The Iowa Beef Industry Council has launched a local beef directory to connect beef producers with local buyers.
The initiative to help local beef producers was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ushering in a renewed interest in food security, and the increased interest from consumers to shop local. Casey Allison is Director of Industry Relations with the Iowa Beef Industry Council. She says the Iowa Local Beef Directory will provide resources in helping shoppers navigate the buying process and connect potential buyers to area farmers.
?The intent is to connect and provide a platform for consumers and local farmers and ranchers to make that connection and establish a relationship,? Allison said. ?Hopefully, it leads to more sales at the local level, but also an increased understanding of how beef is raised.?
Iowa beef producers are known to raise some of the world?s highest quality beef. Allison says the new beef directory initiative is being rolled out in a multi-phase approach.
?The first step is to populate the directory with producer submissions,? she said. ?That?s what we?re working on right now. We anticipate that will take a little bit of time internally just to input all of that information. Phase two will be a push to get this information in front of consumers. Once we get that listing live, we?ll tell the consumers to look at it if they want to buy local. Phase three will be rolling out resources for consumers to understand what the labels mean, etc.?
Any beef producer in Iowa interested in submitting their information for listing can do so by visiting the Iowa Local Beef Directory submission page at www.iabeef.org. The form allows producers to self-list to the directory, which will be housed on the IBIC website.
For questions, contact Casey Allison at 515-296-2305.
