Visitors to Heritage Farms better mind their manners around the cattle.

Owner Pete Eshelman asks people to speak in low tones while in the barn. Guests aren't allowed to pet the bovines. And for heaven's sake, don't even whisper the word “barbecue.”

OK, he was joking about the barbecue business. But when it comes to the business of raising Wagyu beef, Eshelman is serious. And he has a twofold interest in farming, because much of the Wagyu beef and other produce grown on the farm is used at Joseph Decuis, the highly regarded Roanoke restaurant he and his wife Alice own.

On Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture recognized Eshelman for his farm-management practices. The agency gave him a plaque and certificate for completing the Certified Livestock Producer Program, which recognizes farms that exceed industry standards in five areas.

Eshelman, who said he's always been attracted to being the best he can be, said the program “represents to me a gold standard of how to practice farming in the livestock business.”

Farms certified in the program use progressive practices in five areas: environmental protection, animal well-being, bio-security, emergency planning and good neighbor relations.

Mark Wickersham, executive director of Huntington County Economic Development, said Heritage Farms is “one of the finest livestock operations in northeast Indiana.”

A tour of the farm Wednesday bore out Wickersham's words. The farm is pristine. It doesn't smell. There's a noticeable absence of mud and manure.

Then there's the finishing barn, where cattle are grain fed before “harvesting.” (Pete Eshelman dislikes the word “butchering.”) The coal-black Wagyu cattle thrive in a comfortable, roomy barn. Curiously, an audio tape of a baseball game is being played in the barn for their enjoyment. Eshelman, a former baseball player in the Yankee farm system, swears they like listening to the games.

Eshelman models his farming techniques on the practices of Shogo Takeda, a Wagyu producer in Japan. Wagyu beef, which originated in Japan, exceeds the USDA “prime” grade, which is the highest grade of beef in the United States.

Wagyu beef is renowned for its flavor, largely due to its marbling. Genetics plays a role in the extraordinary quality of the beef, but so does the way the cattle are raised.

On a trip to Takeda's farm in Japan, Eshelman learned the cattle there are treated with respect and raised in a clean, humane, stress-free environment. As Takeda does in Japan, Eshelman does in Indiana. He keeps the herd small, breeding about 40 cattle a year and harvesting about 40. The cattle are raised for about 24 months before harvesting. Joseph Decuis is the only restaurant in the U.S. that raises its own Wagyu beef from start to finish.

Just as the Eshelmans' farm has been recognized for exemplary practices, their restaurant, too, has achieved distinction. Joseph Decuis is the only restaurant in this area to carry a prestigious four-diamond rating by AAA, which evaluates and rates thousands of restaurants annually. The restaurant has made a name for itself, in part, by growing much of the food it puts on the table.

The Eshelmans, who met years ago in New York City, moved several places before landing in Indiana, where Pete and some associates started American Specialty, a company that provided insurance to the sports and entertainment industries, in 1989. He has since sold the business and now considers himself a farmer.

Rural Whitley County is a long way from New York City, but Eshelman, who loves his new role, also loves the land that provides a bounty of goods for his restaurant.

“Indiana's an awesome place,” he said.

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Quiet and cattle don’t usually go together, unless you’re at Heritage Farms in Jefferson Township, Whitley County.

Owner Pete Eshelman says serenity is necessary to properly raise his Japanese Wagyu livestock, which food experts call some of the finest-tasting beef around.

“A relaxed, stress-free atmosphere results in a more tender meat,” said Eshelman, a farmer and businessman who also owns the upscale Joseph Decuis restaurant in Roanoke.

“A good steak dinner in New York would cost you about a hundred bucks, but with us it’s $58. That’s because there are no (middlemen to pay). We are farm to fork.”

For his innovation and dedication to farming, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture named Eshelman a “certified livestock producer.” Several state officials and lawmakers attended an award presentation Wednesday at his 200-acre farm.

To earn the designation, Eshelman voluntarily enrolled in a program that required meeting industry standards in environmental protection, animal health, biosecurity, emergency planning and good neighbor relations.

With a mixed livestock herd of 100, Eshelman and his wife, Alice, opened their restaurant in 2000 and began selling Wagyu products a few years later.

Eshelman credits his approach to raising cattle to Shogo Takeda, a Japanese farmer who many say pioneered the method.

“He comes and visits at least once a year,” Eshelman said. “He doesn’t treat cattle like cattle.”

Takeda stresses strict, natural and humane practices. To maintain tranquil surroundings, visitors to the farm are seldom allowed.

Heritage Farms is one of three Wagyu producers in the state, according to the American Wagyu Association’s Web site.

Another way to keep the peace – excluding the clamor of chickens, roosters and turkeys that Eshelman raises – is the playing of classical and country music and audio recordings of early major-league baseball games in the barns. The former New York Yankees minor-league pitcher swears the cattle “love it.”

Eshelman’s farm-to-fork method clearly shows the link between the farm and what people eat, said Joe Kelsay, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

“It’s great what they’re doing,” he said. “I mean, it’s not every day that the person who sells you a steak also raised it. Heritage Farms is especially unique in that respect.”

At a glance

As part of the state Certified Livestock Producer Program, farmers make several promises, including to:

• Be a good steward of the environment and comply with federal, state and local regulations 
• Respond quickly and safely to emergencies 
• Apply best management practices on their farm for the well-being of the animals 
• Follow biosecurity protocols that provide for the safety of the product and security of the operation 
• Respect neighbors and work with honesty, integrity and responsibility toward their concerns about the farm operation 

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Who is James Beard and why should we care about him?

Today, we might call him a “foodie,” but back in 1954 The New York Times called him the “dean of American cookery.”

The cookbook author, first TV chef and founder of the James Beard Cooking School died in 1985, but the James Beard Foundation lives on in the very New York City home where he lived. The foundation hosts workshops, offers scholarships and issues awards each year that Time magazine likens to the Academy Awards of the cooking world.

It also invites chefs to cook at the house for special events. And that's why we should care — because the staff of Joseph Decuis in Roanoke will be the first Indiana restaurant ever invited to cook at the James Beard House when they travel to New York to prepare a dinner Aug. 23. The restaurant just learned of the date.

“This is the biggest stage for us to perform on as chefs,” said Aaron Butts, Joseph Decuis' executive chef, adding it's an “honor to be accepted to cook there.”

The man who set things in motion for the invitation is John Garr, a resident of Converse and frequent patron at Joseph Decuis.

Garr, who says he loves good food, has been a member of the James Beard Foundation for years and attends events there three to four times a year. On one visit, he told Izabela Wojcik of the foundation about Joseph Decuis. That led to a phone conversation between her and Butts and eventually to the invitation.

“It would be like a Fort Wayne football team winning the Super Bowl,” Garr said of the invitation.

Alice Eshelman, who owns Joseph Decuis with her husband, Pete, is thrilled about the invitation. “It's quite an honor, and we are thrilled to be able to show our stuff off,” she said.

It reflects well on Indiana, too.

“I'm so sick and tired of people thinking we're from flyover country,” she said. “We're very fortunate to live here.”

We're particularly fortunate to live here in August, when we can enjoy the bounty of produce from area farms. That's one reason Butts wanted to cook at James Beard in August. Most of the food he will prepare will have been raised or grown in Indiana.

“Being the first restaurant from Indiana, we really want to represent Indiana well,” he said.

Butts plans for a couple of Joseph Decuis chefs to drive straight through to New York with the food on ice in coolers. Much of that food will have been grown at Joseph Decuis' Heritage Farm, located 6 miles from the restaurant.

The farm supplies eggs, fruit, vegetables, herbs and Wagyu beef, renowned for its quality and taste. Organic methods of farming are employed at the farm, and the cattle are raised in a stress-free, humane environment, Eshelman said.

Although Butts knows he will use fresh Indiana produce, he hasn't finalized the menu yet, but said the main entrée will be Wagyu beef.

Butts, his wife, Carmen McGee, who is Joseph Decuis' sommelier, the Eshelmans and Garr all will travel to New York for the dinner, but Butts hopes some of the restaurant's customers will come out for it, too.

“Hopefully, we can pack the house,” he said.

The foundation will start taking reservations three months ahead of the event. Its Web site is www.jamesbeard.org.

Those who can't travel to New York for the dinner will be able to eat the same dinner at Joseph Decuis a couple of weeks before the actual event. Butts plans to offer a special preview — a sort of dress rehearsal — with the same menu planned for New York. A date for the preview hasn't been set yet.

The preview should identify any problems before the meal in New York. Butts said he isn't too nervous about the big event. “We're kind of doing what we do.”

Eshelman admits to being “a little nervous, but I know we're in good hands.”

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The award-winning restaurant in Roanoke has been invited to cook a dinner at the James Beard House in New York's Greenwich Village. The James Beard Foundation is a New York-based nonprofit that promotes culinary arts by honoring chefs and others annually.

This is a big deal for a restaurant. Time magazine has described the James Beard Foundation awards as the “Oscars of the food world.” Learn more at www.jamesbeard.org.

Joseph Decuis will provide more details about the dinner, planned for August. According to the news release, the restaurant hopes some local patrons will attend the dinner in New York. Alice Eshelman is the proprietor.

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