Three years ago Summit County started a new program in the realm of sustainable ranching. In the spring of 2010, Summit County Beef was established with the commitment to raising grass-fed beef, preserving open space and maintaining agricultural land. Now after swift growth the county is looking for a private buyer.
Assistant County Manager Anita Lewis was one of the initial individuals to help jump-start the program when she said they noticed that many of the cattle ranchers in Summit County sold their beef to the eastern United States. However, a demand for sustainable, grass-fed beef was present in the county, but that demand was supplied from ranches in the east.
"I had said, 'We have citizens that are buying their beef from stores that's coming from back east. Is there a way we can be more environmentally sensitive and do a more local program?'" Lewis said.
So, Lewis said, the county started a pilot program, supported by Uinta Headwaters, and found a rancher on the East Side of Summit County who was willing to hold back 30 of his grass-fed calves to promote and sell locally in the county. They then contracted with a beef harvesting company out of Logan that would then give the beef back to the county to sell.
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