At the American Farmers and Ranchers 118th State Convention in Norman, Oklahoma, Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, had the chance to visit with Brady Sidwell of Sidwell Strategies and Distribution about how Sidwell Strategies can assist in marketing a producer’s product.
Sidwell is the president of Sidwell Strategies, a full-service commodity brokerage firm specializing in agricultural risk management and marketing strategies. Located in Enid, Oklahoma, Sidwell Strategies works directly with producers to help them achieve success from early production to the retail stages of a commodity or meat product.
“We are here partnering with AFR on the Oklahoma Certified Beef Association, OCBA, and essentially we are able to offer logistics, distribution, and warehousing for beef producers,” Sidwell said.
As cattle producers have a full plate with feeding and caring for their cattle on the production side, Sidwell said, the company Sidwell Strategies was born to fill that gap between production and getting that beef out into the market. The facility recently acquired by Sidwell Strategies in Enid, Sidwell said, will be used for the storage of a variety of products.
“We are going to make that facility for local products, specifically Oklahoma Beef, OCBA beef, but also other Made in Oklahoma products,” Sidwell said. “We are hoping to be able to connect high-quality local products to consumers across the state.”
Sidwell also talked about adding value to the final product on the consumer side while also increasing that value for the producer.
“After Covid, we have seen a big shift of consumers to be able to source locally, not just out of want but out of necessity,” Sidwell said. “We have seen the emergence of a lot of ‘farm to table’ places, and consumers are more interested in where their food is coming from,” Sidwell said. “The issue is getting the consumers and getting the restaurants and food service industry to be able to connect with the producers and being able to do it on a scalable level.”
With many producers in Oklahoma, there are many great products being marketed individually, Sidwell said, so Sidwell Distribution is a point in the supply chain to come together and allow producers to market in an efficient way while giving customers the chance to purchase locally raised Oklahoma beef.
With lower cattle inventory numbers in 2023, Sidwell talked about the part Sidwell Strategies plays in combatting supply chain challenges.
“Beef prices are going to be high, there is going to be a lot of volatility in the supply chain, and I think we will see more grocery stores and food service industries be in situations where they just don’t have consistent supply,” Sidwell said.
All of these factors considered, Sidwell said he sees opportunities ahead for beef producers in the state with those tighter supplies.
“It is just important we don’t price ourselves out of the market,” Sidwell said.
The local supply chain working together to keep products on the shelves, Sidwell said, will be very important as cattle numbers are smaller, creating potential supply chain issues for the packers.
“We are trying to be the calling point, the one-stop-shop for local products,” Sidwell said. “For restaurants or other food service locations looking for a local product in addition to beef, we are trying to be that place that has the cold storage capacity and professional supply chain management to be able to get it to them on a consistent basis year-round, where we will source as much as we need to for multiple producers to meet their needs at scale and quality.”
Sidwell urges anyone interested to come to visit the facility in Enid to have a conversation about the next steps.
“We embrace differences,” Sidwell said. “Producers have certain breeds they want to stick with and feeding regimes, and we want to be able to market for what those are. We don’t want to have just one product- we want to have a lot of different products because individuality in a local supply chain is where the value is.”
To get in contact with Brady Sidwell and his team, individuals can call 580-237-1040 or visit their website, https://www.sidwellstrategies.com/, and Facebook page.
