As CEO of Nolan Ryan's Beef, I get questions all the time from customers. I’m always happy to inform consumers on our products and services. Kroger customer, Mary M. sent me a good question recently about the differences in organic, grassfed and all-natural beef, so I’m sharing my answer.
“Nolan Ryan’s Beef sells two brands of fresh beef and they are slightly different in their specifications.
1. Nolan Ryan’s Premium Reserve Beef, which is sold in Kroger stores and some restaurants
2. Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Beef, which is sold in Super S Stores and Sun Harvest stores, and in many dining establishments
Both brands meet the USDA definition of all-natural. The cattle in both brands are born on ranch pastures and raised on their mothers on grass until they reach a weaning age – usually around 550 pounds and seven months of age, but that can vary tremendously with weather conditions and the amount of available forage. When the calves are weaned, they are moved to grass pastures where they continue to grow until they reach a weight of around 850 pounds, which is usually around 18 months of age. Again, this can vary a great deal. At that point, they are moved to a feedlot for the finishing period which lasts about 140 days, up until harvest.
Grain feeding is what gives beef the consistent tenderness and flavor that most consumers expect. Grain feeding is the most efficient way to produce quality beef and has a much smaller carbon footprint than a range finishing program, because it takes less time and uses much less water, land and labor. As far as the cattle’s welfare is concerned, it would be hard to design a place much better for a cow to live. A feedlot has all the feed, water, shade, space and companionship that cattle seem to crave. So, while the cattle in both programs spend 70-80 percent of their lives on grass, they are not grass finished.
The two programs differ in that the cattle in the Premium Reserve program never receive any added growth hormones or antibiotics. The cattle in the Guaranteed Tender program don’t receive an added growth hormone or a therapeutic antibiotic within 100 days of harvest. These differences create differences in the price point of the two products. Both of them are very high-quality beef products and both programs represent a very disciplined and science-based approach to producing a safe and nutritious product in the most humane way possible.
Neither of our programs is organic. Organic beef production is an entirely different beast. In these programs the cattle must be born on ranches that do not use commercial fertilizers, fungicides or pesticides and they must be fed only grain that is grown on cropland that is never treated with commercial fertilizers, fungicides or pesticides. In our research of these programs, we have learned that there simply is not a reliable supply of organically grown corn in this country, chiefly because it is so inefficient and has such a high carbon footprint. Consequently, most organic programs in this country are either grass finished programs, or they are sourcing beef from other countries like Uruguay, Nicaragua, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia where land labor and water are more plentiful and less expensive. We just decided to stay out of that end of the business.
To read more about our program, visit the all-natural page on our website.”
Organic, Grassfed and All-Natural ... What's the Difference?
My Favorite Beef Meals
With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, I can't help but think about my favorite meals. I know Thanksgiving is traditionally about turkey, but I prefer a good beef dish over turkey any day.
When I was growing up, my mother prepared a roast every Sunday. To this day, I probably enjoy a good roast with brown gravy more than anything. Those are special meals as a kid growing up and they just kind of take you back whenever you have it.
When I got to thinking about that, I realized I have favorite beef choices for almost every occasion. There’s probably a story hidden behind each one of my favorites. I may not remember the story, but I do know when I’m in that dining situation, what I prefer.
Invitation Out: If I was going over to somebody's house for dinner and they cooked a roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and brown gravy, I could probably go for that. As I said, that's my idea of a really good home meal.
Dining Out in a Restaurant: Both Ruth and I like to order a beef tenderloin filet when we’re dining out. It’s just a real attractive cut when dining out. One of my favorite places to eat them is the Little Rhein Steakhouse in San Antonio. I just enjoy sitting on the river on a fall or spring evening.
They have really good creamed spinach too. I also enjoy really good barbecue in a restaurant.Cooking at Home: If I had my choice I’d grill ribeyes at home. As a home cook, I need some leeway between potential distractions and the need to always watch the heat of the fire. So I turn to the ribeye or T-bone when I’m grilling. Those are both excellent cuts for the home grill. I cook my steaks to medium rare.
Go Rangers! Go Beef!
Hi Nolan Ryan Fans!
It's Time!
For the 2010 American League Division Series playoffs that is! For the first time since 1998, the Texas Rangers are headed to the playoffs and I'm right behind them. We are so thrilled with how the team has done this year! A big congratulations to the Texas Rangers and all their fans! Please continue to support the Rangers and cheer them on!
What Has the Ryan Family Been Up to in 2010?
Ruth and I are spending lots of time in the DFW Metroplex where I'm president and now an owner of the Texas Rangers.
Reid and Reese stay busy with the Ryans’ minor league baseball operations in Round Rock and Corpus Christi. Recently, the Round Rock Express became affiliated with the Texas Rangers in a reunion of sorts of our family. They also run the Central Texas franchise for The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and recently opened their fifth store in Austin.
Wendy, her husband and 2-year-old son live in Amarillo. They are involved in her husband’s family ranching operation near Palo Duro Canyon.
Our children’s time is challenged just like mine. So when it comes to ranching it’s pretty much myself and the employees that I have.
What else is new in 2010?
The severe drought of 2009 was really hard on us. But the spring and summer were more promising as we watched our cattle find more grazing opportunities on all of our ranches.
With nature’s help, we will increase the number of cows we take care of this year, but we’ll do it from within our own operation rather than buying them. If we produce the mamas, we have better control over the type of beef we produce from our calves.
No doubt it’s a slow process. And it’s even slower because of our family’s schedule.
Nonetheless, we continue to focus on our beef operation. Recently we sold our San Angelo, Texas, ranch and bought a ranch between Sonora and Junction on the north Llano River in Texas. We call it the Fort Terrett Ranch because the land holds the ruins of the old military camp by that name. It was occupied by U.S. federal troops from 1854-1856 to protect settlers along the Old San Antonio Road. A lot of the beef we’ll put in the Nolan Ryan program in coming years will come from this historic old ranch.
Taking Aim at Success
I’ve only known a couple of baseball players who have combined a career in professional baseball with cattle ranching. And I’m one of ’em.
So it’s not unusual for someone to come up to me and ask me why baseball and beef? Why do these two disparate pursuits create such passion in me? What in the world do they have in common?
It’s hard to say which came first. When I was 10 years old and playing Little League in Alvin, Texas, I also was buying my first “herd” of three baby calves from a neighbor. I raised them myself; even talking my parents into letting me put them in our garage when a hurricane threatened our home on the Gulf Coast.
You could say I always anticipated being in the cattle business even after I was drafted by baseball out of high school. And I’m glad I achieved that goal. In a sense, ranching served as a diversion from the routine and pressures of baseball by enabling me to spend time in a different area.
I look at it this way:
When some people have a passion for golf, they get up in the morning and get excited and think their day is really special if they get to play 36 holes. I do play golf now and then, but you couldn't whip me and get me to play 36 holes. But, by the same token, I will spend the whole day looking at cattle. So that’s my passion.
Before Ruth and I had children, we’d go visit this older gentleman who had a Beefmaster operation in George West, Texas. I bought bulls from him, so we'd get in his pickup and go look at his cattle after lunch. Forty-five minutes after we started riding around, Ruth would be in the back seat of the truck sound asleep while I couldn’t wait to see more. And we’d ride around for hours.
You are what you do…
What it amounts to is that you get out of something at least equal to what you put into it. That observation is not only based on my personal experience, but also on teammates whom I have watched on a day-to-day basis throughout my baseball career. I saw the ones who were dedicated and worked hard, and then I saw the benefits they received by competing on that level. Other players might have been more talented athletically, but they weren't as committed, and, therefore, they were not as successful.
My philosophy today is that if I take the same work ethic and principles that deliver success, and I apply them in my daily life outside of baseball, then I have a shot at being successful in anything. And so that shot—the opportunity to create a winner—is the answer to what baseball and beef have in common.
The No-No That Wasn’t Known
Howdy fans! Aren’t the Rangers doing great this year?! Sorry it’s been a while since we updated the blog. I kind of figured that after I became president of the Texas Rangers ball club you might be getting oversaturated with my presence. After all, I’ve been doing so many media interviews across the nation that I dream of microphones in my sleep.
But I changed my mind after taking notice of the no-hitters that are thrilling major league baseball fans this year. They brought to mind something that happened to me back in 1990.
I was with the Rangers then and I’d just pitched my sixth of seven career no-hitters: this one against Oakland. The following day we were off and we flew to Seattle for the next series.
The next morning at breakfast—barely 36 hours after making sports headlines coast-to-coast for pitching a no-hitter—and a stranger comes up to me and says, “It’s Nolan Ryan. What are you doing now, Nolan? Coaching?”
So I know from experience that not everybody keeps up with current events by reading the sports page. And I also realize that if you want to hear about Nolan Ryan’s Beef, you want to come here and not to ESPN.
More on our beef in a moment ...
First of all, it’s great to be closely involved in another pennant race. After I retired as a player, I stayed involved in baseball through ownership of the Round Rock Express and the Corpus Christi Hooks. And I attended major league spring training for the Houston Astros and then the Rangers. But nothing I’ve done in baseball since retiring as a player compares to the 30,000-foot view of the game that I now have as the Rangers’ president.
Our team is playing arguably the best baseball in Rangers history. We’re only at the midway point as this is being written, and there’s a lot of innings still left to play. But it’s shaping up to be an exceptionally exciting year.
The key to the Rangers’ success has little to do with me. It’s a combination of skilled and talented personnel who work hard at perfecting the fundamentals and then put all that skill, talent and practice into play through good teamwork and a good plan.
That’s the real secret to baseball and beef ...
I’m fortunate that we’ve developed that same chemistry with Nolan Ryan’s Beef. I’m deeply involved with the beef side, but I’m also proud that our beef products just continue to get better even while I’m focused on a pennant race.
Just as with the Rangers, our beef team has skill and talent. They work hard every day perfecting the process of bringing you beef that consistently is all-natural and guaranteed tender. These are the fundamental qualities that you’ve told us you demand in beef. It’s been my honor to work with this beef team to develop a solid beef plan that provides you with the highest quality beef products you’ll find anywhere. I’d love to hear what you think about our beef. You can post your comments on Facebook or email us.
Mom's Roast
We get a lot of compliments from customers about how they enjoy cooking our beef products. I enjoy hearing all the comments, but I always have to smile when we get one about how much they like our beef roasts. I can always pretty much tell that person is close to my age and grew up in much the same home environment that I did.
When I was growing up in Alvin, Texas, my brother and sisters and I always knew what our Sunday menu was going to be. It was roast beef although my mother on occasion threw us off and went with chicken instead.
We weren't unique. I guess from after World War II until deep in the 1960s, most American families enjoyed a special meal almost every Sunday usually centered around roast.
That routine had a lasting impact on me. Even today I enjoy a good roast with brown gravy more than any other home-cooked meal. Same thing if I'm eating at someone else's home. I usually get really excited if they cook roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and brown gravy. It's my ideal home meal.
I don't know exactly why a good roast has that effect. I just know those were special days and whenever I eat roast today it just takes me back to when I was a kid growing up. Perhaps it does the same for you. E-mail me with your thoughts on your favorite family meal.