GREAT FALLS – Officials with the Montana Organic Producers Cooperative say the state’s organic beef growers had a rough year in 2009.
Mark Smith, the cooperative’s administrator and a Lavina rancher, says sales of organic beef were down 47 percent compared to the previous year. He says two factors contributed to the drop — the grocery store chain Whole Foods Market changed buyers, purchasing only 20 percent of what it had been buying from the Montana co-op, and consumers bought less organic beef as they looked for ways to stretch their budgets.
Smith says the cooperative has reached a new deal with Whole Foods Market and expects to ship more beef to the chain soon.