Patricia Whisnant, D.V.M., president of the American Grassfed Association and co-founder of American Grassfed Beef, has recently had her farm accredited by Animal Welfare Approved. The farm supplies American Grassfed Beef and is family-owned and operated by Patricia and her husband Mark in Doniphan, Mo. The couple raises 1,200 head entirely on grass, with the help of their three sons and four employees.

In her early life, Patricia saw the demise of family farms in her area and was looking for a way to turn the trend around. “When I graduated in animal science, we were being told that small-scale farming was over. I guess I’m just renegade enough to say, ‘Hey-not necessarily.’”

A move toward direct marketing and away from industrial agriculture helped the Whisnant’s cattle husbandry grow from a family tradition into a thriving business. “We are two hours from the interstate and three hours from Memphis,” says Patricia. “When we switched to direct marketing, the closest market was four hours away.” This led the couple to investigate other opportunities. “Because of our locality, we got on the Internet early,” she says. The couple then developed an online marketing outlet at www.AmericanGrassfedBeef.com to sell the grassfed beef directly to consumers.

“…[I]t went well,” says Patricia. “Now we have people coming to the farm as a destination.” Using this strategy of relationship marketing, the Whisnants directly serve customers looking for beef from cattle who are raised humanely on-pasture, and keep a larger share of the retail price as a result. This has allowed them to maintain their farming business, employ four additional workers, and provide jobs for three of their sons who decided to return to the family farm.

Regarding the Animal Welfare Approved program, Patricia says, “I have a great deal of appreciation for its promotion of family farms and for making sure they thrive.” She went on to say, “Whereas other certification programs allow feedlots, Animal Welfare Approved does not-we come from similar philosophical standpoints.”

American Grassfed Beef had been certified by other organizations in the past, but the Whisnant’s switched to Animal Welfare Approved because of its high standards. As a veterinarian, Patricia says she felt more closely aligned with Animal Welfare Approved. “I care passionately about how animals are treated,” she explains. “I feel a great deal of synergy with where Animal Welfare Approved is coming from and where we are trying to go.”

American Grassfed Beef cattle are raised entirely on forage, with ample space to exercise their natural behaviors without grain supplementation. Cattle receive a forage diet free of herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilizers as they are continually rotated to fresh new pastures.

American Grassfed Beef has also found itself at the crest of many recent food trends. While Internet marketing was successful, the Whisnants noticed that many of their customers were spread out across the country. “Then, somewhere along the way, the idea of buying local exploded,” says Patricia. “The culture changed. People began to see the comparative value of our beef, and we began to market the attributes: a local, grassfed product, which we could command a little more money for.” Now American Grassfed Beef has a considerable local clientele: Schnucks Market and Whole Foods Market both carry the Whisnants’ beef throughout the mid-western region.

As if running a farm and an advocacy organization weren’t enough, the Whisnants also own and operate a processing plant called American Fruitland Meats. Their plant was recently awarded a Good Husbandry Grant to upgrade its facilities and improve the slaughter process.