Farmer certifying 'Natural' producers

WHO: Stephen G. Winkler runs Lucki 7 Livestock Co., which covers 320 acres in Rodman.

He developed a Certified Natural NY LLC trademark to assure buyers that his pork, beef, chicken, eggs and vegetables are produced with no antibiotics, growth hormones or animal proteins. And he certifies other small producers who apply the Certified Natural NY label to their products.

This year, Mr. Winkler plans to raise about 1,200 chickens for meat and eggs, up to 1,000 hogs and 50 beef cattle.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR CERTIFIED NATURAL COME FROM? "It started because my wife and I were always very fussy on what we and our children were eating. More and more neighbors were asking us, so we would sell a little out of our freezer. That started 10 years ago."

WHAT IS CERTIFIED NATURAL? "We don't feed them organic grain, but we don't give them chemicals or drugs or feed them animal protein.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't have a standard for certified natural or all-natural, so there are a lot of rip-offs.

"We're very fussy that we use 'Certified Natural.' The branding allows us to set ourselves apart from others. If we can get consumers to ask us questions, we have a very good chance to sell the product.

"We have some farms in the north country and some in the Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley. I designed the program for small family farms."

WHY NOT ORGANIC? "'Organic' stands on its own. But the expenses on overhead for a farm to get into it is very high. With Certified Natural, the margin is just as high. We see very similar revenue, but we grow our own grains."

WHAT DOES THE PROGRAM ENTAIL? "We have a minimum of one inspection a year. It's pretty quiet from Christmas to now. We have a lot of conversations with the farms and they send us their feed schedules and we go over practices. Some need consulting on feed. Mostly, the practices are to be ethical.

"Each load is certified with an affidavit that these animals were raised following the practices.

"The nutrition requirements call for a vegetarian diet — soy or corn or hay. There's a humane standard that the animals are allowed access to the outside every day, not in inclement weather. In our barn, they always have access to outside through a little door, but when it's bad weather, they choose to stay indoors just like we do.

"There are other human standards for animal comfort, like not allowing too much manure piling.

"There's a quality standard for color, marbling, pH, flavor and moisture. It's hard to be consistently at the top all the way through, but if we're getting two or three loads of marginal stuff, we're going to have a talk with the farm and look for another farm. That hasn't happened yet."

WHY CREATE YOUR OWN BRAND? "We are very concerned about our natural resources and air quality. The money stays in the region. It supports families, not corporate farms. The family farm will then support South Jefferson Central School District, the local Boy Scouts.

"It's why the family farm concept is so important for us — we live in a community and give to the community."

WHERE ARE THE MEATS GOING? "We are scheduled at three different slaughter plants — Oriskany, one on the Pennsylvania border and one in Northern New York. It's the farmers' responsibility to have it trucked to the slaughterhouse, but ours to pay the processing and trucking it to the final market.

"Our meat is in Whole Foods, Wegmans, Dole & Bailey and specialty shops in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We send some product to Green Thyme Health Foods in Adams Center and Grindstone Farm in Pulaski.

"At Green Thyme, we're involved in a CSA (community supported agriculture program). Jim Juczak is contributing the vegetables, and Kelly Widrick is adding natural grains. Consumers can buy shares and get pounds of meat and vegetables every week."

ARE THESE GRASS-FED ANIMALS? "They're grass-fed and grain-finished. With grass-fed, you don't get the marbling. It's a leaner meat."

If you have an idea for a "locally grown" Q&A, contact staff writer Nancy Madsen at 661-2358 or nmadsen@wdt.net.