Ebersole Cattle Company receives grant to expand
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Shanen Ebersole of Ebersole Cattle Co. receives a plaque signifying the company as a Choose Iowa grant recipient. The $25,000 grant will be used to develop a new food hub in southwest Iowa.
Ebersole Cattle Co. was recently awarded a $25,000 Choose Iowa Value-Added Grant to help them develop a new food hub in Southwest Iowa and offer home deliveries of beef, pork and poultry.
Located just outside of Kellerton, the Ebersole family was one of 26 Iowa farmers, small businesses and non-profits to receive a Choose Iowa grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Beau and Shanen Ebersole plan to use the grant funds to purchase a refrigerated truck and expand cold storage and delivery of their direct-to-consumer meat bundles.
“We are excited to expand our supply chain by moving more beef,” said Shanen.
For the past 15 years, they have transported their custom packaged beef from Paradise Locker Inc. to Des Moines Cold Storage using lots of individual coolers.
They then spend their Saturday mornings at the downtown Des Moines Farmer’s Market, selling beef to local consumers.
In the past two years, they started shipping beef, pork, lamb and eggs to homes across the Des Moines Metro and SW Iowa.
Partners like Sackett Farms supply pork to help diversify their meat bundles.
Consumers who join the Healthy.HAPPY.Beef club receive 100% grass fed beef delivered to their door every month.
Boxes range in size from 4-5 pounds of beef, to 10, 20, or 40 pounds of beef each month.
They also offer a curated box of “All the Ranchers Favorites” that can be delivered directly to your home on a monthly basis. This 10 pound package of beef, pork and seasonally available lamb includes 3-4 steaks, 2 seasonal cuts, 1 package thick cut bacon, and 4-5 pounds of ground beef, sausage, and pork.
“Moms and families who care about feeding their families local food like the convenience of getting our meat bundles delivered directly to their door,” says Shanen.
Beau and Shanen initially started their operation in 1998 with the purchase of ten cows.
The ranch has since grown into a family affair, as their three children have grown up raising Maine-Anjou cattle alongside Beau and Shanen.
They use horses to help move their 150 cows around to continually graze, so their herd is 100% grass fed.
Known as regenerative grazing, they rotate the cattle, which leaves room for wildlife to eat and live on the land, while building the soil and sequestering carbon.
Calves are born in the fall, and spend their first winter on the cow. They are then harvested before their second winter.
A team of artisan butchers dry age their beef for 14-24 days to enhance the flavor and texture of their beef. It’s then cut, vacuum sealed for maximum freshness, and flash frozen to keep the flavor for 12-24 months, and transferred by cooler to Des Moines Cold Storage.
Small businesses like Ebersole Cattle Co. are able to use the Choose Iowa Grant to help them increase the distribution of Iowa grown, Iowa raised and Iowa made product.
“Consumers are continually looking for more Iowa food, beverages, and ag products to enjoy and these Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants will help Iowa farmers, small businesses, and non-profits build that supply,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “We are so pleased to provide these Choose Iowa cost-share investments because they will enhance the availability of Iowa products while creating positive economic activity in communities, big and small, across our state.”
Individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations that are currently living or operating in Iowa were eligible to apply and preference was given to small to medium-sized entities.
The grant program remains highly competitive, given that requests far exceed the available funding of $463,000.
This year, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship received 63 eligible grant requests totaling $1,130,139.00. Learn more at iowaagriculture.gov.
