SAN ANTONIO — Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren visited the headquarters of Labatt Food Service on June 9 to learn how the Navajo beef market sources products from Navajo Nation ranch lands, processes them, and uses them as a niche beef product at Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise (NNGE) casinos.
According to Blair Labatt, President and CEO of Labatt Food Service, this niche market is unique for Navajo beef producers who graze their cattle at Padres Mesa Ranch, located in the Nahata Dzil Chapter.
“We focused on the Padres Mesa ranch, which is a valuable educational resource for the Nation,” said Blair Labatt. “We believe that in future years Padres Mesa can be a hub and an incubator for teaching the most effective methods of raising cattle through the entire Nation.”
Through Labatt Food Service, ranches such as 14R Corporation in Nahata Dzil and tribal ranches in Eastern Navajo sell their meat, utilizing improved genetics and ethical land conservation practices.
NNGE Board member and former NNGE CEO Derrick Watchman mentioned that the partnership with Labatt and the Navajo Beef program started during his tenure as NNGE CEO. Since then, it has evolved into a model that can be replicated across the entire Navajo Nation on trust lands, extending to other ranchers not enrolled in the Navajo Beef program.
“Coming from and growing up in a ranching family, having a program like this to help improve your beef business and returns is an added plus to support our ranching industry,” Watchman said.
“Preserving this ranch allows Navajo cattle growers to maintain their livelihoods, boost economic development, and create jobs,” President Nygren said. “That’s why I encouraged the friends of the Padres Mesa to propose plans for the long-term future of the Ranch as an asset to the Nation.”
