Finding another avenue to utilize resources has allowed third generation California rancher, Brooke Helsel, to continue her family’s Dot Seven .7 brand by selling direct-to-consumer beef.
Helsel’s grandfather, Jay Robinson, registered the Dot Seven brand after returning from World War II in 1946. He worked for other ranchers in the central valley, had a 60-acre homeplace and started a Grade B dairy. Eventually the opportunity to purchase land from another ranching family became available and that is the current home of the Dot Seven Ranch, which is northeast of Sanger in Fresno County. Today, the ranch is owned by Jay’s two daughters and managed by Brooke’s mom, Betsy Behlen.
The mother/daughter duo have created an arrangement where Helsel buys the calves from the ranch at weaning, then feeds outs, processes and markets the beef online and through local farmers’ markets.
“My best bit of advice, is to find something that can add to your operation, maybe it’s agritourism or new technology you can incorporate,” Helsel says. “It’s hard, but I think you really have to love whatever it is you do as the next generation. Especially if multiple generations are still active on the ranch, then you absolutely need additional ways to generate revenue. We’re not in a position to buy more California land and will not overgraze, so finding ways to add value to our beef and generate additional income has allowed another generation to be involved.”
With Betsy running the ranch, Brooke says they had to have many conversations about how to work together.
“It took a while for my mom and I to figure out the ebbs and flows and iron out details,” Helsel says. “Now we’re in a great position. She knows exactly what kind of product we want to market, and I know exactly what she needs, so we’re able to help each other. Like any new business, there were challenges, and the uphill battles still hit us today, but you stick with it. I think in the ranching world, we all have a lot of grit; we persevered and have gotten to a really good place where things just work.”
Brooke says while she always adored being around her grandfather and helping her mom on the ranch, she was more focused on sports while growing up and even walked onto the tennis team at Cal Poly. It wasn’t until college when she realized that agriculture was her true calling.
“I had the animal science background from being on the ranch, and my aunt, who worked in animal pharmaceutical sales, had an interesting career, so I decided ag business and marketing was a good fit for me,” she says. After graduation, Helsel went to work for different animal health companies and currently works for MWI Animal Health.
In 2015, she began a western boutique called The Beef Boutique. Helsel felt like she was at a good place in her career where she was ready to add a new challenge.
“I have that love of marketing and figuring out new products and where they can fit in the industry,” she says. “It really started with a blog, which is kind of funny to think now that I had time to blog. I enjoy talking to consumers and having those conversations with people that don’t have the opportunity to live on or visit a ranch and connecting with them.”
Because she was spending a lot of time writing online, Helsel realized she needed to turn it into a business.
“Make Mine Beef was a slogan I coined early on with the business that kind of transformed into T-shirts and hats and different products like that. It morphed into a boutique,” she adds. “Then in 2023, I sold the boutique after moving into a direct-to-consumer beef operation.”
Selling direct-to-consumer was something Helsel and her mom had discussed for years, and she credits her mom with taking their cowherd and genetics to the next level where they were comfortable offering a high-quality product through direct sales.
“My grandfather deserves all the credit for starting this ranch and really building the foundation for what we have today,” she says. “Back then we had crosses and some color in the herd. My mom really recognized the value of Angus genetics and focused on that. It definitely shows in the quality of the meat that I get back from the butcher. As a rancher, you sell your calves at a certain age, they leave the operation and, in most cases, you don’t know where they end up, or how they grade. So being able to carry our cattle all the way through has helped us make decisions on the front end that will improve our beef on the back end. Being able to see that end product and have that knowledge has definitely been a huge benefit of starting the direct-to-consumer business.”
In addition, Helsel says getting to know the consumer and who is eating their beef has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the business for her.
“I enjoy being able to thank the person who’s buying our beef,” she says. “And when they come back, and say, ‘We had a Dot Seven steak for Father’s Day,’ it makes those really hard days where you’re like, ‘it’s 110 degrees out and we’re pulling a calf, you know, it makes those days more tolerable when you can hear that kind of the reinforcement and know you’re doing this for a reason. People are making memories around the food that we’re helping put on the plate. It’s the full circle part of it all that I’m very proud of and something that definitely gives us the energy to keep going.”
