Living River Farms
Dual-Offering Farm with One VAPG-Funded Goal
Sandra Yerges
The grass is always greener on Living River Farm’s side because of the many chickens that roam on the mountainous Montana property. Their role in naturally sustaining the surrounding vegetation by meandering through the pasture has been crucial for the business in its regenerative plans. With this abundantly growing span of land, Living River Farm has since integrated grass-fed cows into its operation, making poultry and beef its primary products.
Those behind this dual-offering farm are friends turned business partners, Beau McLean and Christopher Green. Ever since they met, their focus has been on agriculture and using their collective skills to build a business together. Their first farming venture began early on in their young adult lives as a side project to accompany their collegiate studies. Over time, it morphed into their shared drive to try something new.
Before the beginning of Living River Farms in 2015, Beau and Christopher were presented with an opportunity to acquire land they could not refuse. This striking property was part of Beau’s family history, and after making the collective decision to use it for their new business, it became the lush property that currently houses Living River Farms and the next generation of Beau’s family.
Because this land provided them with a blank slate for their upcoming business, they took some time to investigate which offering was lacking most in Montana. Throughout many miles traveled and conversations with those in retail and restaurants, they decided to proceed with chickens first. However, moving forward with poultry farming, and later beef, due to local need was not the only factor that drove them to begin this operation.
“I was really moved to try to find ways to employ people that otherwise have trouble getting employment,” explained Beau.
By following that shared passion, he and Christopher built their business with a mission to employ workers with special needs. The co-owners have been moved to make a difference in their community, and in doing so, they currently have a hardworking group of part-time workers to help them prepare their meat. These employees work on-site at the building where their efficient bi-weekly butchering and packaging occur.
When speaking on the speed of their processing, Beau shared, “It goes from a live animal in the morning to packaged into different cuts and parts by the afternoon and then frozen and ready for resale.”
These fresh and regeneratively raised meat cuts supply various retail and restaurant outlets through wholesale distribution and direct sales. Because of the impact of the pandemic, Living River Farms also focuses on direct-to-consumer sales through its online ordering system. Although this is a virtual sales option, customers can still get an in-person experience while picking up their purchased goods at the farm.
Having a wide variety of value-added products to choose from is a large benefit to the farm, especially as whole animal products were its original specialty. It was Beau and Christopher’s choice to expand their offerings to include cuts around 2018 that opened the door to the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG).
Ravalli County Economic Development Authority (RCEDA), a local firm and expert in governmental funding, saw something special in Living River Farms and its value-added product goals. This led to a professional from RCEDA connecting Beau and Christopher with the VAPG. Being that the two had created a trusting relationship with this company, they felt confident in their choice to pursue it.
Despite having some grant writing experience in the course of their business endeavors, Beau urges anyone interested in the grant to look into finding professional assistance or hiring a grant writer. After drafting two grant applications, he learned that having that background knowledge of the application can make the process more efficient, thus lending well to the skills of a professional grant writer.
Nonetheless, the overarching goal of Beau and Christopher’s two self-written grant applications was to uphold their value-added chicken cuts by financially supporting the employees who processed them. As mentioned before, their workers are a large part of their focus, but having more team members also comes with greater operational costs. By having the reimbursements to compensate their employees, they felt secure in their other tasks and plans for their business.
“The cash flow was so essential,” Beau expressed. When speaking about the grant, he later added, “It gave us the buffer in taking more risk early on that has really paid off now.”
Based on their original ideas of where they thought their processing capacity would be after their grants, Living River Farms has far exceeded those expectations. Even though they were amazed at the influx of growth the grant period allowed them to have, Beau and Christopher are not shying away from continuing to work with this upward trend. Production is the key to creating products for their customers to enjoy, so their short-term goal within the next two years is to expand this important aspect of their business once again.
Now that the farm is well on its way through the hurdles of early entrepreneurship, Beau revealed, “It’s wonderful to be on this side of things.” This side, which now has a sustained focus on preparing products for sales, is continuing to make the grass greener for Living River Farms every day.
