Anyone who knows quality beef will tell you that the plastic shrink wrapped stuff you find at the local Piggly Wiggly sure ain't it.  And the truth is, finding flavorful, tender meat that hasn't been pumped full of hormones, antibiotics and other foul stuff is getting tougher as neighborhood butchers become fewer and far between and the race to meet growing demand while increasing profits. 

That's why we were pleased to come across the folks at Painted Hills Natural Beef, a conglomerate of Wheeler County, Oregon based ranchers who decided to eliminate the inconsistencies in beef products while producing natural meat of the highest quality.  The result?  Phenomenal taste and tenderness sans all of the nasty additives. 

We had the pleasure of speaking with Will Homer, Operations Manager for Painted Hills, getting his take on all things beef.  Check it out below as well as a video with one of the ranchers in the Painted Hills group.

(A SmokeInDaEye wood fired Painted Hills ribeye w/ a roasted garlic, carmelized onion and parsley compound butter)

SmokeInDaEye asks:  When was Painted Hills formed?

Will Homer replies:  Painted Hills was formed in 1996 when the ranchers of Wheeler County were struggling in the current cattle market.  They took the initiative to create something for themselves.  Antibiotics were always a consumer awareness issue and so they set out to produce beef without the use of antibiotics and hormone implants.  There are 7 of those original members who form the board and give the support to make Painted Hills Natural Beef operate today.

SIDE:  What was the inspiration behind its creation?

WH:  It really started as survival.  The cattle market had ‘tanked’ and these folks were desperate to make something happen.  They got a State grant to hire an employee and ‘get started’.  Once the money ran out, rather than see things shrivel and die they pulled together and did the work themselves.  Through hard work and perseverance they drove forward and built the base for the program we have today.

SIDE:  You currently only sell wholesale, correct?  Any chance of creating a retail offering for us competition barbecue teams looking to gain an edge?

WH:  Find an answer to costly refrigerated freight and you can buy direct!  An option, call our friends at Foods in Season.  http://www.foodsinseason.com/

SIDE:  What's the biggest challenge facing ranchers today?

WH:   Public Lands: the threat that the use of grasses of Public Lands may be taken away.  Water: the threat that water access is going to be taken away.  Returns: the lack of real profitability in the production of beef.  The average age of a Rancher is 57 years old and getting older every day.  There is very little return, there is no profit in ranching.  The process is all about margin control.  A rancher basically has to save himself to a break even position year after year.  There is no room on a margin based ranch with a 50-ish family to make room for a younger 20-ish generation to move in and take over.  There is no money to draw youth in to the industry.  The American Cattle Industry has been shrinking since the early 80’s.  There is no turn in sight.  I want to be able to keep this ranch here in Fossil.  I have not yet discovered the secret to make that happen.  Maybe they’ll bring us some windmills.

SIDE:  Can you give our audience more insight into what constitutes natural and organic meat?

WH:  First, just to muddy the waters, all beef qualifies as Natural.  There is very little regulation to the use of the term Natural on beef.  That is why you see all the ground beef in Wal-Mart has a Natural Beef stamp.  So, what is regulated is the claims that go along with the term Natural, No Hormones, No Antibiotics, Vegetarian Diet.  No Hormones; PHNB does not allow the use of Hormone implants in the raising our the cattle.  Hormones are used in all regular practices to cause cattle to finish faster and more efficiently.  The  Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) requires the use of the word Added because Hormones are found naturally in the animal.  No Antibiotics; PHNB does not allow any cattle in the program that have received any sort of antibiotic.  This includes a practice in generic beef where cattle are fed low levels of antibiotics to keep cattle from getting sick.  We do not allow this either.  Again FSIS forces the term Added.  PHNB also does not allow the animals to be fed any type of animal bi-product.  It is not illegal to feed animal protein sources, like chicken feather to ruminant animals.

Organic has a high level of USDA regulation.  Everything in the production of Organic beef has to be certified from the rahc where it is raised to the butchers counter where it is sold. 

SIDE:  And who qualifies that these standards are met, the USDA?

WH:  We have a relationship with the USDA where the FSIS regulates our claims then the local USDA inspection within the processing plant reviews the paperwork and the cattle to insure all practices are met.

SIDE:  From a flavor and consistency standpoint, how does natural and organic beef differ from commercial beef?

WH:  Because PHNB procures cattle from the same core producers and because we finish cattle in the same facilities our primary focus is consistency.  Commercial beef is processed in a MUCH larger scale.  There is no way to insure consistency when commercial harvest consists of 20K head of cattle every day spread across the US.  Once the item is in the box it is traded as a commodity all over the world.  They cannot mange consistency.

SIDE:  What other factors can change the flavor profile of meat?

WH:  PHNB is a believer that “you are what you eat”.  The cattle in the PHNB program is fed a ration that includes corn.  The corn brings a sweet, buttery flavor profile to the beef.  You can find this sweet flavor in every cut from the Ribeye Steak to the Ground Beef.

SIDE:  What are your thoughts on wet versus dry aging?

WH:  Aging is a process that admittedly does enhance tenderness in eating experience.  However, I do believe that aging creates a bitter twang once the product reaches 30 days.  For a program that tries to sell beef based on a sweet taste I think aging is counter productive if held too long.  As for Dry vs. Wet, I am going to abstain from that battle.

SIDE:  Let's say you were having one final meal.  What cut of beef would you go for?

WH:  Culoutte Steak, Med-rare, lightest of salt and pepper.

SIDE:  Any other areas of interest we didn't cover off?

WH:  PHNB has had great success in the food service industry.  We sell beef in restaurants from Hawaii to Boston and all points in between.  This is a working testament to our beef quality.  Restaurateurs’ by beef with their mouths, they buy based on quality and taste.  They also sway with the latest craze.  We have been in many of these locations for many years.  That says volumes for the quality and consistency of the product PHNB is trying to produce.


SIDE:  Thanks so much for your time, Will, and for doing so much to bring consistent quality to our tables!