Photography courtesy of Pierce Creek Cattle Company.
Pierce Creek Cattle Co.
Cattle graze on the family land after a rainstorm.
When Charles Evans and his wife moved from St. Louis to Lonedell, Missouri, he left behind his career as an electrician to live out his retirement on a farm, a far cry from the bustling city scape. That was more than 70 years ago. Last summer, after a 10-year hiatus, his great grandson, Kent, went back to the overgrown pastures and set out to continue the tradition of raising cattle under the name Pierce Creek Cattle Company.
“They lived in the city of St. Louis, and they moved to Lonedell,” Evans says. “He ended up spending the next 40 years working [in Lonedell] after he retired from Union Electric. When he moved, he went from being an electrician to not having electricity. There’s a natural spring on the property and they used the spring as their refrigerator, and they raised all their food: chickens, cows, pigs, and grew corn and other vegetables there.”
Many things have changed since Charles first settled in Lonedell. The farm was passed down over generations, and eventually the cattle business fizzled out during the third generation. When Kent brought it back, he knew he didn’t want to deviate from Charles’ St. Louis roots. His wish was to sell to families in the area and delivers directly to their homes, a trend that was already beginning to gain traction before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“About two years ago, I decided I was going to bring the cattle back and start getting into the cattle business again, but I wanted to do it differently," Kent says. "I wanted to sell directly to people here in town and [sell] grass-finished [beef] to ensure that we have a healthy product."
Families can order from the company's website and choose from highly customizable quarter, half, or whole beef packages. The cost includes processing, inspection fees, packaging, and delivery costs; options range from approximately $950 for a quarter beef package to $3,500 for a whole package. The best part: Patrons can feel good about what they're eating, as the cattle are not given hormones or steroids, and the cows are only given antibiotics if sick (which, according to Evans, has not yet been a problem). The cattle are free-range and pasture-raised.
Evans thinks of himself as a grass farmer first and a cattle rancher second. "We’re really concentrating on trying to do things in a healthy way for the land,” Evans says. "Basically, if you raise healthy grass, then the cattle are naturally going to be healthy eating that grass."
Photography courtesy of Pierce Creek Cattle Company.
Baby cow
A curious calf stares down the camera.
One such effort to promote sustainable land use is implementing a high-intensity grazing technique. Evans is currently working on a system in which he can rotate the cattle though small patches of land. As a result, the cattle will consume more grass, as they can’t be as selective. “You can rotate through this system every 25 to 40 days, and the grass will have regenerated itself,” Evans says. “It’s much better for the land, soil, erosion control, the cattle, wildlife, and the insect population.”
Evans has also been able to practice animal conservation, with insects on the land attracting various species of birds, including Missouri’s state bird, the bluebird. “We’re constantly working on improving the bird populations,” Evans says. “We have more than 20 bluebird boxes, and we’ve raised dozens of broods of bluebirds. Once the babies hatched and left, we’ll clean the boxes out, so we can get up to three broods in a box. When these birds that like eating insects can come in and sustain themselves year after year, that tells you the soil and grasses are good.”
Another way that Pierce Creek Cattle Company implements environmentally friendly practices is by keeping business local. By not shipping its products, the meat is not only guaranteed to be fresh but it also helps prevent wasted resources. “A lot of people around here will ship their beef; then you’re involving a trucker or an airplane, adding to all the packaging and waste, and having to pack it with ice,” Evans says. “It’s not very smart energy-wise. Our goal is to find local people who are going to buy this, so we’re more green.”
Photography courtesy of Pierce Creek Cattle Company.
Pierce Creek
The upper part of Pierce Creek, the company's namesake, can be seen on the Evans' property.
According to Evans, Missouri’s water quality and grass supply makes it a prime location for raising cattle. “People are interested in having good, clean, healthy food,” Evans says. “Right now, if you go to the grocery store and buy grass-finished beef, it [might] say [‘Product of the U.S.A.’], but much of it may come from outside of the U.S., because if they bring it here and then they butcher it, it’s considered a U.S. product, even though it grew in New Zealand, Argentina, or Australia.”
With the pandemic forcing the shutdown of many large-scale processors that require people to work in tight, confined spaces, Evans says consumers can see the vulnerability of the food industry. Due to the rise in social media, cattle raisers such as himself promote eating locally, which helps keep jobs within the local economy. He believes more people will start reaping the benefits of buying their protein locally.
“Hopefully, what will happen from this pandemic is people will realize they can buy their beef, hogs, and other proteins locally and know that it doesn’t have to come from hundreds or thousands of miles away,” Evans says. “They’ll know a little bit more about where their food is coming from.”
Evans is working on an interface to help similar local suppliers committed to the same standards sell their products. “Our ultimate goal is to make contacts with [other local] farmers who don’t want to sell to people individually," he says, and "add them as suppliers on our site.”
To learn more about Pierce Creek Cattle Company, visit its website or email info@piercecreekcattlecompany.com.
