| | In the conventional model of producing farm commodities, everyone involved plays it close to the vest. No one knows or particularly cares about the other parties’ financial outcomes.
Not so with value chains, according to Keith Everts of Diamond Willow Organics, a Pincher Creek-based certified organic beef company. Started in 1997, Diamond Willow is a collaborative enterprise of seven families farming on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies. The families meet on a monthly basis to review operations and provide management guidance to the company. Diamond Willow beef is available at Save-On-Foods and specialty retailers Community Natural Foods and Planet Organic.
At a time when the beef industry is pressed by high feed prices and other factors, Everts believes Diamond Willow’s value chain participation provides welcome predictability.
“We know what price we’re going to get, we know when our product will be shipped and we know where it's going,” he says.
Just as important, in Everts’ view, is that value chain members gain intimate knowledge of how the other parties are doing. As a producer, he understands how packing, shipping and retailing influence the price the consumer pays and that he receives back.
“In commodity beef, there's always this intrigue about who's making the money,” says Everts. “The cow-calf guys say the packers are making all the money. The packers say the feedlots are making all the money. In our model, we see what everything costs and we understand what the other players are doing. To me, that's a huge advantage.”
Companies involved in value chain development:
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