(This interview was initially published on Cattlenetwork.com on March 24, 2006, and is an interesting look at the man who will be the keynote speaker at the Meat Industry Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony).

Sometimes, life is a circular thing. What goes around, comes around. You can’t really escape your roots. You never stray too far from…OK, I’ll stop with the hokie little homilies and get on with the story. Forty years ago, young William escaped a life in rural Kansas and moved to the big city in search of adventure. Like any well-trained Kansas hunter, he quickly found what he went looking for.

He became the voice of news in Chicago and spent most of the next four decades reporting on the major events of our time for the CBS Morning News and local CBS affiliate WBBM. Throughout most of the last quarter of the twentieth century, it didn’t really happen unless Bill Kurtis said so at 6:00 pm.

After the country boy made his mark and a few extra bucks for the effort, he decided to go back home again. It can be done quite nicely, thank you, if you buy about 10,000 acres of prime prairie and become a Kansas cattle rancher. Kurtis is beating the drums these days for the all-natural, grass-fed beef produced from the cattle he raises. In a fit of investigative journalism, I sampled one of his Tallgrass filets at Harry Caray’s restaurant in Chicago. My friends are always amazed at the lengths I’ll go to get to the heart of a story. Or a good meal.

I can’t vouch for the health benefits Kurtis claims but frankly the taste is so damn good I don’t care if it’s healthier or not. You don’t have to insult this piece of meat with a steak knife, just resist picking up the plate and licking it clean in the restaurant. People will stare.

You probably already know about Bill Kurtis the television news guy, so let’s spend five minutes learning about Bill Kurtis the Kansas cattle rancher.

Q. You had a pretty good gig going as a newscaster, spending much of your career at WBBM in Chicago. Why did you decide to get into the cattle business?

A. I'm really from Kansas. I moved to Chicago in 1966 to join WBBM-TV and spent 30 years with CBS Television. For the last fifteen years I've run my own documentary production company. About ten years ago, I was driving my folks through the Kansas Flint Hills and fell in love with the rolling hills and prairie grasses. I bought a ranch, named it the Red Buffalo after the Osage Indian term for fire on the prairie and began a cow-calf operation, among other things.

Q. Can you tell me about the history and size of the property?

A. Until 1871, the roughly 10,000 acres was on the Osage Diminished Reserve. The U.S. government moved the tribe twenty miles south into Indian Territory so it could open the land to homesteaders. There have only been a handful of owners since. It used to be known as the Staats Ranch before I bought it.

Q. You’re marketing Tallgrass all natural, grass-fed beef from finished cattle and the animals have to meet your strict program requirements. Where are you finding the cattle and are you raising some of your own animals at Red Buffalo Ranch?

A. We have a herd carrying our genetics on the Red Buffalo. Dr. Allen Williams, the Tallgrass Beef COO, heads up a team of examiners who inspect cattle from Montana to Mississippi, using ultrasound to find grass-fed animals that meet our standards.

Q. You’ve said your cattle are all natural, never subjected to synthetic growth hormones, antibiotics or animal by-products. Those claims require USDA verification, of course. What are your requirements and how do you handle the process verification?

A. Process verification is primarily handled by affidavits that each producer is required to sign and date, attesting that they have followed all Tallgrass Beef Company protocols. Tallgrass has applied for and received USDA FSIS label approval for these claims.

Q. You’re a staunch proponent of grass-fed beef in a grain-fed business. The conventional wisdom in North America says grain-fed beef is better marbled and tastier. What do you say?

A. Grain-fed cattle can produce a wonderfully juicy and tender product. I wouldn't argue with that. The challenge for grass-fed operators has been to match that tenderness and taste. You just can't turn any animal out onto pasture and expect it to produce tender meat. It has to have the right genetics. And that's why we've spent so much time finding just the right cattle with the right genes. I'll put our grass fed and grass finished product up against USDA Prime for taste and tenderness. It has a deeper flavor that harkens back to the original taste of beef.

Our customers recognize and appreciate the difference. When they realize the health benefits of the grass-fed product, it's a thumbs-up. Tallgrass Beef Company targets a final USDA Quality Grade of High Select to Low Choice. Ultrasound technology is used to help sort cattle into appropriate harvest groups for optimal finishing. The last three loads that Tallgrass harvested graded 61%, 66%, and 93% Choice. That is comparable to grain finished cattle.

Q. Like many others in the natural beef business, you’re bypassing the usual distribution used by most meat products and selling direct to a few restaurants. You’re products are on the menus of Harry Caray’s and Prairie Grass Café, where you’re a partner, in your hometown of Chicago. Do you have plans to expand distribution or are you limited by production?

A. We haven't reached the limit of our production yet. We're finding that supply is largely governed by demand. There are grass-fed cattle out there but up to now, there hasn't been a great demand because of a lack of marketing. I think that's what Tallgrass Beef brings to the table—getting the word out.

Q. Thousands of cattlemen read Cattlenetwork.com. What would you like to say to them?

A. Don't be frightened by grass-fed and grass-finished beef. We're a niche product and probably always will be. There's plenty of room for the good old richly marbled, corn-fed steak. But the beef industry shouldn't ignore the health benefits of grass-fed beef, as reported by the Union of Concerned Scientists. A golden opportunity is being handed to us. It will stabilize producer income through rising and falling commodity markets.

A growing grass-fed industry will help small family ranchers, improve the environment and contribute to a healthier America. I see it much like de-caffeinated coffee. It didn't drive 'regular' off the menu and neither will grass-fed and finished beef. It's simply a new beef product giving meat eaters another reason to smile.