MAY BEEF MONTH: SkyView beef producers open market for area farmers

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

For the last 13 years, Aaron and Laura Cunningham of rural Nora Springs have been raising and marketing their beef through SkyView Farms.

Providing beef products for both individual families and commercial businesses, the Cunninghams saw a huge spike in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That was the time period where our local grocery stores were empty,” said Laura Cunningham. “That was the time people were looking to connect directly to the farmer.”

Selling out of their own supply of beef, the Cunninghams reached out to friends and neighbors to work together and re-supply their stock. Seeing that demand for local products was on the rise, an idea began to form.

“Fast-forward a couple of years and the Iowa Department of Agriculture put together a program called Choose Iowa,” said Cunningham.

Designed to raise awareness of locally produced products in the state, Choose Iowa offers a grant program to local producers to support their growth and expansion. In SkyView Farms’ case, the Cunningham applied for a two-part grant that helped expand their business into SkyView Market.

“The first part was to create a food hub to help farmers market their product alongside our beef,” said Cunningham.

Under SkyView Market, they established a website where area producers could put their products up online in a single place. Tosanak Maple Syrup, Twisted River Farm’s vegetables, pork from Johnson Farms and more are available to order on the web.

Once SkyView got coordinating with area farmers for marketing down, the next step was to bring them together physically by creating a marketplace where customers can find local products in one place.

“They love to buy local, but it takes a lot of time to go farm-to-farm,” said Cunningham.

To that end, they’ve constructed a building where area producers can sell their goods in person.

Celebrating its grand opening recently, SkyView Market hosted 11 other area farmers offering everything from poultry to popcorn. Much like a farmers market, honey, baked goods, produce and more were on sale alongside SkyView’s own beef products.

“The farmers and products all come together and you can stop and find great products in one place,” said Cunningham.

Open on Mondays and Tuesday, with a delivery route for Wednesdays and plans for special weekend events, SkyView market will have a variety of products from week to week depending on what area vendors have available.

Of course, SkyView beef will also be a regular feature at the marketplace.

“If you’re looking to order in bulk or just get dinner for your family, we’ve got options for both of those,” said Cunningham. “There’s a lot of ways to invest in a cut of beef and stretch that grocery dollar.”