Ninety-two boxes of meat-3,600 pounds, or 14,000 meals-were delivered to Big Sandy by local ranchers working through the nonprofit Producer Partnership, which provided the meat to the community. Both the school and Senior Citizens will benefit.
Shane Chauvet, Co-Founder of Pioneer Producers, was interviewed by KRTV and the Havre paper. He explained that this beef was raised and processed with one goal: feeding local families.
"In November, we sent 12 beef to Producer Partnership to get processed. And today, they're bringing the beef back," Chauvet said.
"This meat will support the school by providing meals for the children and the seniors who need quality beef. A huge thank you needs to go to the ranchers who supplied the meat for this program. About 15 people were involved, including producers, financial supporters, and volunteers."
"The local producers are bringing this back, and they want these kids to have the very best," Chauvet emphasized. "We know where it's coming from. We know what we're sending down, and we know what the end result is going to be."
"We've had more producers coming to us and saying, 'Hey, I'd like to be part of this program.' So we're really excited about the future and what it holds," Chauvet added.
They have also had other communities call and ask how it was organized. Chauvet hopes Pioneer Producers will be a blueprint that can be used all around the state.
They need about 16 beef each year for the program to continue. "We figure between 12 to 16 beef a year is what we're looking at. We'll know more as time passes and we get more solid numbers," Chauvet said.
"I don't know how else to describe it, but it's a very prideful thing for our community," he shared. "Our community did the heavy lifting on this. And it's just, you know what? We're Pioneer proud. Absolutely. Big Sandy takes care of itself and is doing it again.
The board members are Katie Hanson, Glen Terry, Lauren Darlington, Haley, Brown, and Darren Ray. Scout Chauvt is chairman. You can contact any of them if you would like to support their efforts. "We've got to be close to 6000 pounds between the two years."
"This fall, we'll start looking at our biggest challenge, sustainability. We're working at finding ways to be financially sustainable. There are many people with beef, but we're also looking at a time when inputs are as high as they've ever been. When we started this program, a dry cow was worth $700. Now, you take a dry cow into the ring; she's worth $2,000, so I'm concerned. We don't want to exhaust our donors. We don't want people to see us coming and walk the other way. But it is a great organization. It's a very good thing. We've got some steam.
"There's a lot of uncertainty moving forward with everything. But we take it one day at a time and one step at a time. We've got the beef in the cooler now. We will keep looking at different options to keep pushing forward."
We discussed cattle prices and how easy it is for people to think the ranchers are getting rich. "I think that's a misconception because I would rather take my 2014 calf crop and my 2014 expenses. We were much more profitable back then." In years past, ranchers went backward. It's just a misconception. Inputs have increased drastically. I look at the cost of a new bailer back then. It cost $43,000, but today, it's well over $70,000.
The important issue in sustainability is not to misuse the rancher. Anyone can help by donating funds to the project.
