Joe and Bonnie Austin, Hill & Vale in Wykoff, MN

For many years, Joe and Bonnie Austin from Hill & Vale have been supplying the metro area with 100-percent, all-pastured, natural grain-finished beef that tastes better than most any beef I’ve ever had. After many attempts to pass the farm on to a successor or young farmer, Joe and Bonnie have elected to retire.

Obviously, this will have a big impact on Seward Co-op’s community of owners, customers, and workers.

The good news is that small-town meat processor Geneva Meats out of Geneva, MN knows Hill & Vale’s business inside and out. Owner Paul Smith has been processing Hill & Vale’s meats for years. Along with his son Jared and a neighboring farmer, Paul will continue on the path paved by Hill & Vale under the new brand “Blooming Prairie Natural Beef.”

Blooming Prairie is going to grow with Seward Co-op as we expand into the Bryant Neighborhood with the Friendship store, which is something that Hill & Vale was concerned about being able to achieve.

As Seward Co-op’s Meat & Seafood manager, I’m so sorry to see Joe and Bonnie leave, but it brings into perspective the amount of work and care that goes into raising livestock. There are standards and protocols to be met both with cattle and farmland, knowing how to manage a herd of many different ages, so that Seward can have the proper size animal delivered to us weekly. Also, there’s the matter of building a relationship with a reputable processor, and ensuring that there is a standard of quality that is met with every steer.

I am very happy that we can continue this cycle instead of needing to rely on a much larger beef operation. The animals will continue to be hand-selected when ready, delivered by the farmer personally, processed in a local small-town establishment with whom we have built a relationship, with weekly deliveries to us here at Seward. We can continue to say that all the Blooming Prairie Natural Beef in the case is from the same steer, ordered straight from the farmer and prepared for you by our highly skilled butchers.

We very much appreciate the care and work Joe and Bonnie Austin from Hill & Vale have put in over the years. They are owners here at Seward, and as much as we’ll miss doing business with them on a weekly basis, we are excited for them to relax and “retire.”

We are proud to say they are lifelong friends of ours.