Adding value to their bottom line

CUMBERLAND, Wis. — With industry-wide decreasing profit margins, Steve and Ruth Butzler have found innovative ways to maximize the returns on their Barron County dairy farm.

The Butzlers milk 30 cows near Cumberland on their Cookies-N-Cream Dairy and Beef Farm, in a step-up parlor. They ship their milk to the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery and use direct-to-consumer marketing of beef. They also farm corn and soybeans for cash crops and do custom combining.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit on the heels of seven years of depressed milk and commodity prices, the Butzlers watched the disruption in the food supply chain and recognized an opportunity that could benefit not only their community, but also diversify their farm income by utilizing cull cows for meat in a different fashion.

“When COVID hit, they were only paying 40 cents a pound for cull cows,” Ruth Butzler said.

They realized that they could sell hamburger for $4 a pound locally and make a profit, which started their new venture.”

Butzler said she began by selecting the best of her cull cows and keeping them around longer to add weight.

“As long as she is paying for her feed, I can justify keeping her around for a little extra time, to continue milking her and let her fatten up,” Butzler said.

While some locations had back-ups in processing appointments, Butzler worked with Almena Meat Company Inc., a local butcher with whom she had a working relationship.

“I had used Almena for (personal butchering),” Butzler said. “When it came to marketing beef direct to the consumer, I didn’t know anything about the process. They were great about helping me figure out everything from labeling, to permitting, to what to get from a carcass. I learned that I didn’t just have to do hamburger.”

As she has built up her direct-to-consumer clientele, Butzler estimates she typically processes about 200-300 pounds of beef each month.

“I started out selling a lot during COVID, just because there was nothing else out there,” Butzler said.

By 2023, she said most people had gone back to their old habits of buying at the store. Growth and new clientele do continue for their beef, just at a slower rate.

Butzler said the biggest mistake she made as she started direct-to-consumer beef sales was undervaluing the product, expecting that all her customers preferred Angus beef and that cull cows were inferior.

“One day I had that moment where I realized I was undercutting myself, pricing my beef below what my neighbor who was raising steers was pricing his,” Butzler said. “He’s also trying to make an income off those animals and I realized that eventually I would drive him out of business by under-valuing my product.”

The current market situation calls for producers to capitalize on increased opportunity, Butzler said.

“If the value of your animal is up there, you should grab it, even if it costs you less to produce,” Butzler said. “That value probably won’t always be there, but you can use it now to make improvements in your infrastructure, to benefit the farm. You have every right to that price, as much as anybody else. There will come a point when prices fall.”

With that realization, Butzler began raising her beef prices to be in line with what her neighbors were selling their product for.

“We need all of us to stay in business, to keep the necessary services and businesses thriving in our area,” Butzler said. “That is one of the biggest faults we have as farmers, we undercut each other, just to make the deal.”

Even with the increase in her prices, Butzler said her margin of profit tightens.

“My processing costs have also gone up,” Butzler said. “I’m paying the same to process my cows as the guy who takes one steer a year.”

She also said the value of cull cows have tripled.

In addition to marketing her top cull cows direct-to-consumer, Butzler typically raises a couple of Guernsey or Guernsey-cross steers for processing. She utilizes beef-on-dairy but markets those animals through the sales barn.

While her beef sales are currently a break-even venture, Butzler said it is a good way to establish relationships within the community.

“It gives people a way to get some good beef,” Butzler said. “That local relationship, allowing the consumer to get to know the farmer, the how and why we’re doing what we do, that’s got a lot of value, too.”

Butzler relies heavily on social media for marketing, using her farm page to share about daily life.

“People really want to know, to learn why we do the things we do on the farm,” Butzler said. “Usually, once you explain it, they understand and it makes sense to them. I just post the everyday things — it feels kind of weird posting about … (your problems), but it is just part of the issues we deal with on a daily basis.”

Building that connection with consumers is part of the Butzlers’ plan to eventually retire from dairy farming. She said they plan to sell the dairy herd in six to seven years.

“We are hoping to pivot into more crop farming and using the farm to raise beef,” Butzler said. “If we can keep and build on that market, that will give us the opportunity for a retirement career.”

Butzler views educating the consumer as one of the most important jobs a farmer has.

“People’s plates are full — they’re juggling jobs, families, life and security,” Butzler said. “You can only learn so much information. I’m not going to criticize them for what they don’t know, because there is only so much brain space a person has. They want that connection, and it’s up to me to help them, the best I can.”