MFU Presents: Let's Meat! A Conversation with Mike Callicrate
Join Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) for a conversation about challenges and opportunities in small and mid-scale meat and poultry processing.
This week, Mike Callicrate will be discussing how we can build alternative pathways to the consumer outside of the current consolidated model.Mike Callicrate is a farmer-rancher, business entrepreneur and family farm advocate. A native of Evergreen, Colorado, he began his career by earning a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University in 1975. After college, he started farming and ranching at St. Francis, Kansas. In 2000, he formed Ranch Foods Direct, a branded beef company and retail and online food store located in Colorado Springs. His fabrication plant processes high quality meats, and his retail store sells those products along with many other seasonal and handcrafted items from the surrounding area. His company also operates a regional food hub, helping to collect and distribute locally produced food. In recent years, he transitioned his cattle operation in Northwest Kansas into a multi-species regenerative agricultural model with hogs and chickens as well as cattle. The animals are harvested at a USDA-inspected slaughter facility right on-site, which reduces stress and improves meat quality.
You can learn more about his business enterprises by visiting MikeCallicrate.com.
Join Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) for a conversation about challenges and opportunities in small and mid-scale meat and poultry processing.
This week, Mike Callicrate will be discussing how we can build alternative pathways to the consumer outside of the current consolidated model.Mike Callicrate is a farmer-rancher, business entrepreneur and family farm advocate. A native of Evergreen, Colorado, he began his career by earning a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University in 1975. After college, he started farming and ranching at St. Francis, Kansas. In 2000, he formed Ranch Foods Direct, a branded beef company and retail and online food store located in Colorado Springs. His fabrication plant processes high quality meats, and his retail store sells those products along with many other seasonal and handcrafted items from the surrounding area. His company also operates a regional food hub, helping to collect and distribute locally produced food. In recent years, he transitioned his cattle operation in Northwest Kansas into a multi-species regenerative agricultural model with hogs and chickens as well as cattle. The animals are harvested at a USDA-inspected slaughter facility right on-site, which reduces stress and improves meat quality.
You can learn more about his business enterprises by visiting MikeCallicrate.com.