PIERRE, SD - Maverick’s Restaurant of Aberdeen has added SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED ™ Beef to its menu, making it the first restaurant in Aberdeen to feature the state certified beef, Jafar Karim, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development announced today.

SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED ™ Beef is the vision of Governor Mike Rounds and part of the state’s 2010 Initiative. “The Governor has always said that South Dakota has the best beef in the world,” Karim said. “This program is helping us prove it.”

This summer marked the official roll out of the program. SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef first became available earlier this fall. “We’ve taken a realistic approach to this program,” Karim said. “We expect it to take time for the program to grow.”

Maverick’s joins the growing list of retail outlets in South Dakota that offer SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef. “We are excited to offer SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef to our customers. We feel that it is a high quality product, and great for the South Dakota economy. We believe that there are many people who want to purchase meat that has been locally raised and processed.” said Kraig Schlaht, president Mavericks Steak & Cocktails in Aberdeen. 

In order to be eligible for the program, cattle must be born, raised and harvested in South Dakota. “For the last two years, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Department of Agriculture, the Governor’s Office and various industry partners have worked hard to put together participation requirements for producers and processors to ensure a consistently tender and wholesome cuts of beef,” Karim said.

A pilot processing project was conducted to allow program administration a chance to test procedures. Ten processors from around the state participated in mandatory training sessions sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, South Dakota State University, the South Dakota Animal Industry Board and the South Dakota Value-Added Ag Development Center and the South Dakota Beef Industry Council. 

Mike Henning, owner of Glacial Lakes Meat and Processing in Britton successfully

completed the training and is now a licensed processor for the program. “For years we’ve been processing high quality, locally raised cattle for our customers. Participating in the SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef Program allows us to further showcase our premium local beef,” Henning said.

Glacial Lakes Meat and Processing has partnered with Maverick’s to promote the program and will supply the restaurant with SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef originating from locally raised cattle.  

SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef will be available in limited quantities around the state as the program continues to ramp up. “We are excited about the future of this program.” Karim said. “We think more producers, processors and retailers will get involved as they see consumer demand for SOUTH DAKOTA CERTIFIED™ Beef grow.”