Nice to Meat You: Remmele Custom Beef

Tom Remmele never felt pressured to take over his fourth generation family farm in Echo, Minnesota. In fact, it was his father who encouraged him to explore options outside the farmyard which lead to teaching Agricultural Education in South Dakota for five years.

“That’s one of the things I have to give my dad credit for,” says Tom. “I was told, you know, get out, see the world. That way it doesn’t feel like a burden because that’s how young people decide they want to come back. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything.”

It’s advice he and his wife Amy Jo passed down to their children Clay Newton, who works as a Meat Innovation Specialist at the Agriculture Utilization Research Institute (AURI), and Calli Newton, who studies nursing at Nebraska Methodist College in Omaha.  

“Don’t rush to come back,” Tom told them. “The farm will always be here.”

Established in 1897, Remmele Farms continues to respect its rich past by carrying on with traditions like hand feeding their cattle to bring customers incredible beef products through Remmele Custom Beef (RCB), an operation they started in 2021. 

“We go old school with how we feed our cattle because that’s what we believe makes the best beef for people to eat,” explains Tom.

As stewards of the land, they understand the importance of adapting to modern practices to ensure the farm’s longevity while maintaining the integrity set by their ancestors. In Tom’s grandfather’s day, they had dairy cows until his father switched them to Charolais. When Tom moved back from South Dakota, he brought 10 Maine-Anjou heifers with him to swap the herd out and breed show cattle.

It’s no surprise then Clay would eventually have an idea which would bring about change and propel the farm towards a new adventure, cross breeding their cattle with the highly esteemed and famously marbled Wagyu.

“I wanted to add Wagyu genetics into our cattle herd after seeing the high quality meat they produce,” remembers Clay. “Our cattle already produced excellent meat, but I thought crossing them with Wagyu would take it to the next level. I am very pleased with the outcome and would recommend everyone try our steaks, roasts, and hamburger to see why I am so excited about the results.”

When you combine the large stature of the Maine-Anjou breed with the butter like texture of Wagyu, the result is a delicious product with ample marbling into muscle groups you wouldn’t expect. 

“Our beef shanks look like they’re marbled about as much as a ribeye,” explains Tom. “That’s just mind blowing for me.”

Which is why he likes to say Wagyu isn’t something you can explain.

“It has to be experienced.”

Take their neighbor for example, who hadn’t eaten beef in over ten years until he tried RCB products and is now one of their regulars. Another customer shared their products with her family and now each of her children who live in the Twin Cities metro area request their meat.

“When we get compliments that just fills our heart,” says Amy Jo.

“People deserve to have better protein choices than what’s available to them,” says Tom.

By partnering with The Meatery, they know their customers can.

“The Meatery was a god send,” says Tom. “They solved the main issue we’ve been looking at and studying.”

“I’ve had people who move out of state who say they’d love to be able to get our beef, but I didn’t know how to ship it to them,” says Amy Jo. “Now we can ship out to California and Alabama.”

Feedback like this is why Tom’s favorite part of running their business is interacting with customers at community events like fundraisers and beef tastings, but for Amy Jo it’s all about time with her family.

“Family is absolutely my favorite thing because Tom and I both grew up on multigenerational family farms,” says Amy Jo. “So, family has always been the center of our farms.”

Amy Jo’s fondest memories of growing up on her childhood farm are of doing chores with her father. “It was always something we did together,” and something special she does with her own family.

Even with her job as a respiratory therapist at their local hospital, Amy Jo still manages to keep up with chores around the farm and everyone fed.

“For me, making a meal and feeding others is a way of me showing love,” says Amy Jo. 

Her favorite collection with The Meatery is The Smoke ‘Em Box due to its versatility.

“There’s so much you can do with a roast,” explains Amy Jo. “It’s not just throw it in a crock pot and leave it, which you can do, but you can put it in a smoker. There’s certain ones you can cut into steaks. We’ve done barbecued burnt ends too. You get so many meals out of it, so it’s good for families. When the kids come home they request roast and the smell of Sunday dinner that smells like home.”

Passionate about food insecurity, it’s important to the Remmele’s for RCB to support their local food pantries with either a financial or a meat donation on a quarterly basis.

 “We want people to have access to quality meat and to have access to any meat really,” says Amy Jo. “Based on prices at the grocery store right now, some people aren’t able to pay rent and buy all the groceries they need and we want to help these people.”

“That’s just how we are out here in rural America,” adds Tom. “We try to take care of our neighbors.”  

The love they have for their community matches the love they have for one another. The Remmele’s draw strength from their family every day and it’s what allows them to persevere when challenges arise.

 “We have seen our parents work hard to keep the farms going no matter what, through thick and thin in, good times and bad,” explains Amy Jo. “Farming is in our blood. Farming is a family thing. If our kids still want to farm when they get older we want to have a farm for them. You just push through.”

 After 125 years a lot has changed on the Remmele farm, but what’s important hasn’t. They set out to provide quality food for their community to enjoy, which is exactly what they still do.

 “When you support our business, you’re supporting your local family farmer,” says Amy Jo.

“It’s an honor for us that you’d select our product to feed your family with,” adds Tom. “We thank people for letting us be a part of their dinner table. I don’t know a higher compliment you could get than that. You chose us to feed your family.”