Oregon creates a new inspection program to boost state ag economy, keep meat local

At the Intermountain Stockyard in La Grande, rancher Todd Nash watches the action as he works to sell four small cows to improve his breed stock and pay for feed. Some of the animals he’s selling today may end up in hamburgers. But in the stockyard’s canteen, he has no idea whether the burger on his plate comes from a local ranch or from New Zealand.

That’s because when cattle enter a U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected processing plant, they get sorted with animals from elsewhere. The same is true at every step of the process, from shipping to markets.

Each step in that path from farm to shelf adds value. So while Nash might get $1,000 selling one of his large cows to a neighbor, once it’s sent off to get slaughtered, cut, wrapped, frozen and put on a supermarket shelf, the animal’s total worth is more like $5,500.

That means retailers, shippers and processors receive 80% of the cows’ value – and often those companies are large, out of state, organizations.

“That money can be all captured here,” Nash said. “It could benefit our communities, especially those that have lost logging and timber and mill infrastructure.”