Warsaw, IN - Indiana meat eaters are treating their taste buds to a red beef touted as coming from hormone- and antibiotic-free cattle.
Breeders say Highland cattle, a Scottish breed that resembles buffalo, produce high-quality beef that is favored by fine restaurants.
But with that rich, beefy flavor comes a hefty price tag. On the traditional markets, a whole carcass generally sells for about $1 a pound, Angus sells for about $1.15 and Highland for about $2.
Highland boosters say the high price tag is based not only by the relative rarity of the Highland breed, but also on the fact that it is raised naturally.
While the unusual cattle with long horns and shaggy coats have been around northeast Indiana in the last decade, a new effort is under way to market them as the beef of choice.
Roger Smoker, a Highland cattleman from Warsaw and the president of the American Highland Cattle Association, recently joined forces with a small team of farmers in the area to form Eagle Creek Cattle Co. Ltd.
Smoker touts the company's product as an all-natural choice. The cattle are raised without hormones or antibiotics. They're cleaned only with water, not chemicals, during processing.
Smoker said the beef has a rich flavor preferred by many chefs. In fact, he says Queen Elizabeth won't serve any other steak at Buckingham Palace.
But still, the sell can be tough.
“It's a recognized breed, but it's so small (in numbers),” he said.
The Eagle Creek farmers are raising about 450 head of cattle among them, but they'd like to raise about 1,000 a year.
About three years ago, Smoker started selling Highlands as beef products through a middleman in New York who distributed the meat to white-tablecloth restaurants. When his distributor died last year, Smoker turned to local restaurants in Indiana.
In September, he joined forces with Greg Kitchens, Mike Valentine and Barry Ostrom. Right now Eagle Creek sells to about seven restaurants in northern Indiana and Michigan, as well as to about 85 to 90 families in the area.
“We're getting more income per acre than if we sold beef commercially,” Smoker said.
The Highland breed is relatively easy to care for, Smoker said, with a much higher tolerance for cold and more breeding years than most cattle.
“I used to have dairy milking cows, and I had to get up at 3 a.m.,” he said. “Now I don't have to get up until 6.”
He said the beef cuts from Highland are not fatty around the edges like some breeds, but enough fat is marbled throughout the beef to give it a rich flavor.
Since Eagle Creek takes its product directly to the processor, the company does not incur the extra costs of middlemen, Kitchens said.
Chef Greg Lutes at the Checkerberry Inn in Goshen said he has been selling Highland beef for about six months and likes the flavor. He sells a 23-ounce Highland steak for $36, and is considering offering it in smaller portions.
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