Where’s The Beef?
At Stew Leonard’s Stores!

There was little doubt where the best beef at the best price could be found over Memorial Day weekend if you live in the northeastern United States. Stew Leonard’s kicked off grilling season by inviting four USPB producer couples from South Dakota, Missouri and Kansas to promote Stew’s Naked Beef at the company’s stores in Connecticut and New York.

In spite of cooler than normal temperatures and a day long rain on Saturday, the “cowboys” handed out thousands of samples to more than 125,000 customers that visited Stew’s four stores during the two day event. And, the customers responded, buying more than 13,000 pounds of the New York strip steaks they sampled and more than 55,000 pounds of Porterhouse steaks. It didn’t hurt that the prices at $8.99 per pound for the New York strips and $5.99 per pound for the Porterhouse steaks were almost half the normal price at Stew Leonard’s stores.

Chad and Mary Blair, Vale, SD, Karl and Amy Langvardt, Alta Vista, KS, Lynn and Sue Pelton, Burdett, KS, and Geoff and Christy Shinn, Jackson, MO, were selected to represent USPB at this year’s promotion. This is the fourth year USPB has sent ranchers to Stew Leonard’s stores for the Memorial Day weekend event.

All four couples agreed the trip was worth the effort. “Not only did we get to promote the industry we love, we also made new, lasting friends with the other ranchers,” Lynn and Sue Pelton commented after the trip was over.

Stew Leondard’s is a family-owned company that was built around the family’s dairy in Norwalk, CT. Today, there are four stores located in Norwalk, Newington and Danbury, CT, and Yonkers, NY. Nearly 2 million consumers live within 10 miles of the stores. It has made Fortune magazine’s top 100 companies to work for each of the last 12 years. Unlike most conventional retail grocery stores, Stew Leonard’s employs more than 2,500 full and part-time employees at its four stores.

“It was impressive to go into the meat coolers at these stores and see

Opportunities Still Exist
to Produce Naturewell ^®

U.S. Premium Beef continues to have opportunities for our producers to deliver cattle for the Naturewell^® Natural Beef brand. “There is a window here to add value to the beef you produce with Naturewell that doesn’t always exist,” Brian Bertelsen, USPB’s vice president of Field Operations, points out. “If you are looking for a way to replace the age and source verified premium, you might want to consider participating in the Naturewell program.”

“This is the most flexible program,” he adds. “Cattle do not have to be source verified or natural at the ranch/ pre-feedyard. They just must be black or red hided and managed appropriately during the last 120 days.”

That means no implants can be administered during the last 120 days before harvest. Naturewell cattle can be fed ionophores such as Rumensin. And, you must feed at a feedlot that is or is willing to become approved by National Beef. “We make reservations with the approved feedlots to match the supply of cattle with the demand for meat sales,” Bertelsen explains. “Currently, High Choice Feeders II and Tiffany Cattle Co. are the two USPB Qualified Custom Feedlots that are approved to produce Naturewell cattle.”

“You don’t ‘give up’ anything in terms of the grid these cattle are marketed on,” he notes. The Naturewell grid is USPB’s Base grid with a bonus which was increased from $2.75 per cwt. of live weight to $3.50 per cwt. of live weight for cattle

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USPB Non-Conditional Unit Trade Report

DR = Delivery Rights; DY = Delivery Year

FY 2013
Trades

Most
Recent
Trades

# Class A Units (DR available DY 201 3)

997

300

Average Price Per Unit

$173.41

$173.63

# Class A Units (DR available DY 2014)

9,991

9,971

Average Price Per Unit

$150.00

$150.00

# Class B Units

10,335

10,335

Average Price Per Unit

$172.67

$172.67