. “I enjoy it,” Rob said. “I’ve always liked butchering and smoking meat.” Rob and Amanda began planning their MILACA – As with any new business, the road to a successful startup meat processing plant in August 2017. can be a bumpy one. For Rob and Amanda Isaacson, the Backroad Meats page 2B road to their new business, Backroad Meats, was not only bumpy but a curvy one as they learned the ropes of a new business and managing a business during a tumultuous time. Backroad Meats is a custom meat processing shop located north of Milaca. The plant does full processing from butchering to processing and packaging meat. The shop opened for business in December 2019. They process mostly hogs but also do steers, cows, bear and

PHOTOS BY ANDREA BORGERDING

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Rob and Amanda Isaacson stand in front of their butcher shop Sept. 25 near Milaca. The Isaacsons opened their shop in December 2019.

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Page 2B | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020 | SAUK RAPIDS HERALD

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Amanda and Rob Isaacson visit Sept. 25 inside their butcher shop, Backroad Meats, near Milaca. The Isaacsons’ new business has taken off and they are booked through the end of the year.

equipment,” Rob said. “I knew what I wanted, and I knew I could work with it. I would rather buy a dilapidated piece of equipment, polish it up and fix it before I can afford to buy a new one.” This likely saved the Isaacsons thousands of dollars in upfront equipment costs. With building plans in hand and a general layout of the floorplan, construction began in September 2019. “We just wanted to get it up and going,” Rob said. Backroad Meats was operating in December 2019. In business for several months, the Isaacsons saw a sudden increase in business this past spring. “In March, we were busy but not crazy busy,” Amanda said. “We had a week’s worth of work. I began advertising that customers could buy a hog from a local farmer and we would process it.” Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, dramatically changing the meat market industry. “It definitely intensified business for

us,” Amanda said. While still learning the ropes of a new business, the Isaacsons found themselves suddenly inundated with phone calls. By May 1, Backroad Meats was booked until July 1. One month later, they were booked through the end of the year in processing. Isaacsons worked with a local hog farmer to offer to process the hogs if customers bought the hog from the farm directly. The working agreement continues today. At one time, the Isaacsons had 100 hogs on the schedule to be processed. At their peak, Backroad Meats processed 28 hogs in one week. “It works out good for everyone,” Rob said. “The farmer always has hogs available, and the meat quality speaks for itself.” The change in market also brought an opportunity the Isaacsons had not considered until that point – selling retail.

At that time, they obtained a conditional use permit from the county to allow them to build a commercial building on 2 acres of property they own. Their residence is 100 yards from the commercial building. The permit was just the beginning of a long, tedious process of securing financial assistance and permitting with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. “Financing was harder than I thought it would be,” Amanda said. “To do a start-up business – to start with nothing and say you want to do this – is really hard.” Armed with a business plan and threeyear projections, the Isaacsons visited several financial institutions before eventually working with Entrepreneurial Foundation in Duluth and Backroad Meats East Central Energy in page 3B Milaca. Next was working with MDA to be sure their building plans were up to code. “Permitting was a long process,” Rob said. “We have two septic tanks here – one for the kill floor and one for sewage. We had to follow these guidelines to be sure everything was up to code.” Meanwhile, Rob watched auctions to buy equipment from retiring meat lockers. All of the equipment he purchased was an out-of-pocket expense. The Isaacsons spent up to $70,000 on used equipment, some of which needed work or rebuilding. Carcasses hang in the walk in cooler Sept. 25 at Backroad “We would go broke Meats butcher shop near Milaca. The shop is often at if we had to buy all new capacity for storing meat.

BENTON AG

SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020 | Page 3B

Backroad Meats from page 2B

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CONSIGNMENT AUCTION PHOTOS BY ANDREA BORGERDING

Rob Isaacson opens the overhead door where animals enter the kill floor at his processing facility near Milaca. Rob does full processing at his butcher shop and prefers to process animals from local farmers.

favorite. Aside from brats, making sausage is another of Rob’s favorite jobs. “I use some of my own seasonings in the sausage,” Rob said. “I also like to make my own rubs and barbecue sauces.

I will do hog roasts for friends and family.” Rob enjoys processing hogs, which allows him to run the smoker for ham and bacon. “People just rave about the bacon,” Rob

said. As good as his products are, Rob knows it would not be possible without the local farmers raising quality animals. Working with the local farmers is a part of his business that Rob appreciates. “The farmers undervalue their product,” Rob said. “I try to work with customers to get a little more money for the farmer. They go through all the work of raising the animal. They may as well make a buck on it.” Looking ahead, Backroad Meats will be processing 56 hogs, four steers and a cow in the next month. November and December are blocked off for deer processing. They are expecting to process 300 deer this year. By December, the Isaacsons are projecting to have processed 80,000 pounds of meat in one year of operation. “We were hoping to be this busy two years Rob Isaacson looks over the equipment in his butcher down the road and here shop Sept. 25 near Milaca. Most of the equipment was we are nine months in,” purchased to help save on costs. Rob said.

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“We never planned to do retail,” Amanda said. “That was not even an option so this really changes everything.” Last summer, MDA approached the Isaacsons to participate in a program called fast track to equal-to. The program had inspectors visit the butcher shop weekly to assist with paperwork and help speed up the equalto licensing. The license allows Backroad Meats to sell retail products. “By the end of the year, we will be able to sell retail as long as we get permitting through the county,” Rob said. Backroad Meats has been approached by several local businesses asking them to provide items to sell. Selling retail will provide more opportunity for the business but also brings growth challenges for the small startup butcher shop. “We have plans for a 26- by 30-foot addition that will allow space for packaging and grinding hamburger,” Rob said. For now though, the Isaacsons are looking to settle in and find a daily routine that they never had time to establish. They noted the need to work through bottlenecks, including a freezer that quickly reaches capacity. “The freezer is often full so customers need to pick up meat as soon as it is ready,” Rob said. Backroad Meats has the capacity to process seven pigs a day. “We got so busy so fast that we never really learned how to schedule stuff,” Amanda said. “People started calling and we just started writing them in here and there instead of having scheduled kill days and processing days.” The Isaacsons have been able to find help from friends, family and neighbors who are willing to help package and process meat. Even through the busyness of the past few months, Rob likes the process of taking a live animal into a meat product for customers to enjoy. Rob will experiment with new products. His latest product being a bacon cheeseburger dill pickle brat that gained rave reviews from customers. Rob also began making bratwurst patties, also a customer

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Page 4B | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020 | SAUK RAPIDS HERALD

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Darrell Larsen stands among the cattle pens Sept. 24 on his farm near Royalton. Larsen is retiring from raising registered Texas Longhorns after 30 years.

ROYALTON RO OYALTON – It ttook just one walk into a pasture Longhorns for Darrell Larsen to fall in full off Texas Longhorn love w with the breed. “They “T They are just gorg gorgeous,” Larsen said. “The cattle are in eevery different co color.” After Af fter 30 years of raising registered Texas Longhorn ccattle, attle, Darrell and wife Arlene are dispersing their herd. A Although the cattle, cattl often in a wide array of reds, brown browns ns and blacks and varying shapes and spans of horns w will no longer gra graze his pastures on his farm near Royalt Royalton, ton, Larsen will continue breeding Red Angus cattle. Larsen La arsen recalls fond fondly his travels in the past 30 years, including market marketing meat and purchasing breeding sto stock ock for his herd of Texas Longhorns. His Hi is journey with ccattle began in 1980 when the Larsen Larsens ns moved to his fa father’s farm as a fourth generation. T They started with rraising hogs and chickens. They rented out their pasture for many years before deciding to pur purchase rchase their own ccattle. ““II couldn’t decide what kind of breed,” Larsen said. ““I visited both Ch Charolais and Hereford herds and foundd disappointments in both of them.” L Larsen arsen saw an ad ffor registered Texas Longhorns for sa sale. ale. At first glance, glanc Larsen knew he wanted to raise Longhorns. “They are very do docile,” Larsen said. “I can walk up tto most of them an and grab the end of their horn.” The history of Te Texas Longhorns was also importannt to Larsen. tant

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from page 4B Texas Longhorns once thrived in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “They were very numerous back then,” Larsen said. “But then, the European breeds came in with faster gaining rates and increased in popularity.” To build their herd, Larsen bought cattle from herds in Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas and Ohio. In 1998, the Larsens visited a Texas ranch owned by former Vikings Football team owner, Red McCombs. “We bought two cows from that sale,” Larsen said. “One was from Red’s breeding and another was consigned to the sale.” As his herd grew in numbers, Larsen began direct marketing the beef quarters. Beef from Texas Longhorn cattle is lean and considered high quality. “Longhorns are not as big as some other breeds, but they make up for it in efficiency and quality of

their beef,” Larsen said. Larsen suggests Longhorns for someone who wants to feed out the animals and direct market the meat. “Direct marketing is a lot of extra work,” Larsen said. Larsen stopped breeding purebred registered Longhorns about 10 years ago and began crossbreeding to Red Angus to increase the chances of getting solid red calves. At that time, the herd had grown to about 50 animals. “When we decided to increase our herd numbers, we wanted to enjoy a breed that we didn’t have to direct market

SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020 | Page 5B

beef,” Larsen said. In addition to selling beef, Larsen also sold registered purebred Texas Longhorn breeding stock. At one time, his market was half beef sales and half breeding stock. “Raising breeding stock is enjoyable,” Larsen said. “But, we are on the northern edge of that market. It’s more popular in southern states where they have year-round grazing.” Larsen sold breeding stock to several farms in Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota. “We traveled a lot,” Larsen said. “We enjoyed showing them to many folks and we helped several with start-up operations.” Larsen’s herd of Texas Longhorns was most notable for their calm demeanor and larger-bodied cows. Larsen said some people are looking for horn length, where he wanted to keep body size and conformation the focus of his herd’s breeding program. Calving ease, disease resistance and hardiness are all consistent features of the Texas Longhorn breed. Larsen

sold a lot of breeding stock that went to crossbreeding for calving ease. “There are some folks who think if you are going to have a Texas Longhorn it’s going to be skinny and scrawny with big horns, but you can get breeding stock with some size to them,” Larsen said. One of Larsen’s favorite bulls, Diamondcut, weighed 2,020 pounds at maturity. “I think we had good body size and mildmannered animals in our herd,” Larsen said. “Our cattle were calm.” Through the years, Larsen noted the increasing emphasis on breeding for horn length. When Larsen started with the breed, a 50-inch horn was sought. Today, a 60-inch length is standard. Looking back at the cattle he raised at his farm during his career, Tequila Chaser was Larsen’s favorite Longhorn bull. He had him for eight years. Larsen’s favorite Longhorn cow, Dakota, was recently sold. “We also had pet steers through the years,” Larsen said. One steer, Lazarus, roamed Larsen’s pastures for many years as a pet.

The Larsens were longtime members of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association, a national organization where registrations are filed, and active members in the Minnesota Northstar Texas Longhorn Association where Larsen was president for two years. Larsen also showed yearling bulls and heifers at the Minnesota State Longhorn Show, winning Grand Champion State Bull three times. “Some of my favorites were yearling bulls,” Larsen said. “I one time led a 2-year-old bull with a halter at the sales barn in Albany.” Everyday management of Longhorns was minimal for Larsen. The breed’s hardiness, calving ease and disease resistance lends to less management of the herd. Larsen rarely vaccinated the cattle. “They were less maintenance in one sense, but another is you have to

have open-top feeders that are conducive to horns,” Larsen said. Cows were fed straight hay and grazed in the pasture. Calves were fed grain. Larsen said Longhorns are probably easier if not just as easy as most breeds because they are self-sustaining. “That’s how they got popular in this country,” Larsen said. “They went on the wild for a while and built up disease resistance, hardiness and calving ease.” This past summer saw the remaining of Larsen’s Longhorn cattle going to new homes as he downsizes to raising Red Angus and Simmental cattle. The transition is bittersweet as he recalls his 30-year career of raising Texas Longhorns. “We enjoyed the people we met, the sales we made and traveling for purchases of breeding stock,” Larsen said.

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This cow is one of Darrell Larsen’s last Texas Longhorn on his farm near Royalton.

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A study from the Boston Consulting See and Spray weed killer machine. It uses cameras and high tech software to Group “Crop Farming 2030 – The identify weeds hiding amongst the crop Reinvention of the Sector,” has identified and then spraying the individual plants the most influential trends that will with herbicide. affect farming through 2030. According The machine processes images of to the report, several mega trends are plants more than 20 times per second combining that will determine the while traveling 12 mph through the field future of farming including the use of and with each spray nozzle operating technology, consolidation and labor independently, the machine can spray shortages. The Business in roughly 4-inch squares across the Quoting from the report, “In of Farming width of the machine. In the future, the the past decade, precision farming by Roger Strom spraying target will be even smaller. has already begun to revolutionize The robot sprayer will supposedly reduce farming practices, and we expect its growing influence to promote improvements in variable the amount of herbicide needed by 80% to 90% rate applications in seeding, fertilizing and crop and eliminate the need for specially developed herbicide resistant seed. protection.” They hope to have a machine available for Sixty percent of the farmers interviewed believe that precision farming will be widely farmers in about four to five years. There is no adopted by 2030. Its spread will be enabled by the indication of what it will cost, but once it reaches increased use of sensors, software and wireless the open market, it is going to totally change connectivity on farming implements, thereby the pesticide and seed industry. Farmers will no turning plows, planters, spreaders, sprayers and longer need specialty herbicides and genetically modified seed that have allowed them to spray other add-ons into intelligent equipment. The report also listed a labor shortage as a trend entire fields to kill weeds without damaging the that will determine the future look of agriculture. crop. There are reports that the big companies such By labor shortage, they are referring to the trend of a growing number of family members who as Bayer, DowDuPont, BASF and Syngenta are choose careers outside of farming, forcing many bracing for the impact this equipment will have retiring farmers to sell their land leading to more on their business with investors prediciting the technology will put Bayer and Syngenta’s crop consolidation. While on the subject of technological businesses at risk. … just sayin’. advances, John Deere has been perfecting their

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Have you finished everything on your autumn to do list? It can be hard to get everything done. However, if you are hoping to enjoy some of your favorite flowers and save money next spring, you should be sure to dig and store your tender bulbs. Tender bulbs include tuberous begonia, freesia, dahlias, gladiolus, caladiums, canna, oxalis and calla lilies and store them indoors for winter. If

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not dug up and stored in the proper manner, they will not survive the cold Minnesota winter. The general rule of thumb is to dig your tender bulbs out of your gardens after the foliage begins to dry up or is killed by frost. Once the timing is right, carefully dig up the tender bulbs. Use a fork or spade to gently loosen the roots several inches away

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from the plant’s base. Typically, it works best to loosen the soil on all sides of the plant before attempting to lift up the clump. It is important to avoid cutting, breaking or skinning the fleshy material. If damage is done, it makes the structure more susceptible to disease or rot. After the bulbs are dug clean the tender bulbs. Most plants need a gentle wash; however gladiolus corms store best if left unwashed and simply let dry out. Be sure to dust off any soil before putting in storage. Then, the bulbs will need to cure. Curing time varies depending on species. Dahlias, cannas, callas and caladiums have a short curing period of only one to three days. Gladiolus, oxalis and freesia require a longer curing period of approximately three weeks. Gladiolus should cure in temperatures of approximately 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. All tender bulbs should be stored out of direct sunlight and in wellventilated areas. Next, be sure to inspect for pests before

storing away. Pests include both insects and fungus or other diseases. You may consider lightly dusting with an insecticide or fungicide according to the product’s label to avoid pests over winter. Long winters can make it difficult to remember exactly which bulbs are which come spring. I recommend labeling your bulbs as you put them in their final storage space. Finally, choose a location that is going to have a consistent temperature appropriate for your bulbs storage. Freesia, gladiolus, and oxalis should be stored at 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Cannas and dahlias should be stored at 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Tuberous begonia, caladium and calla lily should be stored at 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Throughout the winter you will want to check your bulbs to ensure there are no signs of rot. If you notice rot or other similar issues, remove any material that shows signs before the entire stock, and all of your work, is lost.

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Page 8B | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020 | SAUK RAPIDS HERALD

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Alex Udermann packages a variety meat bundle for a customer Aug. 26 at the farm near Sartell. The meat is stored in one of five deep freezers before being sold to customers.

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Eventually, when her dairy employer experienced health problems, she worked there solely, managing the dairy. She and Alex met in 2015 and married in 2017, when she came to Meadowbrook. She does the breeding work on the farm, along with various other chores. The two have taken great satisfaction in their meat-selling venture. “It’s from the farm to your table and you can see where your product is coming from,” Kirsten said. “You want to be honest and have a fair price.” Alex agreed. “We were selling before COVID, but we never changed our price;

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SAUK CENTRE, MN 320-352-6543 • Hwy. 71 South

PIERZ, MN 320-468-2161 • Hwy. 27 West

www.modernfarmequipment.com BA-Octs-1B-WS

ACME TRACTOR AND EQUIPMENT, INC. www.dealerwebsite.com

SAUK CENTRE, MN 2222 •MAIN STREET 320-352-6543 Hwy. 71 South SOMEWHERE, A A

PIERZ, MN 2222 MAIN STREET 320-468-2161 • Hwy. 27 West SOMEWHERE, A A