Ag Pride 2023 | Lane Legacy Beef
The Lane family has always taken a natural approach to raising high quality Angus beef on Crescent Cross Ranch in Ismay, Montana. Katie Lane has taken her family’s operation a step further with an entrepreneurial spirit, promoting and marketing their grass fed and finished beef directly to consumers.
With years of experience in the beef production industry, the Lane family has developed strong customer relationships in the Northwest and Great Plains states for four generations. Faith and hard work have always been the backbone of the Lane family operation. “As a large cattle producer in Montana,” said Lane, “Our family knows the importance of raising high quality nutritious beef for both our family and our consumers.” With this idea in mind, Lane Legacy Beef was born in May of 2022.
Lane is passionate about raising healthy kids and cattle and feels blessed to call Montana home. “Our cattle are free to roam in large pastures under the “big sky” away from the pollution of a big city,” said Lane, “It’s a wonderful place to raise a family where we can instill a hard work ethic, as our kids are right alongside of us, caring for our herd.”
Lane saw a demand for antibiotic- and hormone-free, grass fed and finished beef and sought to meet it. With the pandemic, people were forced to stay home and prepare their own meals, along with an increase in people seeking a direct relationship with the producer and the origin of the food they consumed. “Since the pandemic there’s been a growing consumer demand to know where and how beef is raised,” said Lane, “For years friends and family members have asked me for beef, so I thought, ‘Why not make a business out of it?'”
“Our beef is raised ethically and has been out in the pasture since day one,” said Lane. They provide a variety of retail cuts, beef sticks, and jerky. Katie Lane and her husband Bill Lane are starting another business venture by incorporating Wagyu in their Angus genetics.
Lane started her side hustle by buying a trailer, designing a logo for it, and hauling her family’s beef to local farmer’s markets, businesses and community events. After receiving positive feedback for her product, she started promoting Lane Legacy Beef on social media regularly and created a website LaneLegacyBeef.com where consumers anywhere in the U.S. can easily find and purchase their grass fed beef. All of the beef is USDA inspected and can be found in local restaurants and on the shelves in Montana grocery stores. Her goal is to go coast to coast with her beef products. “The sky is the limit,” said Lane.
To promote the versatility of her beef products, Lane put together a cookbook of family-approved recipes. “Most people know how to grill a burger or steak, but they don’t always know what to make with flank steak, stew meat, or chuck roast,” said Lane. The Lane Legacy cookbook features 50 beef recipes she has cooked for over 20 years using a variety of beef cuts. “All my recipes are kid tested and mom approved,” said Lane. She credits much of her inspiration to the Pioneer Woman. “I had a ‘high heels to tractor wheels’ kind of story just like Ree Drummond and I admired her adaptation to rural living,” said Lane. Lane grew up in Minneapolis and pursued a career in nursing, but states that she’s always been drawn to a ranching way of life. “Before meeting my husband and moving out to the ranch I was a Campbell’s Soup and microwave popcorn girl from the city.” Twenty years and three kids later she has found and created recipes that work for every cut of beef through trial and error. She shared these recipes with friends and family and realized that she could further promote beef by putting together a cookbook for consumers. She did just that by documenting some of her favorite beef recipes with The Lane Legacy Cookbook.
Lane is proud to be doing her part in growing and carrying on the Lane family Legacy by supplying consumers with high quality beef. “Trust, transparency, and knowing where your food comes from are all important and I’m proud to be able to provide that for our region.” Her children are now the fifth generation on Crescent Cross Ranch and all three share the same love for it as her and her husband. “They’ve been riding along and helping with ranch chores since they could walk,” said Lane. “My husband and I are excited to see where their passion for ranching leads them next.” The sky is the limit for the future of Crescent Cross Ranch, backed by five generations of love, hard work, and dedication.