Tag Archives: beef

Local Beef Creates a Local Restaurant Favorite

Posted on by

Bostwick, GA |

Here in the small town of Bostwick lays this small, quaint market café; Market 83, where inside you’ll find friendly faces, and fresh, mouthwatering smash burgers cooked to order. It’s a concept Stan and Venessa Nabors have always loved but thought it would look differently than it does now.

“Back when we first started selling our beef, one of Stan’s goals was he wanted to have a hamburger in a restaurant. So we tried that. We approached restaurants. We had restaurants approach us, and the door just felt like it kept slamming. So, just one day I told Stan jokingly, I said, ‘you know what? We’re going to have our own place one day where we can serve our own hamburgers using our ground beef'”, says Vanessa Nabors, Owner of Market 83.

That idea of course is now very much a reality for the Nabors, as they opened up the café last Fall. According to Vanessa, it has been nothing but a dream come true, as they’ve gotten to put their passion and hard work ethic to good use by raising a great herd of cattle that’s used to create fresh, wholesome food that people know exactly where its from.

“I told Stan, I said, ‘well, this will give us an opportunity where we’ll have a market, we can sell our beef, other local goods, and then we can have a cafe where we can serve hamburgers and hot dogs, milkshakes.’ I’m a lot like a lot of people out there; we just have that nostalgic side to us, and again, we all know how our food is nowadays, and I just wanted a place where people could come and have a good hamburger and good quality food,” says Nabors.

Nabors says that business continues to thrive, and says that what they’ve found to be most important to both them and their customers, is continuing to produce and offer great tasting products people know is produced locally, whether that be fresh ground beef and steaks they can take home to cook themselves, or even a burger and milkshake cooked to order in their cafe.

“What drives the passion for Stan and I and our goal here for Market 83 is to continue to have good food that people can come here and know that they’re going to get a good meal. The quote that I use is ‘a taste that you’ll remember’ because nowadays it is hard to go out to a restaurant and really taste the fresh quality that a lot of us are used to having when we were growing up, because we get a lot of people say, ‘oh yeah, we grew up and we would harvest a cow and have it in the freezer, and my grandmother would have a garden, and we’d always have fresh veggies to eat.’ So, I feel like we’re able to bring some of that back here at Market 83,” says Nabors.

By: John Holcomb

Cattle Producers Navigate Inventory Challenges

Posted on by

Atlanta, GA |

According to the USDA, for the first time since 1951, the US Cattle inventory has dropped to its lowest point as producers across the country deal with a plethora of issues such as record high input costs mixed with harsh droughts that left many producers in a bind.

“A lot of that has to do with weather. The fact that much of the U.S. was in drought for a large part of last year caused a significant amount here in Georgia, especially in Northwest and Southwest Georgia. We had a lot of producers that had to start feeding hay significantly earlier than what they would normally do, and that’s caused a lot of additional culling, but also it was an increase in prices that we saw. We have a lot of producers that are able to take that opportunity,” says Dale Sandlin, Executive Vice President of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association.

As a result, Sandlin says cattle prices will be on the rise in the coming months, however, the question is whether or not producers will be able to hold on for those higher prices as expenses are higher than ever.

“One of the effects that that our cattle producers here are going to have to look at is can they afford to feed these cattle and hold on to them long enough to take advantage of the higher prices? They’re projecting that the prices will stick around somewhere through 2025 and possibly even into 2026, depending on the build up, but a large number of producers are having to deal with higher input costs they saw last year. That’s weighing in on the profits that they received on that this last batch of cattle. So, if they’re able to hold on to them and feed them longer, I think those producers will be rewarded for those efforts,” says Sandlin.

Sandlin believes that for those producers that can hold on and don’t sell out, it will give them the opportunity to improve their herds, as they can focus on rebuilding, but says that will also be contingent upon the weather and forage quality returning back to normal.

“I think we’re going to see a measured approach coming back from this lower inventory number. It’ll take longer to rebuild the herd, and a large portion of that, too, is going to be the weather. If we don’t get good rains here in Georgia and we don’t have forage increasing, we’re not going to see a lot of producers that are quick to go back and rebuild the herd. One of the things that you’ll see for this generation of producers that are in it for the long haul, they’re going to be taking the higher prices and profits that they received on that and putting that back into the into their farms and operations. That’s setting up the next generation for quite a bit of success in doing that. The trick is being able to do that in coupling with higher input costs as well as making things work. You’re also seeing a lot of culling of the herds right now, largely dependent on the quality of the cattle that they’ve got. And so while those producers have got a little a little bit extra funds in their pocket, now they’re taking this opportunity to improve the herds, improve their genetics, to reconsider some of their stock and breeding stock and making sure that they’re setting up that operation for the long future,” says Sandlin.

By: John Holcomb

Will High Beef Prices Stick Around?

Posted on by

Athens, GA |

It’s been sticker shock for customers browsing the beef section of their local grocery store over the past few years with prices reaching record high levels. That trend is likely to continue this year with inventory taking a dip.

“So, in 2024, cattle prices should be very high. We should continue to see the trend that we saw in 2023 where we saw prices continually higher year over year. In 2024, we expect that to continue where we see prices higher year over year,” says Will Secor, Extension Livestock Economist.

However, that had yet to curb the demand. In fact, the amount of beef being eaten domestically continues to rise.

“Despite those really high beef prices, we actually see consumers consuming more beef per person in the US. We have pretty similar real prices, normal prices for beef in the retail sector for the past couple of years as say maybe where we were in 2014 or so. We’re actually consuming a few more pounds per person in the US,” says Secor.

As for when consumers can expect to see a bit of relief on the prices, that won’t be for quite some time with herd contraction predicted to continue.

“We’re expecting probably about a ten year to eleven-year cycle on average when we look at the history of cattle inventory numbers. What that means is we just hit year ten. So, we’re going to be moving into year eleven in 2025. So, we expect probably sometime around 2025 for those numbers to bottom out and start to move higher form there,” says Secor.

Just how high those prices get might determine the future of the cattle market.

“Once we start see beef prices this high, we’re really kind of testing the consumer’s willingness and ability to pay for beef. The question mark is, especially if we hit any kind of macroeconomic concerns like a recession or higher unemployment, then we might start to see the consumer start to pull back from beef and maybe go to other cheaper protein alternatives such as chicken or pork,” says Secor.

With all those economic uncertainties, cattlemen could mitigate some of that risk by taking advantage of the current prices.

“Cut costs where you can, but don’t cut corners. Then, also think about with these high prices, where are opportunities to lock in and protect from any kind of downside price risk. So, thinking about all the different price risk management strategies that they can take advantage of, what fits their operation and how can they use those to manage some of those risks and take advantage of these higher prices,” says Secor.

By: Damon Jones

One Family’s Love for Beef Transformed into a Thriving Business

Posted on by

Bostwick, GA

In Morgan County, it’s truly a labor of love for Stan and Vanessa Nabors, owners of Faithway Cattle – a family run cattle operation that specializes in farm to table beef. It was journey they started a few years back when after wanting to make a change with their operation, which, according to the Nabors, turned out to be a great decision for their farm.

“We started with just beef cows, did that up until seventeen, and started then raising beef for consumers. The reason for that was there was just not enough money left over in the calf/cow operation to be able to sustain the farm and make it worthy to keep,” says Stan. “So, we started that in seventeen, and has really been good for us. My wife helped me a lot with that. She’s the one that does the marketing, and it has grown every year. It really has taken off. You know, from the first year we harvested one, to now we harvest thirty to forty a year.”

“We’ve had great reception, the public wanting to know where their food is coming from, they’re wanting to support local, they’re wanting to have that relationship and also there’s a lot of people outside of just wanting to support local and their local farmer, knowing where their food’s coming from, is about the health benefits, so I will say it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done because I didn’t grow up in this, however, it’s one of the most rewarding things that I am doing, and so I’m very grateful for that to provide a good product, a premium product that not only is wonderful in taste but just the health benefits behind it,” says Vanessa.

As they stated, their business has grown year over year, which of course can be attributed to having a great product, but it also has to do with their marketing efforts, which allows them to show their customers who they are as producers and also gives them a chance to share recipes, management practices, and other digital content that helps build relationships with customers.

“What’s important to me about that is to be able to provide a premium product to the customer, that can have a relationship with their farmer and know where their beef comes from and the quality of it that they can expect of it,” says Stan. “The public has really brought it to light, you know, that they need to know their farmer because of all the issues. I think they benefit from it, it’s a good thing for them and for me too.”

“Everyone deserves to have good food and if they choose to want to buy local and know their farmer behind it, I look at that as just an extra bonus too,” says Vanessa.

As for the future, the Nabors say that they have plans to take their operation to the next level but aren’t sure when those plans will take place – all they know is, just like in the past, they’re relying on faith to get them there.

“We definitely want to expand our herd and we are entertaining some agritourism to happen here on the farm and we both would like to have a retail store. Don’t know all the details of how that’s going to look, we both are firm believers and know that we all have a journey here and when it’s meant to be, in the perfect time it will happen,” says Vanessa.

By: John Holcomb