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Breaking into the beef business
Wendy and Jake
Bingham of North
Powder market their
beef locally and
across the nation
INFORMATION
Check out Bingham Beef at binghambeef.com, on Facebook
and Instagram, or stop by the booth at these farmers markets:
North Powder: Fridays, 9 a.m. to noon
Pendleton: Fridays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
La Grande: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
Grande Farmers Market in 2021.
This year, she is attending farm-
ers markets in North Powder and
Pendleton on Fridays, then in La
Grande on Saturdays.
W
endy and Jake
Bingham wanted
to expand their
contract
fenc-
ing company when they signed up
for a class on how to grow your
business.
Then they got to thinking about
their commercial cow herd.
“It’s always been in my mind
that it would be fun to direct sell
our meat,” Wendy said.
They took that class in 2018.
“In the fall of 2019 we launched
our website,” she said.
Pandemic response
Ag backgrounds
Jake grew up on a cattle ranch
outside of North Powder. Wendy
grew up in Idaho on a potato farm
where cattle and horses were a sec-
ondary attribute.
But she loved the animals.
The couple met at Utah State
University, and then worked
together on a Montana cattle ranch
where guests came to work and
experience the western lifestyle.
The Binghams moved to East-
ern Oregon in 2002, to the home
where Jake was raised.
“We bought a cow herd and
moved back,” Wendy said.
They had a traditional opera-
tion, selling truckloads of cattle on
a commercial basis.
Selling beef to local residents
was a small part of their business.
“We’d sell quarters or halves to
family and friends,” Wendy said.
But not everyone has freezer
space for that much beef.
Now customers can buy as
much or as little as they want —
Tierra Kessler/Contributed photo
Bingham Beef is a family operation. From left: Roper, Brand, Jake, Wendy,
Hatlee, Dallee Jo and Range.
a few pounds of ground beef or a
box of mixed cuts.
“We want to make it as simple
as possible for the consumer,” she
said.
Today, Bingham Beef ships its
products across the United States.
“We’ve shipped as far as Maine
and Florida,” Wendy said.
The meat, packed in dry ice,
must ship in two days. During the
summer, she switches to overnight
shipping.
Many of the Binghams’ national
customers ordered online after vis-
iting with the couple at their farm-
ers market booth.
“They’ll be from somewhere
else and take our information,”
Wendy said. “Then the next month
I’ll get an order.”
The market, she said, allows
customers to talk to the producer
and learn more about the meat.
“You’re the face of the busi-
ness — a lot of it is knowing who
is raising your meat, and that it’s
done humanely,” she said. “They
resonate with our lifestyle, and
that we’re raising our family in
this lifestyle.”
Indeed, the Bingham Beef mar-
keting includes family photos, as
well as images from the ranch.
She also uses social media to
market the products, and often
posts photos and videos that offer
a glimpse of life on a working cat-
tle ranch.
Wendy had a booth at the La
The Bingham Beef website —
binghambeef.com — went live in
the fall of 2019.
By spring 2020, everyone was
spending much more time at home
as the pandemic changed daily
routines.
“People were on social media
more, so it helped with our reach,”
she said.
Their orders increased, but the
USDA-certified butcher (the certi-
fication is required for direct sales)
who processes their meat had lim-
ited space in the schedule.
Now she’s planning ahead for
the butcher.
“We’re scheduled through
2023,” Wendy said.
Taking this direct sales
approach means a focus on
marketing.
“Processing, packaging and
displaying the meat is a different
level,” she said.
The website features photos to
showcase various cuts of beef —
for instance, a thick steak sprin-
kled with coarse salt and deco-
rated with fresh rosemary.
The most popular order varies
widely, but tends toward steaks,
Wendy said.
“Our ribeyes, filet mignon and
New Yorks are the most popular,”
she said.
She offers something for
non-humans, too.
“People love to buy the dog
bones,” she said with a smile.
As for ground beef, which is
made from half of every cow, cus-
tomers can buy a box full of this
cut or will find it added to the vari-
ety boxes, too.
Wendy said local purchases
make up about 70% of the orders
during the summer, thanks to the
farmers markets.
“It feels so good to support your
locals and supply what they need,”
she said. “It’s been fun to have
connections with our customers.”
Bingham Beef also supplies
meat to The Landing in La Grande,
Minam Lodge, and the La Grande
School District for school lunches.
Looking ahead
Wendy is always thinking of
ways to offer something differ-
ent, and the newest Bingham Beef
offerings are beef breakfast sau-
sage and beef sticks.
Soon, she hopes to launch sub-
scriptions to a Ranch Club monthly
meat box.
“It would come at the same
time every month,” she said.
These subscriptions would be
filled first from the inventory, then
the rest would be listed on the
website.
And, because she offers a wide
variety of cuts that might not be
familiar — like osso buco — she’s
happy to share recipes.
The Binghams know how to
cook beef.
“We have a lot of beef at our
house,” Wendy said with a laugh.
“It’s a delicacy to have chicken or
fish.”