Meet Patrick Buchen of Buchen Farms

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Buchen.

Hi Patrick, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised on a grain and livestock farm in Illinois. After recruiting athletes at Monmouth College through the college’s admissions office for two years following graduation, I was employed by the American Shorthorn Association and served as Executive Director of the American Maine-Anjou Association and the Texas Longhorn Cattle Breeders Association of America. I have also managed the Illinois and Indiana State Fairs. In 2016 we began a DNA program to identify markers in beef cattle that would lead us to a USDA Prime Carcass. We work exclusively with Igenity, an arm of the Neogen Corporation. We have performed DNA in over 160 heads of cattle and have identified the markers that will lead to a Prime Carcass. To expedite our research, we acquired a small processing plant in Humansville that has allowed us to pull hides and speedily evaluate carcasses. The plant is a custom processing facility with approximately 1000 customers. Buchen Beef is a small part of the Plant business. Feeding cattle is very expensive; we only wanted a prime carcass, and we can now feed the cattle knowing their quality grade before placing them on feed.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been an uphill fight. Agriculture is generally very conservative; it takes about 10 to 12 years for new technology to take hold and end up on farms and ranches. I have good friends that are very successful in the cattle industry. They still believe that I am chasing pixie dust. Further, our resources are limited, so it has taken us over 6 years to prove the concept, and we only focused on Prime. There are 11 grades, and we have focused on Abundant marbling, moderately abundant, and slightly abundant. All of these are Prime +, Prime 0, and Prime -. Marbling is the most prominent indicator of quality. Other factors like age and finish are important, so we have focused on getting our calves to harvest in 13 to 14 months. Certified Angus Beef’s average harvest age is 16 months, so our goal was to beat those averages.

Another huge roadblock is that major grocery chains sell Prime beef, which is anything but Prime. We acquired the advertised Prime Beef, did a DNA on the beef, cooked it, and ate those supposed Prime pieces of meat. Only 2 out of the 8 were truly Prime Beef. The system/graders may say that 4 or 5% of the beef harvested is USDA Prime, but the science says we are still at 2 to 3% of beef harvested will be USDA Prime. New science takes a long time to filter to the end users.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My 6th generation’s grandfather served and was awarded 80 acres in the west of Illinois. During the War of 1812, President James Madison decreed that anyone serving with the United States would be deeded 80 acres out west. It took our federal government until 1836 to give away that land under President Martin Van Buren, whos signature is on the land title. Thus the beginning of Buchen Farms 6 generations ago. We have been raising and feeding cattle since those early days. 6 generations ago, all farms did their harvesting and processing. The acquisition of our processing plant brings this generation of cattle feeders full circle.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
Anything worthwhile takes time and patience. You have to be patient in the cattle industry. It takes a long time to get a female bred, get a live calf up and ready to put in the feed yard, feed that calf for about 6 months, and then harvest. You must be frugal with income and overzealous with expenditures when developing budgets. Expect the shoe to fall regardless of your beliefs, work ethic, and circumstances you control and do not control. It will happen, depending on the level of destruction when the shoe falls, but you have to figure out why the shoe fell and how you move forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.buchenfarms.com
• Facebook: shopbuchenbeef
• Twitter: buchenfarms