Barn branding at Shipwheel was more than just 'watching paint dry'

Officials with the Ohio-based Certified Angus Beef ® brand recently invited guests to "#BrandtheBarn with Us" at the Shipwheel Cattle Company south of Chinook. The barn branding and accompanying celebration was part of a year long commemoration of the first beef brand's 40th anniversary.

To honor the history of the brand, organizers planned a nationwide campaign to paint the Certified Angus Beef ® logo on 40 barns in 24 states. In Montana only the Swanson family's barn at Shipwheel Cattle Company was selected for the painting. The multi-day project included preparations for a luncheon featuring Certified Angus Beef ® and completion of the logo on the door of the Swanson's sale barn. The Swanson's barn was the 22nd to be painted during the campaign.

Organizers of the event noted a barn was "where farm life is centered from generation to generation and, oftentimes, where celebrations are held" and adding a commemorative logo was a nostalgic time to earlier when barns often served as billboards. The first logo of the forty logos was painted on a barn near Ocala, Florida in January. The final logo goes on a barn in Ohio on October 18. That latter date coincides with the first sale of a cut of Certified Angus Beef ®. Over the years 15 billion pounds of the quality beef have been sold in the U.S. and 49 foreign countries.

Consumers want to know the story of the beef they are buying and serving

Deanna Walenciak, Director of Education for Certified Angus Beef ®, was at Shipwheel to help coordinate the local celebration and painting of the logo. She said, "Consumers want to know the story of the beef they are buying. They want to know who the ranchers are that raise the beef, how the beef is harvested and how it is processed and prepared for the table. "At Certified Angus Beef ®" she added, part of our job is to tell that story and by doing that help add value to the product our ranchers produce." Certified Angus Beef ® is the marketing and education arm of the American Angus Association.

Paul Dykstra, a beef cattle specialist with Certified Angus Beef ® was also at Shipwheel for the gathering. He explained, "Sixty-seven percent of American beef is black, of that amount only 32-35% meet the standards to be branded Certified Angus Beef ®." The actual process to identify the certified beef is done at the packing plant by USDA meat inspectors, a neutral third party. Dykstra said, "Using a set of 10 carcass standards developed by Certified Angus Beef ® the inspector selects the beef that meets the standards and it is processed separately from other beef."

Walenciak described a number of interesting activities that she and her colleagues use to educate consumer about beef and 'grow' the ways to use Certified Angus Beef ® . She organizes tours for chefs and food distributors to visit ranches and packing plants to see how the beef is handled. The organizations culinary kitchen works to develop new cuts of beef and new recipes. Walenciak added, "It's a collaborative effort to find new cuts and ways to use beef." She cited the fairly recent introduction of the flatiron steak as a discovery by another industry association. "We often get new recipes and ideas for cuts from chefs who experiment in their own kitchens for new beef dishes," she added.

See Page B6: Shipwheel Certified Angus Beef

She described a program to connect end users of beef with producers called "Trading Spaces." In this program a chef from a restaurant using Certified Angus Beef ® spends a day working as a ranch hand with a producer. Then, the rancher spends time working in the kitchen with the chef, even taking the finished steak to the customer. Walenciek told, "A chef laughed when he told about a rancher assigned to cut steaks was told, "that's a nice cut but it's two ounces heavier than we listed, you're giving away the store."

The Certified Angus Beef ® brand was started by a group of like-minded cattlemen who saw the potential of creating a brand that represented a certain standard of quality. How that's worked out was supported by Derrick Spring and Shaina Hofeldt, co-managers of Andy's in Havre. The two oversaw the preparation of the luncheon served at Shipwheel during the anniversary celebration. Ask about their experience serving Certified Angus Beef ® at Andy's Derrick said, "We never have to worry about a returned steak because of quality."

Troy Freeman and the painting of logo #22 at Shipwheel

Troy Freeman grew up near and now lives in Springfield, Illinois. Deanna Walenciak described how Freeman was chosen to paint the commemorative logos across the country. She said, "We reviewed the work of several artists, then interviewed a few. Troy seemed to have the kind of outgoing personality that fit with our logo painting campaign." He grew up in a family of artists and always liked to draw and paint.

Freeman owns and operates what he describes as "an agricultural sign painting business," specializing in logos and messages painted on barns, silos and even water towers. Asked how he got into the ag sector he explained, "I had painted some large murals and a local farmer asked if I'd do a painting on one of his barns. Things just took off from there." After completing logo #22 on the door at Shipwheel's sale barn he said, "I probably spent 20-24 hours which is about normal."

To prepare the metal door for painting the logo he said, "first I drew an outline of the logo on the door (he used a digital projector at night to do the initial outline). Then I sand, degrease and wash the surface to assure there is a clean surface for the paint. I paint the entire area of the logo white and finally, paint the image beginning with the lightest colors and moving to the darker ones." He said of the 19 logos he's already done (he didn't do the first couple), only three were on a flat surface like the door at Shipwheel. He noted, "When painting on a corrugated barn there are few flat surfaces and few straight edges to follow."

Asked about some of the challenges he's faced with painting the logos, he began to list them, "Drones from TV news stations buzzing me, wasps, funnel clouds in Kansas and downpours and 60 mph straight line winds in Texas. Sometimes I end up painting at night to avoid wind or other problems."

And what satisfies him about the jog, "I like getting out and meeting new people and seeing the country." He paused and looked up at the hills just west of the Shipwheel barn and said, "I ask myself everyday how I am so blest to get to do what I love doing in such beautiful locations." He added he's seen a lot of the country because he tries to drive to the barn locations and flying is problematic because he can't take his paints on commercial airplanes.

As to the invitation asking guests to come "watch the paint dry," Freeman said, "One thing that makes painting easy here is the low humidity. I don't really have to wait long for the paint to dry before I add new paint." Interestingly he had timed the completion of the logo just as guests began to show for the celebrations. Pretty obvious this was not his first logo.

Montana Angus Association's annual tour will visit Shipwheel in September

Every seven years the annul Angus tour for Montana visits the north central region of the state. This year's tour will be in the area during September 18-20 with a pitchfork fondue planned at Shipwheel during an evening. Lori Swanson, co-owner of Shipwheel and secretary of the tour, said registrations are coming along nicely. She expects 300-400 guest for the dinner including tour participants and additional guests of Shipwheel.

Guests learned firsthand "the story of the Certified Angus Beef ® they buy"

Among the guests at the 40th anniversary celebration were a number representatives of end users of Certified Angus Beef ® including chefs and wholesale purveyors. For most of them it was their first time to interact with a ranch family and visit a ranch. The "Journal" thanks the Swanson family for their role in helping consumers learn the story of beef and congratulates the Certified Angus Beef ® brand on its 40 years of helping consumers and producers connect to enjoy quality beef products.