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Lettie McKinney, MC- Meat Company

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

“Connecting with consumers.” That’s a goal of many food companies, but today we’ll meet a young beef producer who has taken this idea to heart. She finds that delivering beef and communicating with families is the most rewarding part of her job.

Lettie McKinney
Lettie McKinney

Lettie McKinney is the founder of MC- Meat Company, which provides homegrown beef directly from the ranch to the consumer. The family brand, based on their last name, is pronounced “M C Bar.”

The McKinneys have farmed and raised cattle for decades in southwest Kansas since Lettie’s ancestors settled there in the 1920s. “My great-grandparents lived through the Dust Bowl and the Depression,” Lettie said. “We’re still here by the grace of God.” Today, she is part of the fourth generation on the ranch. Continue reading “Lettie McKinney, MC- Meat Company”

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dan Senestraro, Kansas dairyman

“Go East, young man, and grow up with the country.” Actually, that is the opposite of the original saying made famous by editor Horace Greeley, who told his readers to go west in 1865. But in 1994, one entrepreneur found that his path to growth was to go east, and that led him to rural Kansas.

Dan Senestraro

Dan Senestraro is the owner of Eastside Dairy in Stanton County, Kansas. Dan is the westernmost Kansan on the Board of Directors of the Dairy Farmers of America.

Dan grew up on a dairy farm in California. He went to veterinary school at the University of California at Davis. “I was determined not to be in the dairy business,” he said with a smile. He graduated in 1986. By 1989, he found himself in the dairy business again.

“I was in a partnership on 800 dairy cows in rented space in southern California,” Dan said. As California became more crowded and urbanized, he looked to relocate and grow.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dan Senestraro, Kansas dairyman”