“Herd health is our #1 priority.” 

Alli Fender left her corporate vet technician career to pursue her dream of being her own boss as a direct-to-consumer beef producer and black angus breeder.  Not only does she juggle that dream alongside motherhood, showing and breeding Australian Shepherds, and sharing her beef story via flyingranch.org, Fender also records conversations on all things small business and shares them on her Agripreneur Empire Podcast.  

Well aware of the misinformation surrounding grain-finished beef, Fender shares her concerns about consumer perspectives on hormones, antibiotics, and other buzz words within the beef world.  While consumers may be fed content that drives fear and reinforces a negative connotation about beef, Fender spends a significant amount of time explaining her business model and the “why” behind using certain types of feed at the Flying F Ranch.

“I believe that by helping consumers understand that all beef is safe, nutritious, and raised in incredible conditions is essential to create trusting relationships and healthy communities.” Alli is a wife to her high school sweetheart, mother of two young wild cowboys, and lover of all animals big and small. They feed brewer’s grains from a local brewery, which is valuable feed for cattle – and reduces food waste. 

Get a glimpse into Fender’s operation on Instagram via @flying_f_ranch; she’s a great follow for dietitians and those into nutrition.  “I think when people see we do not offer a grass-finished or organic beef, they automatically think our beef is not as “healthy” and that we pump our beef with hormones and antibiotics.

I do a lot of explaining when speaking with people about our business model and why we implement the feed to our livestock in the way that we do. Every single time, people have a whole new understanding and perspective about grain-finished beef.”

For more on the nuance of grass and grain-finshed beef, visit beefresearch.org.