LIFT UP LOCAL 027
Written by Pamela Patton
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
Where’s the Beef? Dennis Farms, That’s Where
Nothing says summer like a hamburger grilled over an open flame, and the best beef for a mouth-watering burger comes from Dennis Farms, located in the heart of Michigan.
A Michigan Centennial Farm, Dennis Farms is owned and operated by Kevin Dennis and his wife, Jennifer. At one time, Dennis Farms had a dairy herd, but they sold the dairy herd when Kevin and Jennifer moved overseas to continue working in the dairy industry. When they returned to the US in 2012, Kevin started a second career in aviation and upon retirement, moved back to Laingsburg to run the family farm. “When we moved back, we started raising laying hens, meat chickens, and beef, and things have taken off like crazy.”
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
One of the questions Kevin is asked most often is whether his beef contains hormones or has been fed many additives. “We get asked that a lot. And I know many people look for pasture-raised and grass-fed, and we’re not. Our beef is fed grain to help with the (fat) marbling. They are also fed hay silage and corn silage, which is the entire corn plant, including stalk and leaves, chopped into little bits, and dry distiller’s grain, which is a by-product of ethanol-making.”
Marbling (fat content) is one more thing that sets Dennis Farms beef apart. “Marbling comes from the grain we feed the beef. As they get closer to butcher age, they get a little more grain to put on fat, and it’s the fat that provides the flavor. Our ground beef is 80/20, which means 80% lean beef and 20% fat, but it’s a lean fat, so when it’s cooked, it’s juicy, not greasy.”
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
Kevin attributes the success of his beef operation to the fact that more people want to know where their food is coming from, especially since COVID. “I can walk someone to the barn, point at a cow, and say, ‘There’s your beef.’ We use a USDA processor in Rosebush, Michigan, for custom processing. We send all our beef there, and they do a very nice job.”
The processed beef is frozen at zero degrees, not affecting the quality. “We tell people to eat it within a year, but that’s never been an issue because it sells quickly.”
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
Here a Chick, There a Chick
There’s more to Dennis Farms than beef. They also produce fresh eggs. “When we opened the farm store, I figured we’d get a lot of repeat business because everybody needs eggs continuously. Well, the egg thing has exploded beyond anything we thought we would be able to do. We started with 160 hens, then got to as high as 1,700 hens. Our flock is around 1,200 hens right now, but we are expanding to 2,000 to keep up with demand.”
“Our chickens live in hoop barns where they can freely walk around and go in and out as they want to. They have access to grass every day.” Hoop barns are made from lightweight metal bent into a semicircle, attached to a bottom frame, and covered with a heavy-duty tarp or plastic. The ends of the coop are framed with metal, and there is a door in the front for easy access to the enclosure. “We also use a mobile hoop during the summer, which can be moved from pasture to pasture, so there is always plenty of fresh grass and bugs for the chickens and shelter from the elements or the occasional hawk.”
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
“Our chickens are very vocal when we move them to a new pasture. We move them in groups of 500 to a quarter-acre. They eat the pasture down in just a few days, then we move them to a new spot.”
The state of Michigan requires sellers to wash eggs to be licensed to sell them commercially. After every egg is washed and dried, it is machine-sorted by size: small, medium, large, and extra-large. The sorting is not done according to actual size but by weight. Farm workers box the eggs, and they are delivered to the stores.
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
“One of the questions we are often asked is about the difference between brown and white eggs. There is no difference between white and brown shells; it just depends on the breed of the hen. We raise ISA Browns and Hyline chickens, which always lay brown eggs. But because our chickens eat grass, their yolks are a richer yellow and more flavorful.”
“We purchase feed for our chickens and beef locally — we even purchase our chicks and young steers from producers located in mid-Michigan. I think that’s important to customer: Knowing where their food comes from and buying local.””
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
Partners in Buying Local
Dennis Farms has an on-farm store open to the public, but Kevin wanted to share his beef and eggs with more people interested in farm-to-table. “I had heard that Meijer’s Market Format Stores were reaching out to smaller producers and trying to promote local products in their store. So, I connected with Capital City Market and told them about our farm. Managers came to the farm for a tour, and once we completed all the paperwork, we were in. At Capital City Market, we sell eggs and frozen ground beef. Woodward Corner Market (in Royal Oak, MI) carries our eggs, and we’re also working on having them carry our ground beef.”
Sales increase as more customers discover Dennis Farm eggs at Capital City Market. And Dennis Farm eggs are selling well at Woodward Corner in Royal Oak as well.
Kevin is grateful for the support the Market Format Stores provide. “I think it’s neat that a big company like Meijer takes time to help the little guys. I was in Capital City Market, and the store director, Robert, recognized me and asked me how I liked the placement of our eggs. Susan, the meat department manager, had a chalkboard sign with our logo on it right next to our beef. You wouldn’t find that kind of support anywhere else.”
📷 courtesy of Amber Rose Photography
Kevin notes that both stores have an entire section for Michigan-made products. “They do a great job in promoting local Michigan products. That’s important to customers who want to know where their food comes from. And by buying locally grown, the money goes right back into the community. We purchase feed for our chickens and beef locally — we even purchase our chicks and young steers from producers located in mid-Michigan. I think that’s important to customer: Knowing where their food comes from and buying local.”
So grab a package of ground beef from Dennis Farms when you’re putting a burger on the grill for the most flavorful, juicy, and Michigan-made beef.