From beginning their cow-calf herd to selling a majority of their beef in their own retail store in just over a decade, first-generation ranchers and owners of Light Hill Meats, Ben and Lauren Neale from Giles County, Tennessee, have built their business piece by piece.
In 2011, Ben and Lauren started their cow-calf operation, and gradually sold more halves and whole freezer beef directly to consumers over the next several years. As this enterprise grew, the Neales acquired a closed down processing plant in 2016. They reopened the facility in 2017, meeting USDA-inspection standards, to process their own beef and provide a custom service to other local producers.
The Neales didn’t stop there, as they created a pop-up style market to fill the need for available beef during the pandemic and sold their meat at the end of the road near their home. Success in the retail space finally led the Neales to open their very own retail meat store in September 2022.
While most wouldn’t know it now, Ben and Lauren came from less traditional agricultural backgrounds. For Ben, working on local farm and ranch operations growing up helped him gain experience and fueled his passion for the industry, though his family did focus on their small cattle enterprise. For Lauren, she remembers being young when her grandfather sold his Iowa farm, her only tie to agriculture, when no family had chosen to return to the operation.
Ben and Lauren have jumped through many hoops and faced many challenges to get where they are today.
“I would say each level has its own problems,” Ben says, who oversees all aspects of the family business. From being a first-generation rancher searching for opportunities and funding to get an operation started to navigating a labor shortage and finding help, Ben says, there’s simply not enough time in the day.
Lauren, who serves as the social media and marketing expert in the business, finds a challenge in learning what the customer wants. Additionally, Ben and Lauren recognize the knowledge gap that exists between agriculture producers and consumers and use their business as a way to educate customers with misconceptions.
Sharpening Focus
Running a herd of primarily Red Angus with some Simmental influence, Ben has focused on retaining quality cows that produce calves with high grading beef on the rail. Ben notes, if the calves do not meet quality standards for the operation, they do not go through the program and are sold—despite the demand for the Neale’s beef.
At processing, Ben says they focus on providing a product that isn’t always found in the big grocery stores. From their facility’s dry aging process to stocking less common retail cuts, the store is helping serve customers with quality, high-end products and bridge the farm to table gap.
Preaching to the choir and marketing to ourselves isn’t the best route, Lauren adds. While using social media to share offerings of available beef with friends can be effective, it may not be reaching the larger market and demographic that is less familiar with agriculture and sourcing local meat.
“A lot of times in the commodity business, we make great products and hope somebody buys them,” Ben says. “This is a completely different ballgame.”
Strategically located in the town of Spring Hill, Tenn. and servicing one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, the retail store is approximately 35 miles down the road from their USDA-inspected processing facility in Lynnville.
Motivation in Business
Ben says, there’s easier ways to make a living, but this is what he has chosen to do because he enjoys it. Multiple enterprises within the business also allows Lauren to be part of the business, as well as provides possible avenues for the family’s young children to consider in the future.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a legacy guy,” Ben notes. “If we don’t create a good business for our children to return to, I don’t know why we would want to strap our children with the problem. For me, my main motivator is to create an opportunity, if my children want to work in the business with me, that is at least a viable income for their families.”
The Neales have also learned the impacts of a healthy diet and the importance of gut health, through their son, Corban, who is nonverbal and autistic. Consuming minimally processed foods has helped their entire family of six, which has further fueled their passion for providing products to consumers without preservatives and other processing ingredients.
During the recent holidays, Light Hill Meats received around 150 pre-orders of standing rib roasts and other specialty cuts—resulting in a line that went out the door on pick-up day. “It was amazing, humbling, and we were grateful to the community for choosing us, a new business, for their celebratory meals,” Lauren adds.
While the family business has grown exponentially in the past decade, Ben and Lauren look forward to what may be ahead.
“I like the challenge of growing something,” Ben says. “I like putting the pieces together.”
