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Thierry Moens: The Belgian-Born Rancher Who Organized the Golan's Beef Cooperative

On Golan pastures, a Belgian-born rancher turned a scattering of small herds into a branded cooperative competing with cheap imports.

Who is Thierry Moens?

Thierry Moens is a Belgian-born rancher who bought land in the Golan Heights and founded Moens Cattle in 1995. He is also CEO of the Mire Golan cooperative, which markets beef from small Golan ranchers under the Hai Bari label. A Times of Israel report from October 2018 is the main source for the figures here, so numbers reflect that date.

This profile uses only his public professional record.

Moens Cattle on the Golan

Moens owns about 2,500 acres, roughly 10,000 dunams, and raises a herd of about 200 grass-fed Simmental cattle. He also grows hay and has olive orchards. Before the cooperative he sold live cattle to Arab feedlots and the kosher market, buyers he says cared little about taste or quality.

The herd is mostly Simmental, with some Angus, Brahman and Limousin in the wider cooperative. Calves nurse for six to eight months and weigh 200 to 300 kg at weaning. Cows give birth mostly unassisted, and Moens helps with about five births a year. No hormones are used, and antibiotics are given only when medically necessary. DNA samples from each calf are periodically sent to a lab in Nebraska.

How the Mire Golan cooperative works

Mire Golan formed about a year and a half before the 2018 article, bringing together small Golan ranchers. It had 20 participating ranchers who pay membership fees to Hai Bari, with a combined herd of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 cows for the Hai Bari label. Yam Goren, who manages Kibbutz Mevo Chama's herd of 800 cattle, works with the cooperative.

Hai Bari is run by Limor Averbuch, a former accountant and food-quality professional, who brands, markets and sells the beef along with some lamb and goat milk products. She finds points of sale across Israel. Ranchers must meet strict protocols, and some had to make costly changes to join. The article calls Hai Bari Israel's only wholesale purveyor of nearly organic beef, which is the newspaper's description. Organic certification is not pursued, because pesticide spray drift makes organic farming impractical in Israel, as Moens explains.

What Made It Work

The Times of Israel report shows a cooperative model that answered a problem the small ranchers shared: they were price takers in a market flooded with cheap imports. The points below come from the 2018 report.

  • They pooled marketing. Ranchers handled their own marketing, butchering and delivery before, which meant long waits to be paid; a shared brand removed part of that burden.
  • They set common standards. Strict protocols and DNA sampling gave the brand something to stand behind.
  • They had a dedicated seller. Hai Bari's founder handled branding and points of sale across Israel.
  • They matched supply and demand. The first 1,000 head sold almost entirely in the first year, and the next year's 1,500 head still fell short of demand.
  • They sold on quality. Moens hopes consumers will eat less meat but of better quality.
  • The limits: local ranchers supply only about 8% of the Israeli cattle market, margins are narrow, and climate change has brought less rain and milder winters.

Challenges facing Israeli beef ranchers

Per the same article, the market is dominated by imports. Cheap, frozen, low-quality imports squeeze local producers, and Moens says some restaurants claim Golan beef while serving frozen meat. Other local producers import live cattle from Australia, Portugal and Eastern Europe and fatten them in feedlots, which is a different business from grass-fed ranching.

Moens describes the business as risky with narrow margins, and says the cooperative is essential to survival. In its first year the cooperative sold nearly all of its first 1,000 head, then told butchers there would be no meat for about six months after its 1,500 head fell short of demand.

More ranching stories

For more on grass-fed beef and cooperatives, see the ranching section of farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about grass-fed beef.

Timeline

  1. 1995Moens founds Moens Cattle in the Golan Heights
  2. About 2017The Mire Golan cooperative forms (about a year and a half before the 2018 report)
  3. First yearThe cooperative sells nearly all of its initial 1,000 head
  4. Second yearSupply of 1,500 head falls short of demand and butchers are told to expect no meat for about six months
  5. 2018Times of Israel reports 20 ranchers and a combined herd of 3,000 to 4,000 cows

Frequently asked questions

Who is Thierry Moens?

Thierry Moens is a Belgian-born rancher who founded Moens Cattle in the Golan Heights in 1995 and serves as CEO of the Mire Golan cooperative.

What is Mire Golan?

Mire Golan is a cooperative of small Golan Heights cattle ranchers. In 2018 it had 20 ranchers and sold beef under the Hai Bari label.

What cattle does Moens raise?

The herd is mostly grass-fed Simmental, with some Angus, Brahman and Limousin in the wider cooperative. Moens's own herd was about 200 head in 2018.

How much of Israel's beef is local?

According to the 2018 report, local ranchers supply only about 8% of the Israeli cattle market, which is dominated by imports.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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