MONROE — The Son of a Beach Farm has an edgy, modern name but its legacy dates to 1901, when Andrew Beach’s family first started tilling the soil and raising cattle on this land hard by Monroe’s northeast edge.
That sixth-generation family farm is taking a new turn with an old way of selling: Direct to restaurants in the area. Recently they announced that a favorite Monroe dining haunt — Pancho and Lefty’s Outlaw Grill downtown — will be sourcing meat from a local producer.
“Pancho and Lefty’s is very happy to announce that our ground beef will be coming from right here in Green County,” the restaurant’s owners, Russ and Nadine Brown, said in a social media post days ago on Nov. 18. “Lisa and Andrew Beach operate a multi generational farm south of Monroe…”
For the Beach family, the approach was not altogether new: Not long ago, after touting their locally produced meats at the Madison farmer’s market on the square, they began supplying a pair of top Madison eateries with prime cuts of meat.
Those restaurants are L’etoile, a French-fashioned, ‘farm to table’ spot and Graze, which bills itself as a farm-to-table “gastropub.” Both restaurants are in the 1 S. Pinkney building downtown. In addition, the Beach farm operation is supplying ground beef to an elevated burger joint on the square, the Settle Down Tavern.
Yet it is the relationship with Pancho and Lefty’s that makes them really proud and hopeful for the future of their farm in this area.
“The restaurant is literally six miles from our farm,” said Lisa Beach. “It’s everything to us, the community and being able to sell locally to the people we grew up with and live with. There’s nothing like it being your hometown.”
Early on, Beach farm was like others in the area, raising dairy cows and related crops. Then in 1955, Andrew’s grandfather converted over to all-beef animals, to go along with pork and crops. They are serious about their commitment to the family business and to the land.
“The farm believes and practices values such as sustainability, regenerative agriculture, and animal husbandry,” the farm’s web site proclaims. “All while being run and owned by family members. We use regenerative farming practices such as no-till and cover cropping. We use resources such as these for our land management. The Beach Family Farm also grows and harvests all their own feed for our Heritage Breed Hogs (Berkshire and Duroc) and Angus Beef Cattle.”
That description is important to the Beach family in this new era, as increasingly their buyers — like some of the today’s modern restaurants — want a compelling and responsible story to go along with the beef, no longer content to get meat of unknown origin from a giant wholesaler.
“They want to know who grows the food, where the food is grown, who is doing it, what kind of practices do they use; and how is it raised and prepared,” said Andrew, who says such a story is a way to stand out. “The small guy needs a niche and he has to have a story behind what he is selling.”
For that, the Beach family relies on Lisa, or as Andrew likes to say, ‘I’m the producer, not the seller.” And she has found that farmer’s markets in Madison and Stoughton are ideal places to make new connections, not only with everyday customers who love buying their meat directly from the producer; but also restaurants that want that story and consistent high quality to be a part of their brand.
“The restaurants in Madison are big believers in getting food locally, and supporting the local farmer,” she said.
Not all commercial beef used in the area gets purchased in the table-to-farm method, however. For Bud Schwartz, of Bruno Beef Strips, a craft maker of stick beef snacks, it makes more sense for a truck to deliver his meat from a wholesaler the old-fashioned way.
The reason, he says, is mostly due to volume. The quality is good for his flavored beef sticks, and the price is right for someone who routinely orders over 500 pounds.
“It’s not for everyone who buys beef but for me it’s the right thing to do because I get it at a wholesale cost and the quality is there,” he said. “Most of comes from South Dakota, Oklahoma, the Midwest.”
For Son of a Beach farm, the new relationships are likely a big part of Andrew’s future in agriculture as he tries to stay competitive, sustainable, and locally focused for a new generation of Beach family and their friends and neighbors.
“I know we do a lot more direct selling (to restaurants and others) than Andy’s Dad ever did,” said Lisa. “We are concerned about having relationships.”
And as Andrew says, people can not only buy their beef from wholesalers, but from any number of local producers throughout Green and Lafayette counties.
“Everyone around here pretty much knows someone or has a relative or a friend of a friend that raises beef,” he said. “Everyone knows someone on a farm. We are relying on our story and the local connections to appeal to our customers.”
