Niman Ranch
Encyclopedia
Niman Ranch is an Alameda, California
based network of more than 680 U.S. family farmers and ranchers who raise livestock traditionally, humanely and sustainably to deliver the finest-tasting proteins in the world. The Independent family farmers practive the highest standards of animal husbandry and environmental stewardship. The company was founded by rancher Bill Niman (William Ellis Niman).
and elementary school
teacher, moved from Minnesota
to the small coastal town of Bolinas, California
. There he purchased a ranch for $18,000 to begin a part-time pig, goat, and chicken farming operation. His first cattle wN ere acquired as trade for tutoring services.
For several years, Niman operated as a typical family farm
. In 1978 Orville Schell
, journalist
and factory farming
critic, became a partner in the operation, and the company was renamed "Niman-Schell Meats." The next year they began to raise cattle exclusively. The federal government
condemned the then-struggling farm by eminent domain
in 1984 to become part of the Point Reyes National Seashore
. Niman and Schell received $1.3 million in compensation and were allowed to continue grazing cattle on the property for the rest of their lives in exchange for nominal rent
.
but demand was exceeding the company's production capacity. In 1994 Niman met Iowa
pork farmer Paul Willis, of Thorton, Iowa. He was working to revitalize sustainable hog farming methods in the Midwest. Paul's commitment to raising hogs in a humane, old-fashioned way matched Niman Ranch's principals and the Willis meat began being sold under the name "Niman-Schell".
In 1997 Niman undertook an ambitious expansion, aided by management changes and several million dollars of funding. That year investors Rob Hurlbut and Mike McConnell became owner-partners and the company was renamed "Niman-McConnell". Hurlbut, a former manager of coffee
for Nestle
, became CEO. Orville Schell left to become dean of the UC Berkeley
Graduate School of Journalism
. Subsequently, the company also accepted funding
from Pacific Community Ventures, a community development
venture capitalist itself funded in large part by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
.
Revenues grew in the period, from $3 million in 1997 to $5 million in 1998, and $20 million in 2000, as Niman began to sell packaged meats in grocery stores. Despite this growth the company was struggling to survive. This was in part due to the company owned cut shop, an air-freight program and company owned feedlot. Projected revenue for 2008 was $75 million.
s. From nearly the beginning, Niman was unique among small farms in that it sought to create a consumer product brand
. The invention of California Cuisine
, and by extension most modern American cuisine, is often attributed to celebrity chef
Alice Waters
. When Waters opened her iconic Chez Panisse
restaurant in 1971, Bill Niman sent her pork for evaluation. Waters agreed to buy pork from Niman, and included both the name and company logo on her menus.
In 2001 Niman entered an agreement to sell pork to Chipotle Mexican Grill
, an 800-restaurant casual restaurant chain
specializing in Mission-syle burritos and casual Mexican food. To meet the demand, Paul Willis recruited hog farmers, mostly from the Midwest, to raise pigs under contract utilizing the Niman Ranch protocols.
Today Niman Ranch sells to more than 2,500 restaurants and restaurant groups. Retailers like Whole Foods Market and niche grocery stores nation wide.
Success has brought considerable competition. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's now carry their own house brands
of high-quality premium meats, using many of the same production and marketing techniques.
Under new ownership, changes were made within the company to bring Niman Ranch to secure financial position and strengthen the protocols. This included altering the business model. Air-freight was discontinued and a 'spoke and wheel' or centralized distribution system that works with a network of local distributors was put in place. The DSD distribution and cut shop closed and the feedlot was sold. New management ensured premiums were paid to farmers and ranchers.
Practices were developed to support the company's commitment to sustainability including: fewer animals raised per acre, animal waste used as fertilizer on crops, crops are rotated to help ensure the health of the soil and prevent erosion and the use of manure lagoons in prohibited.
Animal protocols are also revised during this time based on recommendations from Dr. Temple Grandin to create the strictest animal handling protocol in the industry. This includes:
•All animals are raised outdoors or in deeply-bedded pens.
•The use of ionophores is prohibited.
•Animals are fed a 100% vegetable diet.
•The use of antibiotics or added hormones is prohibited without exceptions.
•Formal beef protocol is created.
•Livestock always have access to fresh, clean water.
•Lifestock spend their entire lives with their litter and natural social groups.
Bill Niman continues to live on his 1000 acre (4 km²) ranch in Bolinas with his third wife, environmental law
yer and animal welfare
activist Nicolette Hahn Niman. She convinced him to spare from slaughter their pet cow, Girlfriend, when they were first married in 2003. (His first wife died in a horseback riding accident in the 1970s, and his second 11-year marriage ended in divorce). Because Ms. Niman is a vegetarian, Bill Niman eats almost no meat. In 2005 Niman co-authored the "Niman Ranch Cookbook." Written by Nicolette, the book Righteous Porkchop: Finding A Life And Good Food Beyond Factory Farms was released in February, 2009. Despite her own vegetarianism, she argues that nonfactory meat consumption is not necessarily less eco-friendly than a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
s and roasts
, pork chops
, ribs
, and roasts, lamb chops and roasts, ground beef, pork, and lamb, "Fearless Franks" hot dogs (beef or pork, cured
and uncured), pastrami
, corned beef brisket (uncooked), ham
, bacon
, guanciale
, pancetta
, salame, stew
meat and bones, and pig feet. "Uncured" processed meat is preserved with a similar process involving celery
juice, a natural source of nitrites.
." The company works closely with 50 cattle ranchers, nine sheep farmers and 470 pork farmers. Each must agree to a detailed set of "protocols" for raising and treating their animals. These include:
In exchange for agreeing to these terms, Niman Ranch pays a premium of several cents per pound over commercial wholesale
prices. It also guarantees a minimum floor price for pork if the hog market crashes.
in Iowa, lamb in California, and beef in Nebraska
. Farmers are asked to accompany cattle to the slaughterhouse so that the animals are not unduly stressed, and cattle that appear to be under stress are pulled from line until they can be calmed.
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
based network of more than 680 U.S. family farmers and ranchers who raise livestock traditionally, humanely and sustainably to deliver the finest-tasting proteins in the world. The Independent family farmers practive the highest standards of animal husbandry and environmental stewardship. The company was founded by rancher Bill Niman (William Ellis Niman).
Early years
In 1969 Niman, a hippieHippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
and elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
teacher, moved from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
to the small coastal town of Bolinas, California
Bolinas, California
Bolinas formerly Juggville is a coastal unincorporated community in Marin County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bolinas is located west-southwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 36 feet...
. There he purchased a ranch for $18,000 to begin a part-time pig, goat, and chicken farming operation. His first cattle wN ere acquired as trade for tutoring services.
For several years, Niman operated as a typical family farm
Family farm
A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family, and often passed down from generation to generation. It is the basic unit of the mostly agricultural economy of much of human history and continues to be so in developing nations...
. In 1978 Orville Schell
Orville Schell
Orville Hickock Schell III is an activist and writer working on China, and is the Arthus Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and factory farming
Factory farming
Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
critic, became a partner in the operation, and the company was renamed "Niman-Schell Meats." The next year they began to raise cattle exclusively. The federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
condemned the then-struggling farm by eminent domain
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
in 1984 to become part of the Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California, USA. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as a nationally important nature preserve within which existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue...
. Niman and Schell received $1.3 million in compensation and were allowed to continue grazing cattle on the property for the rest of their lives in exchange for nominal rent
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
.
Growth and investment
By 1994, the company had developed a reputation for high quality beefBeef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
but demand was exceeding the company's production capacity. In 1994 Niman met Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
pork farmer Paul Willis, of Thorton, Iowa. He was working to revitalize sustainable hog farming methods in the Midwest. Paul's commitment to raising hogs in a humane, old-fashioned way matched Niman Ranch's principals and the Willis meat began being sold under the name "Niman-Schell".
In 1997 Niman undertook an ambitious expansion, aided by management changes and several million dollars of funding. That year investors Rob Hurlbut and Mike McConnell became owner-partners and the company was renamed "Niman-McConnell". Hurlbut, a former manager of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
for Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, became CEO. Orville Schell left to become dean of the UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
Graduate School of Journalism
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is a graduate professional school on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. It is among the top graduate journalism schools in the United States, and is designed to produce journalists with a two-year Master of Journalism degree.The program...
. Subsequently, the company also accepted funding
Funding
Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money , or other values such as effort or time , for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institutions...
from Pacific Community Ventures, a community development
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
venture capitalist itself funded in large part by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
CalPERS
The California Public Employees' Retirement System or CalPERS is an agency in the California executive branch that "manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million California public employees, retirees, and their families"...
.
Revenues grew in the period, from $3 million in 1997 to $5 million in 1998, and $20 million in 2000, as Niman began to sell packaged meats in grocery stores. Despite this growth the company was struggling to survive. This was in part due to the company owned cut shop, an air-freight program and company owned feedlot. Projected revenue for 2008 was $75 million.
Niman becomes a national brand
Growth of Niman Ranch is credited to restaurants that list it by name on their menuMenu
In a restaurant, a menu is a presentation of food and beverage offerings. A menu may be a la carte – which guests use to choose from a list of options – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established sequence of courses is served....
s. From nearly the beginning, Niman was unique among small farms in that it sought to create a consumer product brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
. The invention of California Cuisine
California Cuisine
California cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion cuisine and in the use of freshly prepared local ingredients.The food is typically prepared with strong attention to presentation...
, and by extension most modern American cuisine, is often attributed to celebrity chef
Celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
Alice Waters
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
. When Waters opened her iconic Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...
restaurant in 1971, Bill Niman sent her pork for evaluation. Waters agreed to buy pork from Niman, and included both the name and company logo on her menus.
In 2001 Niman entered an agreement to sell pork to Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is a chain of restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada specializing in burritos and tacos, founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and based in Denver, Colorado...
, an 800-restaurant casual restaurant chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
specializing in Mission-syle burritos and casual Mexican food. To meet the demand, Paul Willis recruited hog farmers, mostly from the Midwest, to raise pigs under contract utilizing the Niman Ranch protocols.
Today Niman Ranch sells to more than 2,500 restaurants and restaurant groups. Retailers like Whole Foods Market and niche grocery stores nation wide.
Success has brought considerable competition. Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's now carry their own house brands
Store brand
Store brands are a line of products sold by a retailer under a single marketing identity. They bear a similarity to the concept of House brands, Private label brands in the United States, own brands in the UK, and home brands in Australia and generic brands...
of high-quality premium meats, using many of the same production and marketing techniques.
Bill Niman sells company
Saddled in heavy debt, in July 2006, Chicago-based Natural Food Holdings (part of Hilco Equity Partners) bought a major stake in the company; at the time, Niman Ranch was losing close to $3 million. In January 2009, due to bankruptcy, Niman Ranch was merged into its chief investor. The current CEO, Jeff Swain, said that the company is now profitable and is on sound financial footing.Under new ownership, changes were made within the company to bring Niman Ranch to secure financial position and strengthen the protocols. This included altering the business model. Air-freight was discontinued and a 'spoke and wheel' or centralized distribution system that works with a network of local distributors was put in place. The DSD distribution and cut shop closed and the feedlot was sold. New management ensured premiums were paid to farmers and ranchers.
Practices were developed to support the company's commitment to sustainability including: fewer animals raised per acre, animal waste used as fertilizer on crops, crops are rotated to help ensure the health of the soil and prevent erosion and the use of manure lagoons in prohibited.
Animal protocols are also revised during this time based on recommendations from Dr. Temple Grandin to create the strictest animal handling protocol in the industry. This includes:
•All animals are raised outdoors or in deeply-bedded pens.
•The use of ionophores is prohibited.
•Animals are fed a 100% vegetable diet.
•The use of antibiotics or added hormones is prohibited without exceptions.
•Formal beef protocol is created.
•Livestock always have access to fresh, clean water.
•Lifestock spend their entire lives with their litter and natural social groups.
Embezzlement Scandal
In April 2010, former Niman Ranch treasurer Gary Steven Gross was indicted by a federal grand jury of defrauding the company of more than $1.6 million.Bill Niman leaves Niman Ranch
In August 2007 founder Bill Niman left the Niman Ranch after disagreements with a new management team over money and their desire to implement stricter animal protocols. Today Bill Niman is no longer part of the company and is forbidden to use his surname commercially.Bill Niman continues to live on his 1000 acre (4 km²) ranch in Bolinas with his third wife, environmental law
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
yer and animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
activist Nicolette Hahn Niman. She convinced him to spare from slaughter their pet cow, Girlfriend, when they were first married in 2003. (His first wife died in a horseback riding accident in the 1970s, and his second 11-year marriage ended in divorce). Because Ms. Niman is a vegetarian, Bill Niman eats almost no meat. In 2005 Niman co-authored the "Niman Ranch Cookbook." Written by Nicolette, the book Righteous Porkchop: Finding A Life And Good Food Beyond Factory Farms was released in February, 2009. Despite her own vegetarianism, she argues that nonfactory meat consumption is not necessarily less eco-friendly than a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
Production and distribution
Among the products Niman Ranch distributes are beef steakSteak
A steak is a cut of meat . Most are cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers, improving the perceived tenderness of the meat. In North America, steaks are typically served grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole...
s and roasts
Roasting
Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses more indirect, diffused heat , and is...
, pork chops
Pork chop
A pork chop is a cut of pork cut perpendicularly to the spine of the pig and usually containing a rib or part of a vertebra, served as an individual portion.-Variations:...
, ribs
Pork ribs
Pork ribs are a cut of pork popular in North American and Asian cuisines. The ribcage of a domestic pig, meat and bones together, is cut into usable pieces, prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then served....
, and roasts, lamb chops and roasts, ground beef, pork, and lamb, "Fearless Franks" hot dogs (beef or pork, cured
Curing (food preservation)
Curing refers to various food preservation and flavoring processes, especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, nitrates, nitrite or sugar. Many curing processes also involve smoking, the process of flavoring, or cooking...
and uncured), pastrami
Pastrami
Pastrami , is a popular delicatessen meat usually made from beef and, traditionally in Romania, also from pork and mutton. In Israel, "Pastrama" is the term used for sliced chicken and turkey. Like corned beef, pastrami was originally created as a way to preserve meat before modern refrigeration...
, corned beef brisket (uncooked), ham
Ham
Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
, bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
, guanciale
Guanciale
Guanciale is an unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig's jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, Italian for cheek. Guanciale is similar to the jowl bacon of the United States....
, pancetta
Pancetta
Pancetta is Italian bacon, typically salt cured and seasoned with such spices as nutmeg, fennel, peppercorns, dried ground hot peppers and garlic, then dried for at least three months. Associated with Italy, pancetta varies by region. It is also produced broadly in Spain.-Styles:Pancetta can be...
, salame, stew
Stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...
meat and bones, and pig feet. "Uncured" processed meat is preserved with a similar process involving celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
juice, a natural source of nitrites.
Partner farms
Niman Ranch's livestock are "100% traceable from farm to forkFarm-to-table
Farm-to-table refers to, in the food safety field, the stages of the production of food: harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, sales, and consumption. Farm-to-table also refers to a movement concerned with producing food locally and delivering that food to local consumers...
." The company works closely with 50 cattle ranchers, nine sheep farmers and 470 pork farmers. Each must agree to a detailed set of "protocols" for raising and treating their animals. These include:
- Animal feedFodderFodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
is all vegetarian. No animal products other than milk for lambs. - Animals must be humanely raised on environmentally sustainableSustainable agricultureSustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
ranches. - No antibiotics ever.Any animal which requires antibiotics to treat illness will be removed from the herd and not sold as Niman Ranch products, a stricter protocol from the process under Bill Niman. However, the company does use "antimicrobials", which were forbidden under Bill Niman's watch.
- No ionophores, or hormoneHormoneA hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...
supplements. - Animals are individually pre-approved and must be traceable to the farm where they were born.
- All vitamins, mineralsDietary mineralDietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. Examples of mineral elements include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, and iodine...
, and other supplements must be approved. - When it cannot purchase all available supply Niman Ranch favors full-time family farmers.
- Animal protocols were strengthened with the new ownership including working on animal welfare protocols with expeter Dr. Temple Grandin.
- Pens and other enclosures and facilities must allow animals to express their natural behaviors.
- Animals remain with their social groupsGroup (sociology)In the social sciences a social group can be defined as two or more humans who interact with one another, share similar characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity...
. - There are other standards with respect to pen sizes, bedding, bunks, shade, water, treatment of sick or injured animals, and herdingHerdingHerding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group , maintaining the group and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. While the layperson uses the term "herding", most individuals involved in the process term it mustering, "working stock" or...
practices. - Niman Ranch inspects each supplier for adherence to the protocols.
- The 100% AngusAngus cattleAngus cattle are a breed of cattle much used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland, and are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world....
cattle graze on pasturePasturePasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
for 14–18 months. When they reach appropriate weight, they are "finished" on a diet of barley, corn, wheat, soy, molasses, and hay.
In exchange for agreeing to these terms, Niman Ranch pays a premium of several cents per pound over commercial wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
prices. It also guarantees a minimum floor price for pork if the hog market crashes.
Slaughter and butchering
Most Niman Ranch Pork is processed at a slaughterhouseSlaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
in Iowa, lamb in California, and beef in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. Farmers are asked to accompany cattle to the slaughterhouse so that the animals are not unduly stressed, and cattle that appear to be under stress are pulled from line until they can be calmed.
External links
- nimanranch.com (official website)
- Animal Welfare Institute standards for hogs