More and more we are seeing young people making their own unique impact on agriculture and promoting the rural lifestyle. One great example are Henry and Sara Hollenbeck of Molt Montana who have diversified their ranching operation to bring the food they raise on the ranch to the tables of local families just down the road.
Sara Hollenbeck: I created High 5 Meats, which is a combo of meat products: beef, pork and lamb. The goal was to get more lamb into everyone's home. Either they had a bad experience with lamb or they have never tried it before. Another reason I started it. I saw a demand for people, who don't have the space to fit a lot of meat or have a lot of room in their freezer. So I created a 10, 20, and 30 pound option with all 3 meats in. so anyone form a single family to a family of 5 you can take advantage of the package sizes for no matter how many people are in your family.
Lane With high five meats bringing locally raised protein to consumers tables, they are also utilizing locally raised crops to feed their livestock.
Henry Hollenbeck: Their diet is 1/3 alfalfa, 1/3 mixed grains, 1/3 corn or barley. that's the ration they are getting right now. With the mixed grains, its all the bi-product from this area. We go to the local elevator and clean the grain and we get the cleanings off of that. so its using the bi-product to the best of its ability.
Sara Hollenbeck: So far the reception has been outstanding. when I talk to consumers, they say they have never been able to find something like this before. Our local grocery stores do a great job of brining in local meat. but they don't always tell you exactly where the meat is from. but with high 5 meats, you know exactly where the meat is coming from whether its Hollenbeck ranch or if we don't have meat available we using other local ranches that we know and trust and raise their animals sustainability. we do have website high 5 meats dot com. we have a Facebook page where I post recipes and other tid bits about farmers markets I am going to and how you can purchase your high five meats package.
Lane: Again, more information can be found at highfivemeats.com
