As an organic food producer and a strong supporter of sustainable agriculture, Dakota Beef believes social responsibility is a core value of its business. The Company is committed to stewardship of the resources it uses in providing healthy organic beef products to consumers. Founded in 2000, Dakota Beef was formed on an idea that a successful organic beef company could be built by providing the purest, most flavorful organic beef in the marketplace without using harsh chemicals, growth promoting hormones or antibiotics and all within a sustainable agriculture business model in adherence with the best practices in the organic industry. This allows all stakeholders, from our ranchers to our employees to the communities in which we live and work to prosper along with the Company. While we continue to look at ways to partner in our communities, here are a few ways we’ve begun to make a difference.

Howard, SD Community

In recognition of the high level of professional assistance we received from the Miner County Community Revitalization program during our search for a new plant, we have been an active donor to the Howard, SD Children's Care Corner.

Dakota Beef has hosted numerous events such as the Howard Ribfest to benefit the Children’s Care Corner.

Dakota Beef is aware of the impact a business has on the local community and believes that part of our success relies on the cooperation of the people of Howard, South Dakota. We will continue to support organizations in Howard that can improve the lives of the people in our corner of South Dakota.

Heifer International

Dakota Beef LLC is proud to be named a corporate sponsor for Heifer International. Since 1944, Heifer International - a humanitarian assistance organization dedicated to ending world hunger and protecting the earth - has helped millions of people in 128 countries move toward greater self-reliance through livestock, training, and "Passing on the Gift." Heifer’s programs help protect the earth by establishing environment-friendly agricultural practices such as zero grazing and soil conservation.

For more than 60 years, Heifer International has provided millions of struggling families a way to become self-reliant for food and income. By providing livestock and training, a family can obtain milk, eggs, wool and other income-producing benefits to feed, clothe and educate their children. Each gift multiplies because every family that receives a Heifer animal promises to "pass on the gift" by giving one or more of their animal's offspring to another family in need. Heifer International currently supports projects in 48 countries—including the United States—that create sustainable small-scale farm enterprises to improve nutrition and supplement income. Local community groups conceive and manage Heifer International projects, empowering them to solve their own problems and equipping the next generation to face challenges successfully.

The Dakota Beef partnership features important educational and financial components: Dakota Beef will provide Heifer International staff and project participants with information on developing better breeds and improving management techniques, and will provide training for Heifer International’s certified organic program in the United States. Dakota Beef is also proud to be an annual financial donor to assist Heifer International in its mission to provide cattle to underdeveloped communities throughout the world. Donations come from the sale of certified organic calves that must be pulled from Dakota Beef’s program and sold into the conventional cattle market. The USDA National Organic Program limits the use of veterinary care to a short list of holistic medicines. If an animal becomes sick and cannot be saved using acceptable treatments, it must be administered conventional medicine to save its life. These animals lose their organic certification and must be sold. If and when this occurs, Dakota Beef donates the proceeds back to Heifer International. Scott Lively, the president and CEO of Dakota Beef believes, that as a certified organic beef producer, the company should only profit from the sale of certified organic beef. For more information about Heifer International, click here.

Jun Yoshitani, P.E., Dakota Beef's environmental engineer, is developing animal waste treatment systems that will not only conform to Federal, State and local regulations, but will also be environmentally friendly. Some of the processes he is investigating include the composting of manure for use as fertilizer, anaerobic bacteria digesters, and other methane recovery technologies sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency's AgSTAR program.

These bio-gas systems are gaining in popularity because they can reduce odor by as much as 90 percent. During the process, the nutrients, such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are pulled out, leaving carbon dioxide and methane, which can be used to operate equipment that runs on natural gas. We believe Dakota Beef has an obligation to invest in technologies that turn animal waste and other by-products into a renewable resource if we expect to be recognized as proponents of the organic foods industry.