Marketing

• After the Ban: The Japanese Market for U.S. Beef, Roxanne Clemens, Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC), Iowa State University, April 2007.
• Beef Marketing Alternatives, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), 2006 - Looks at various marketing avenues, including direct marketing, legal considerations, processing and packing.
• Cattle & Beef, Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Direct Marketing Beef: Pros and Cons, Do's and Don’ts, University of Nebraska, 2003 -  Proceedings from the Range Cow Beef Symposium.
• Direct Marketing Business Management Series, 1999  - This publication focuses on direct marketing alternatives and features many farm case studies, as well as information on enterprise budgets and promotions/publicity.
• Direct Marketing Meats, Selling Freezer Beef, Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development.
• Direct Sales of Beef, University of Nebraska - this document reviews how to select a processor, pricing and start-up costs.
• Export Opportunities, Iowa State University, 2003 - Normally, small-scaled plants are at a cost disadvantage compared to larger plants in terms of exporting product. This paper looks at opportunities for exports of pork and beef from small-scale facilities.
• Farm To Fork--Direct Marketing Benefits Producers and Consumers, Beef magazine, 2000 - Explores the risks and rewards of direct marketing.
• How to Direct Market Your Beef, SARE, 2005.
• Livestock Cattle Reports, Market News and Transportation Data, Ag Marketing Service, USDA.
• Economic Issues with Natural and Organic Beef, Kansas State University, 1999.
• MHR International Meat Directory - Links to companies throughout the world in all meat categories.
• North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association

Processing/Manufacturing

• Economic Impact of Directly Marketed Livestock in Iowa, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, 2001 - Cooperative Development Services surveyed licensed meat processors in Iowa to analyze the scale and economic impact of livestock directly marketed to consumers.
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Demonstration Plans, Iowa State University Meat Laboratory - These demonstration plans are tools available to guide plant and processing facilities with developing their own HACCP plans to comply with the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Production

• Adding Value to Beef Production, Iowa State University Extension Value-Added Agriculture - This Web site gives readers an overview of various beef production alternatives.
• Cattle Production: Considerations for Pasture-Based Beef and Dairy Producers, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), 2007 - This publication highlights intensively-managed rotational grazing (also called management-intensive grazing or planned grazing) and other practices producers are using to provide customers with nutritious food.
• Where's the Beef? Small Farms Produce the Majority of Cattle, Agricultural Outlook, Economic Research Service, USDA, 2002.

Businesses/Case Studies

• Agriculture Alternative Ag - This site provides names, contacts and specific commodities, including beef, marketed directly from Jackson County, Iowa.
• Chariton Valley Beef - This  producer alliance operates in Iowa and Missouri, assisting members to increase profitability in the beef industry. Their newest program markets high-quality, locally grown beef directly to consumers.
• Lasater Grasslands Beef - Cattle finished on grass in Colorado and both direct marketed to the public and offered in retail stores.
• Raising Natural Beef, The New American Farmer, SARE, 2005.
• Rural Illinois Farmer Direct Markets Beef, Market to Market, Iowa Public Television, 2002 - Armin Hesterberg direct markets Belgian Blue beef.
• Western Minnesota Natural Farm Produce - These western Minnesota producers market natural farm produce directly to consumers. Each operation has its own link on the site, detailing products for sale to the consumer.

Links checked April 2008.