Farm aims to raise bar on beef market
Sho-Me Farms has built a profitable enterprise around homegrown beef and plant products.

Don Mayse owns a variety of businesses, but he spends most of his time producing and marketing a brand of beef he hopes will do nothing less than change the nation’s consumption of beef as a health food.

At his Sho-Me Farms south of Columbia, Mayse conducts breeding programs aimed at developing meat that is superior at the dining table.

Part of his effort involves enriching feed corn with such small grains as wheat, barley, flax and oats in an effort to increase his beef’s levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which physicians consider to be "heart-friendly" for humans.

Physicians urge patients with high cholesterol to eat more fish and less beef because of the presence of these acids in fish. Mayse is hoping to reverse the anti-beef sentiment.

"Elevating omega-3 levels in beef cattle could completely change, in real terms, the public perception of beef as a health food," Mayse said. "We want to improve the actual benefits of beef as a health food."

Testing for omega-3 fatty acids in Mayse’s meat is under way at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Mayse also works with MU to evaluate the tenderness of his beef, which he markets under the name "Born Tender Beef." He sends one cut from each carcass to the university for testing.

Eric Berg, an assistant MU professor of animal science, cooks the steaks, lets them cool to room temperature and takes core samples. A machine assesses tenderness by measuring the force necessary to cut the meat.

If the assessment is unsatisfactory, Mayse consults his breeding records to determine whether a particular bull has sired too many inferior animals. If so, the bull is barred from reproduction.

Such selective breeding has paid off in Columbia’s retail market. Sarah Bartow, manager of health foods at Hy-Vee grocery store, receives some 90 pounds of Born Tender Beef on Tuesdays - everything from ground chuck to sirloin. "We’re sold out on weekends," she said. "It’s really good quality. People ask for Sho-Me Farms meat."

Many customers buy a variety of meats after starting with Mayse’s hamburgers. "It’s the best ground beef we’ve had here," said Lance Wood, general manager at Flat Branch Pub & Brewing. "Our burger sales are up. People want to know where the beef comes from."

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Mayse owns two farms totaling 440 acres and rents an additional 60 acres. His stock is exclusively purebred short horns - the oldest breed in the United States, formerly known as Durhams.

Last year the farms produced 10,000 square bales of hay and 2,000-3,000 round bales. He also operates a store and greenhouse with the help of his wife, Marylou, herdsman Jerome Grethen and a part-time student.

Reproductive functions of the herd are rigidly controlled and monitored. Bulls are penned by themselves because two bulls don’t get along well and allowing bulls to roam freely among the cows leads to inefficient breeding.

Ideally, a bull is matched with a prize cow that might be flushed to produce perhaps eight embryos. Specialists freeze the embryos for future implantation in ordinary cows.

"I can’t afford eight prize cows at $25,000 each," Mayse said. "But I can afford one prize cow that produces eight embryos. I’ve sold a flush on a prize cow for $4,000."

Commercial cattle usually receive hormone transplants that cause them to gain weight faster. That reduces feed costs, but studies indicate that some growth stimulants cause less-tender beef, so Mayse administers no steroids or hormones to his herd.

Each head is confined in an appropriate pasture and bears an ear tag containing a herd number, hereditary information and the proposed role for the animal, whether it’s donating embryos, retention in the herd or slaughter. Mayse retains a veterinarian from Jefferson City.

All "Born Tender Beef" is slaughtered at Jennings Premium Meats in New Franklin and carries a federal inspection stamp. Mayse thinks his cattle get a more careful inspection at a smaller facility where more time is allotted to each animal. Although he admits he isn’t as fast as the Jennings staff, he joins in the butchering - the final step in meat production.

The Mayses also market their own products and compensate for a small staff by working 11-14 hours a day, seven days a week.

Besides deliveries to retail outlets, Mayse and Grethen drive trailers equipped with walk-in freezers to both farmers markets in Columbia, plus markets in Ashland and Jefferson City.

He’s just opened Sho-Me Farms Market at his headquarters site, 7750 E. Route AB. The market is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and by appointment, and customers can order by phone and pick up the meat later. The farm also ships meat packed in dry ice to mail-order customers.

In addition, Mayse sells cattle on the hoof at production sales in his large barn east of the market. Last fall 230 buyers sat on his two banks of grandstand to bid on bulls, show 6-month-old heifers and bred heifers 15 months and older.

He also sells out of his large "show trailer." Last year he showed in five states and the national show in Louisville, Ky. This year, he’ll visit three states and perhaps Denver. Gross sales for 2003 totaled $250,000.

Though profitable, Sho-Me Farms is not exclusively profit-driven. It’s the creation of two people who love the outdoors, nature, birds, animals and farming. The product offering is as diverse as the owners’ interests.

A 10,000-square-foot greenhouse beside the market produces bedding plants, watermelon plants, garden greens and wild flowers that produce seed for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Marylou Mayse handles the billing, bookkeeping, mailing, advertising, Web site and carcass data, and she’s particularly busy this time of year. She prepares potted plants and hanging baskets, raises chickens and sells eggs, in addition to managing cucumber plots pollinated by hives of bees. She also rides the power mower 10-15 hours a week.

"It’s a lot of work," Marylou said, "but it’s heaven for us."

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Don Mayse grew up on a ranchette in Southern California. Starting at age 8, he raised cattle, joined FFA and 4-H and learned butchering at his father’s meat business. He came to MU to study food science and nutrition in the College of Agriculture, where he met his future wife, a fifth-generation Boone Countian who majored in family economics.

Despite their training in agriculture-related specialties, they lived and worked in Columbia and became entrepreneurs. Mayse still owns Squeaky B’s Car Wash on Route B and Family Pawn stores locations in Columbia, Jefferson City, Sedalia and Warrensburg. He launched Sho-Me Farms nine years ago with help from AgriMissouri, a state agency designed to promote state farming operations.

Mayse now slaughters 20 head of cattle for each one he slaughtered five years ago, but Sho-Me Farms is just becoming profitable.

"I couldn’t farm when I was young and raising a family," he said. "I worked for 30 years to get the funds to do this. It’s incredibly gratifying to have something you really put your passion into."