Americas Conservation Ag Movement

How This Oregon Ranch is Using Their Cattle as Firefighters

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 16:30:59 GMT

Ranching in the Pacific Northwest means you get comfortable with extremes.

High elevations, severe winters, large allotments and mountainous, rocky surfaces intermixed with timber forests – all of it adds up to an ecosystem that can put up a fight to infrastructure-building for effective grazing management.

And that’s before you add in the wildfires.

In 2024, 1.9 million acres burned in the state of Oregon alone – the state where Dean Defrees manages his generational ranch.

Each fire season, Defrees watches the wildfires around him inch closer and closer, remembering the one year where they destroyed nearly everything.

“In the ‘80s, we were logging our timberland — about 1,100 acres,” he recalls. “In 1986, the part we had not harvested yet was burned in a forest fire and it wiped us out timber-wise. That really got us interested in fireproofing the rest of the property a bit more.”

Firefighting Cattle

Defrees put his cattle to work, factoring in his 1,500-acre timberland forest allotments into his whole-ranch rotational grazing plan.

Now he works to ensure that brush, which can act as kindling in a wildfire, is managed.

“I graze the timberland in June and have it pretty well grazed down by July, which gets rid of a lot of the fine material on the ground where the fire won’t spread nearly as bad if it comes,” he says. “In fires, you see a big difference in ground that has been grazed compared to ground that hasn’t been grazed.

“Sometimes, no matter what you do, you can’t stop it. But it certainly does help to get as much fuel off the ground as you can early in the season.”

Along with pastureland, Defrees Ranch uses their timberland as additional grazing land for their 300 heifer cattle and 300 yearlings. Predominately Angus, black Angus and Hereford breeds, the cattle help to keep brush down, decreasing the risk of wildfire damage to the ranch.

(Defrees Ranch)

Without a sawmill left in the region to market his timber, Defrees is using financial and technical incentives from USDA-NRCS to further manage his forests, keeping them suitable for grazing and manageable for fire prevention.

“With EQIP , I’m going through and removing pretty much everything under 9" in diameter, which allows the bigger trees to keep growing, but it also opens up the understory for grazing and makes it much more fire resistant,” he says.

The federally funded program is largely offsetting the costs for the work.

“I probably wouldn’t be able to do it without their help, at least to the scale I’m doing it. I’m not making any money off of it, but I am paying my expenses,” he explains.

Restoration Cattle

Defrees knows he won’t be able to keep the fires at bay forever from his 100-plus year family land. He’s seen his neighbors lose their land, their cattle and their livelihoods because of them. In 2024, the Durkee Fire nipped at his heels and became the largest active blaze in the country, devastating more than 268,500 acres of land in its path.

His daughter, Dallas Hall Defrees, now works with a non-profit organization, Sustainable Northwest , to help ranchers prepare for and battle back after these devastating wildfires.

She says the key to the ecosystem restoration needed in the wake of a fire is deploying cattle with effective grazing management practices.

“This is invasive annual grass country, so that’s one of our biggest threats out here, especially after these ranchland fires,” Hall Defrees says. “Studies have shown that through targeted grazing you can actually reduce the prevalence of those grasses. If you target those and then get off of that area when the perennial grasses are coming in and recovering, it can be really beneficial.”

But, letting cattle graze in areas burned by fires is tricky. In most instances, the fire has not only decimated the grassland, but it has stripped the allotment of reliable infrastructure as well. When wildfires spread, it can take with it miles of hardwire fencing, making grazing difficult.

Organizations like Sustainable Northwest are touting virtual fencing as a tool that ranchers in wildfire-prone areas can use to remove the need for fencing infrastructure and build back grasslands in the wake of disasters.

(Vence)

That’s where virtual fencing has become a game-changer, according to Hall Defrees.

“What you don’t want after a fire is for cattle to come into a heavily burned area or a stream or riparian area that needs a little bit more recovery,” she says. “Before, with hard wire fencing, you’re either on the allotment or you’re off of it. You can’t really cut the allotment into a whole bunch of different pieces. But now with virtual fencing, we can hit those areas that would actually benefit from the targeted grazing and exclude those areas that might need a little bit more rest.”

Vence , a virtual fence management system from Merck Animal Health , has seen their technology play an integral role for many ranchers both during and in the aftermath of disasters.

“We’ve had ranchers use Vence to protect their herds from hurricanes to wildfires to blizzards,” says Allison Burenheide, Vence marketing lead. “One of our Florida ranchers was able to move cows inland and away from highways as they saw a hurricane approaching, and we had a rancher in Washington last year experience a devastating wildfire, and we were able find all their cattle with the Vence GPS collars and move them down to where they could gather them and move them to safety. Without Vence, they would’ve had to ride through the fire to find cows, drop a fence and hope for the best.”

Sustainable Northwest is working with ranchers to remove cost barriers to virtual fencing technology and enhance technological awareness of the innovation’s benefits. She believes that, though fires may forge the need, many ranchers are reaping the full reward of adoption and then sharing it with their peers.

“There’s a snowball effect that’s certainly there,” she says.

A Marketable Advantage

At Defrees Ranch, the intensive land management is about more than just fire protection – it’s a holistic stewardship mindset that amounts to a marketable advantage for its cattle.

Defrees became part of the Country Natural Beef Cooperative early in its growth trajectory and has never regretted the decision.

“Through the cooperative, the tenants arose that we want to differentiate ourselves as good stewards who take care of the land, who take care of families, who take care of community, and take care of our cattle,” Defrees says. “The great thing about the group was everybody was so excited about those. The exciting thing is now we’re into the regenerative program, which really gives us a lot of tools to measure what we’re doing and make sure we’re doing the right things while giving us some latitude to experiment.”

The land that makes up Defrees Ranch in Oregon has been in the family for 100+ years. Dean Defrees is the fourth generation on the land and his sons and daughter are now part of the overall management of the ranch.

(Maddie Jo Neuschwander/Defrees Ranch )

At Country Natural Beef, their Grazewell program leans on regenerative ranching practices to help ranchers be better stewards of their people, land and animals.

“Good grazing practices and land stewardship are not just about managing cattle. They are about enhancing the health of the ecosystem itself,” says DelRae Ferguson, ranch program manager, Country Natural Beef. “This proactive approach sets our ranchers up to successfully navigate the certain challenges that are now the norm in the arid West — namely drought and wildfire— and our commitment to superior land stewardship moves all cooperative members beyond simply being reactive to environmental threats and establishes ecological and economic resiliency.”

Country Natural Beef uses the program to gain marketable advantage through their branded beef products.

“Increasingly, people are viewing their purchases, whether food, clothing or vehicles, not as status symbols but instead as a reflection of their core values,” says Valerie Rasmussen, Country Natural Beef vice president of marketing and communications. “For us, that movement started 40 years ago when we began our co-op and started selling all natural, no antibiotics/no added hormones and animal-welfare certified beef. Beef raised in a regenerative system is the next frontier for us as a beef company. We have plans to make regeneratively raised beef available to our shoppers so that consumers can be part of a food system that works to improve the planet we all share.”

Trust In Beef™ works to secure the future of American ranching by providing the information ranchers need to make the decisions that impact the resiliency, profitability and resource management of their working lands. Learn more about Trust In Beef and their Sustainable Ranchers Tour by visiting www.trustinbeef.com

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First-Gen Farmers Unlock New Perspectives With Regenerative Grazing

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 12:03:18 GMT

When Mike and Amanda Butterfield purchased their Pennsylvania farmland, they saw more than just a beautiful patchwork of rolling fields. They saw a new beginning — and a way to raise cattle differently.

The Butterfields wanted to trade the dairy life for a new mission: raising beef cattle while restoring the soil and serving their community.

“We purchased a farm in 2017 and honestly, the property was beautiful,” says Amanda Butterfield. “It was the right price, it was the right place, it was the right timing—and it was a time for us to convert from dairy into something a little less labor-intensive.”

Now they call themselves “reformed dairy farmers.”

Discovering Purpose Through Land Management

The transition wasn’t solely about profit. Their experience working with dairy cattle inspired a deep attention to, and passion for, animal health.

“I think that’s kind of our superpower,” Amanda says. “Since we were dairy farmers, we’re really good at animal husbandry, spending time with our cattle and noticing things to increase longevity.”

Amanda Butterfield is a passionate first-generation farmer managing a sustainable beef cattle operation focused on land stewardship and biodiversity. She is also an advocate for food security and the future of agriculture.

(Joelle Orem)

For Mike, the transition allowed them to have more to show for the dollars and hard work they were putting in.

“When we decided to quit milking, we wanted to stop renting from other people, put our money to work for us, and build something that would be ours—something that would build equity,” he says.

“We decided it was not going to be a dairy.”

Through collaboration with USDA–NRCS , Maple Valley Cattle Company found the opportunity to reorient themselves as land managers as well as animal caretakers. Amanda describes her perspective shift as becoming “grass producers, not beef producers.”

Turning Rough Ground into Rich Pasture

Grazing cattle on what Mike describes as “lower-quality and quite rough” ground required grit, flexibility and patience.

“Instead of having bare soil with corn and soybeans, getting the grass on it and having it year-round makes way more sense,” he explains. “We could take poorer-quality land and make it more profitable with animals than just with row crops.”

In fall 2017, when Mike and Amanda Butterfield purchased the farm, the pastures were overgrazed.

(Amanda Butterfield)

The family’s collaborative approach sets them apart.

“We had never grazed before,” Amanda shares. “We were learning that we’re more grass producers than beef producers. If you take care of the land, the soil and everything else, then the beef comes naturally after that.”

Mike and Amanda’s daughter, Evelyn, is a next-generation contributor to the farm and takes her job seriously. Duties are divided among the family, with each person contributing in unique ways.

“During the summer, I usually help move the cows whenever we have to work them,” she says. “I have my own horses that I rotationally graze as well, and I take care of them. I just really do whatever I can to help on the farm.”

Cattle are rotationally grazed along the hillside of Maple Valley Cattle Company

(Joelle Orem)

The Butterfields are innovators. Amanda describes their approach as fairly low-tech.

“Since we are first-generation farmers, we didn’t want to invest in too much. We don’t own a lot of equipment or anything that depreciates,” Amanda shares.

Still, they adopt new tools when it supports their goals—from better grazing records to experimenting with drones for field spraying.

Partnerships have been key to the transformation of Maple Valley Cattle Company. Amanda highlights several that have been crucial: “NRCS and the resources they have, and other organizations like PASA and Shroud Water Center.” The Butterfields also lean on local agronomists and other producers for support and guidance.

They are driven to increase not just their farm’s productivity, but also its biodiversity.

“One of the projects I’m working on is changing some of the wildlife areas — adding more wildflowers, trees, and shaded spots,” Amanda says.

These small changes add up.

“Even in just seven years, we’ve seen an increase in bobolinks, which are birds that nest in grazing areas,” she adds.

The family has also seen more honeybees and monarch butterflies on their property.

Observation-Guided Grazing

Maple Valley Cattle Company recently welcomed attendees of the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour for a firsthand look at its cattle operation and management practices. During the tour, Noble Research Institute’s Josh Gaskamp evaluated pasture soil and applauded the Butterfield’s approach.

Gaskamp says the Butterfields are a strong example of adaptive, rather than prescriptive, grazing.

“Instead of following a set schedule for moving cattle, they look at their forages and say, ‘Okay, now it’s time to move them,’” he explains. “They’re increasing stock density, which allows them to utilize a larger proportion of the forage species and grow more forage per acre.”

Noble Research Institute’s Josh Gaskamp evaluates pasture soil at Maple Valley Cattle Company during the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour in September, 2025.

(Joelle Orem)

Adapting and Moving Forward

No season is predictable.

“Last year was a complete disaster,” Mike reflects. “We had a devastating drought. We fed hay ten months out of twelve—the weeds got ahead of the grass, and now our pastures are really weedy.”

For the Butterfields, adaptation is constant.

Mike Butterfield uses temporary fencing and a water tub as part of an NRCS-assisted grazing system with 17 hydrants from a main well, boosting forage efficiency and biodiversity while reducing waste.

(Joelle Orem)

“We’re always changing things to make sure that every year becomes more efficient, easier on the cattle—which means easier on us,” Amanda explains.

Tough decisions, like investing in new barn housing or tackling weed problems, are faced as a family, with an eye on the long game.

“Hopefully, if it’s been 20 years and I can’t do it anymore, it’ll be better than when I started — but that’s going to be a long-term process,” Mike adds.

Cultivating the Next Generation

Evelyn’s passion for agriculture extends beyond the property lines. Her work on the farm isn’t just chores—it’s a launching pad for community impact and advocacy.

“My mom has always loved gardening, and she’s gotten me into it too,” Evelyn says. “For the last couple of years, we’ve been growing produce to donate to the Somerset County Mobile Food Bank. It makes me feel really great that we’re helping the community and using our ability as farmers to help people.”

Mike and Amanda’s daughter, Evelyn, is a next-generation contributor to the farm

(Joelle Orem)

She is carving a path through agricultural leadership and advocacy.

“I want to introduce not only young people, but especially girls, to agriculture, because I think that’s a big issue,” Evelyn shares.

Serving their local community is woven into the Butterfields’ routine. Amanda is proud to support programs like Beefing Up for Backpacks , a program she co-founded with the Pennsylvania Beef Foundation and Nichole Hockenberry.

“It’s very important to me to see kids who are hungry get food. It’s very impactful to see this happening, and everyone’s excited about the project and donations that are coming in.”

The Rewards of Stewardship

Mike knows there’s still much work ahead.

“Putting the barn up and building a fence are short projects, but improving the land is our long-term goal,” he says.

Evelyn treasures seeing their progress. “When I get home from school and I just step outside and look around—that’s very rewarding.”

For the Butterfields, this different path has been worth taking and serves as a testament to other producers seeking to pivot.

Trust In Beef works to secure the future of American ranching by providing the information ranchers need to make the decisions that impact the resiliency, profitability and resource management of their working lands. Learn more about Trust In Beef and their Sustainable Ranchers Tour by visiting www.trustinbeef.com

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Choose Your Own Adventure: Online Tool Makes It Easier To Find Conservation Programs

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 17:23:14 GMT

Due to the growing number of climate-smart programs that are available to growers, it can be hard to navigate. That’s just what the Conservation Connector was intended to change.

Developed by The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and its partners (The Nature Conservancy, Houston Engineering and OpenTeam), the Conservation Connector is an online directory that allows users to easily view and sort through the programs relevant to them in one place.

“There’s a huge growth in the number of program offerings out there to help farmers put conservation practices to work on the ground. It’s a little bit confusing for folks, because people don’t necessarily have any single place where they can go to find out what’s really available to them - other than just a generic Google search,” says Dave Gustafson, CTIC conservation connector project director. “The Connector is intended to be a very quick and easy-to-use tool right now that focuses on farmers to find all the programs and providers that are relevant for their location, for their commodities of interest, and for the practices and incentive types that are of interest to them.”

When using the Conservation Connector, growers and their advisers can filter the database by state, county, commodity, practice and incentive type.

(Conservation Technology Information Center)

The Conservation Connector can be found at connector.ag . Gustafson says the programs on the platform have been preloaded by CTIC staff, but there are plans to shift that in the future toward a self-registry process.

“We did our best to get very accurate information, and in many cases, the data resulted from a one-on-one interview between our intern and the program administrator. However, our process going forward is to request that all of those program administrators and service providers do regular quarterly updates to their information.”

And while the majority of programs currently on the platform are located in the upper Midwest, each U.S. state is represented - as well as Puerto Rico. That list will be expanding in the months ahead to also include more livestock offerings.

“We have been in conversation with a number of different partners, such as dairy and other commodity groups, to help make sure our directories are as accurate as possible,” Gustafson says. “The kinds of different conservation offerings that will be available in the connector will broaden significantly over time.”

The team plans to officially launch the farmer-facing side of The Connector sometime toward the end of August. For more detailed information on how to use the directory, check out the CTIC YouTube page .

One Georgia Farmer’s Living Conservation Laboratory

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:13:20 GMT

Josh Davis is not one to rest on his laurels – or in his case, his nearly 700 acres of scenic and productive Georgia farmland.

The land his family has stewarded since his great-great-great grandfather won claim to it in the Creek Land Lottery in the 1830’s is still riddled with the hallmarks of a six-generation working farm and former sharecropping community. There is a tin-roofed farmhouse, a long-time shuttered general store with wooden shelves, a blacksmith shop and a cotton storage house.

Surrounded by the living pieces of his farm’s history, it’s not hard to understand Davis’ pragmatic view of his place in that lineage.

“I’m just a caretaker until the next generation can take over,” Davis says.

Davis never thought he’d work here full-time. He fled as soon as he could, leaving to pursue a degree in philosophy and a job in marketing. But the ties that bound him to the Georgia clay of his home were thick enough to reel him back.

Cattle + Conservation

Frolona Farm is a mixture of ecosystems, pairing mixed-aged and mixed-species forest acres with grassland and pasture areas. When Davis returned to the farm and began a direct-to-consumer meat business, he found an immediate need for infrastructure, specifically so he could protect the waterways on the property.

“When Josh first contacted me for assistance, I was impressed from that very first meeting,” recalls Cindy Haygood, USDA-NRCS district conservationist. “His first issue was that he wanted to fence his livestock away from the water on his property, which is really rare to hear.”

“So, I knew that I was in for a good relationship there.”

Josh Davis uses his cow-calf herd to build the soil health of his pastures.

(Josh Davis - Frolona Farm)

Haygood and Davis used funding available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help provide the fencing and water infrastructure needed to fence the cattle and pastured pigs away from the natural waterways.

“He put in 11.5 miles of fence for livestock exclusion on surface water and over 5,000 feet of pipeline to get water out to his livestock and the various paddocks that we were helping to set up,” Haygood says.

Now, Davis implements rotational grazing and plantings of warm and cool season grasses to build the soil health in his pastures and feed his herd, now a cow-calf operation.

Following the Water

Sitting at the base of the Brevard Fault Line in a valley means that Frolona Farm is blessed with water. In fact, there are thirteen different water sources on the farm, part of the Chattahoochee River Watershed.

Thanks to Davis’s work protecting those banks from cattle erosion, they are ready for restoration efforts to bring back plant communities that are ripe with potential for habitat.

“We are working to put all of the water into stream mitigation banks, so each of the stream channels will either be put in restoration or preservation,” he says. “When that is restored, there will be a 200 ft. buffer on each side that is planted in native plants.”

One of those species that Davis says is particularly interesting is the shoal bass, a protected member of the black bass family. He is proud to house shoal bass in the streams on Frolona Farm.

Seeing the Forests for the Trees

Now that Davis has tamed his pastureland through infrastructure and grazing and is working to restore his waterways, it’s only natural for him to turn his attention to the last of the farmland’s ecosystem – the mixed hardwood forest that encompasses both his property and contiguous property owned by family members.

He once again turned to USDA-NRCS for support, enrolling in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to steward that forested land.

Josh Davis is the first in the state to tap into USDA-NRCS stewardship for biochar implementation.

(Josh Davis - Frolona Farm)

“This year, I finished a crop tree release for mast management, and it has been a linchpin effort,” he says. “For each of these acres, we selected one or two crop trees that were surrounded by competing trees. We then either girdled or harvested the competing trees to allow the selected tree to produce more mast.”

In most areas, Davis is keeping the treetops in the forest floor, which he will be working with NRCS to turn into biochar. He’s also performing sequential patch burning over 577 acres.

“The prescribed burns are the key to all of this, because that is the most important and effective thing you can do to restore and manage forests,” he says.

On more than 200 of his acres, Davis is creating songbird and pollinator habitats.

A Legacy of Conservation Innovation

Davis is the first farmer in the state to tap NRCS’s CSP enhancement for biochar production.

It’s really no surprise to Haygood.

“Josh is very progressive and always looking for some new way to steward the land,” she says. “He is somewhat unique because he came to us not only for production, but conservation is a top priority for him. His conservation mindset is so sincere.”

Haygood says that the strong partnership means that, sometimes, they are working collaboratively to figure out a program or system, like the CSP biochar enhancement. Now that Davis is working toward a Masters degree in natural resources management at Auburn University, she is expecting even more conservation collaboration in her future.

Davis calls his work he is doing on the farm “landscape-scale restoration.” The tinkering and experimenting that he anticipates will change his landscape are really adding up to two ends for him.

Josh Davis says he the work he is doing on Frolona Farm is “landscape-scale restoration” where he is taking into account the forest, farmland, waterways and ecology.

(Josh Davis - Frolona Farm)

He wants to secure his land’s productivity for future caretakers and, generally, he wants the farm’s ecosystem to improve.

“We have a lot of rare and threatened species here,” he says. “We have a huge variety of ecosystem types.”

“I’m just trying to leave it better than I got it.”

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at www.americasconservationagmovement.com .

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Playing the Long Game: What Works at G Bar C Ranch

Fri, 24 May 2024 15:30:55 GMT

By mid-morning you can already feel the sun’s heat on your skin, a reminder that the searing Texas sun looms large at G Bar C Ranch north of Dallas, even in early May. On this unassuming Thursday, several dozen ranchers, conservationists and ag retailers have gathered in the shade amidst the verdant green pasture and limestone outcroppings to learn from G Bar C’s second-generation rancher, Meredith Ellis, at the kickoff of Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour.

The tour is moving across the U.S. this summer, spotlighting regenerative ranches and hosting field days where producers can meet and learn from each other.

“We’re showing what can be done at G Bar C Ranch today, what resources are available and the steps that they have taken to get to this point,” said Jimmy Emmons, Oklahoma rancher and SVP of Climate-Smart Programs at Farm Journal.

According to Emmons, in- person field days like the Sustainable Ranchers Tour are crucial to helping ranchers improve their livestock, land and profitability.

“It’s all about the journey—it’s not a quarter-mile race, it’s a marathon,” Emmons said. “We improve one step at a time, one practice at a time.”

Learn more about the Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour

This morning, as the crowd of producers gather and sip their coffee, ready to glean insights to take back home, most eyes are watching the sky, observing gathering storm clouds on the horizon. Even if rain would dampen an otherwise sunny day at G Bar C Ranch, in Texas—a state plagued with persistent drought—rain is always a welcome sight.

Ellis, a seasoned rancher in her early forties, gathers in front of the crowd, ready to share the ins and outs of her ranch operation. Unlike most days where she works in relative solitude, today she is flanked by soil scientists, researchers and technical experts, ready to share their perspective and insights in a day of boots-on- the-ground demonstration and learning – rain or shine.

(Farm Journal)

Flipping the Script: No Longer About Pounds of Beef

“It looks like a pollinators paradise out here with all the wildflowers,” AgriTalk host, Chip Flory, told Ellis at the Sustainable Ranchers Tour. “The combination of the native grasses and the grazing grasses you’ve got…it’s part of the plan, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely, it’s part of the plan and we’ve documented over 660 species that call our ranch home. On top of that, about 110 species of birds that call our ranch home,” Ellis replied, eying the horizon. “Managing that landscape with ruminant animals as they’ve existed for millennia throughout our national grazing lands is something I’m very passionate about.”

Despite multiple degrees and years of experience under her belt, according to Ellis, she will always be the apprentice at G Bar C Ranch. Carrying on the life’s work of her father, GC Ellis, and ranch manager, Michael Knabe, Ellis takes to heart her family’s legacy of caring for the land and the cattle that call it home.

Historically, like many ranches across the U.S., G Bar C Ranch has focused on pounds of beef produced as a measure of profit and success. But, in recent years, Ellis has taken a hard look at what it costs “to get from point A to point B”, discovering that, in the long term, focusing on maternal genetics in her over 200 mother cows are key to both profitability and a healthy herd.

“What’s most important to me is that we keep and retain our own replacement females,” Ellis said. “We’re looking at making females that fit our program, that fit our landscape. Our interest right now is in efficiency and maternal aspects—having some happy mamas that are real happy be here [on our land].”

While Ellis currently participates in the conventional beef supply chain, selling her black Angus calves at the sale barn in El Reno, Oklahoma, managing her herd amounts to more than just raising meat for market.

(Farm Journal)

Soil Health: At the Root of Everything

According to Ellis, she views her cows as just one of the many species that enjoy the rolling hills, grassy pasture and clear water on her 3,000-acre ranch.

“There’s no aspect of the ecological system that goes overlooked on this ranch,” said Ellis. “We try to adapt our management practices in order to take care of every aspect of ecology that we have.”

I consider our ranch to be a living laboratory, continued Ellis.

“That means that if there’s a researcher, a rancher, whoever it be, anytime that I speak with someone and get interested in what they’re doing, I walk away with a little gold in my pocket,” she said.

Collaborating, learning and improving is critical to adapting ranching practices in the face of extreme weather, natural disasters and drought in North Texas, according to Ellis. Finding new strategies to foster biodiversity and healthy soils through thoughtful, prescribed grazing practices has been a north star guiding ranch management at G Bar C Ranch.

To Ellis, not only do prescribed grazing practices support a heathy, profitable herd, but they also promote soil health – the foundation of a thriving, well-managed, resilient landscape.

Read about G Bar C Ranch’s NCBA’s Environmental Stewardship Award Program recognition

Texas based NRCS soil scientist, John Sackett, takes soil health’s benefits even one step further.

“Soil health, in a sense, drought- proofs our ranches,” said Sackett. “If the soil is healthy, it can take in more water, so we have a higher effective rainfall, and we have healthier plants that are better able to withstand the drought.”

Keeping Working Lands Working

Big picture, it’s not enough to manage a healthy herd and promote thriving ranch lands. The reality for many is that stewardship includes safeguarding ranchland against development and urban sprawl for future generations. For many Texas ranches today, this is not a given.

“In this day, successional planning is one of the biggest hurdles in keeping working lands working,” said Ellis.

In fact, the Lone Star State gains 1,400 people moving to the state daily and the drumbeat of urban sprawl is only getting louder, shared Chad Ellis, CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, echoing Meredith Ellis’ concerns.

Like drought, year after year of urban sprawl continue to threaten open spaces across Texas, with no reprieve on the horizon.

“We’re losing over 1,000 acres a day of working lands,” said Chad Ellis. “Lands [like we see at G Bar C Ranch] that are providing goods and services to the public.”

When Meredith Ellis looks to the future, she envisions leaving an economically and ecologically resilient G Bar C Ranch for the next generation of the Ellis family with ranch lands that boast clear water, rich soil and a healthy, thriving cow calf operation.

“That’s what it’s all about—my nine- year- old boy,” Ellis said.

Follow coverage of G Bar C Ranch and the Sustainable Ranchers Tour on AgDay and U.S. Farm Report:

G Bar C Ranch Takes Texas Ranchers Behind the Farm Gate

Fri, 03 May 2024 17:38:38 GMT

Texas ranchers are battling right now - and if it’s not entirely a battle for their lives, it’s at least a fight for their livelihoods.

From changing weather, natural disasters and encroaching land development, ranchers are facing mounting pressures and for Chad Ellis, CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, it all adds up to a grim picture for the future of the state’s working lands.

“We have 1,400 people moving to our state every day – that’s half a million people a year,” he said. “We are losing over a section of working lands per day, which amounts to 300,000 acres a year that is lost.

“Right now, we are asking ourselves ‘how do we come together, how do we stay in business and how can we be economically sustainable so that we can hand our legacy and our heritage to the next generation.’”

At the nexus of those challenges, Ellis says, is G Bar C Ranch , a multi-generation ranch that began in 1982 under the stewardship of owner, GC Ellis.

Located in Rosston, Texas, G Bar C Ranch sits just outside of the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex, square in the sights of expansion.

With a future-led approach in mind, daughter Meredith Ellis is applying a next generation scope to management of G Bar C Ranch, rooted in her family’s love of the land.

“For the past 40 years, my dad has been taking care of this land and I feel like that’s the most important thing for us to continue doing now,” Meredith Ellis said.

This guiding principle was enough to garner the ranch the prestigious 2023 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Environmental Stewardship National Award.

In May, the Ellis family will open up award-winning G Bar C Ranch so that Trust In Beef can highlight their sustainability and bring practical on-ranch education to fellow Texas producers.

“GC, Meredith and the G Bar C Ranch team are on the leading edge of using regenerative practices, technology and top-tier animal health to accomplish the resilience they need to ensure their legacy into the next generation,” said Jimmy Emmons, Oklahoma rancher and SVP of Climate-Smart Programs, who oversees the value-chain collaborative program Trust In Beef.

“It was a natural fit for us to kick off the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour at G Bar C,” continued Jimmy, “Other ranchers who are facing the same challenges can see what solutions are working well at G Bar C Ranch, both for the environment and for the bottom line.”

For Trust In Beef, these tour stops will allow rancher-led knowledge sharing and networking while also providing innovation and resources from value chain leaders.

Among the Trust In Beef Partners joining the first stop of the 2024 Sustainable Rancher Tour is Merck Animal Health . For Merck, the values that G Bar C Ranch place on animal welfare on their ranch represent key pillars of sustainability.

“Healthy animals help to sustain our industry and the environment as healthy animals are more productive and use fewer resources,” said Kevin Mobley, Merck’s executive director of sales and marketing. “Merck Animal Health is committed to shaping the future of animal health by partnering with ranchers to assist them with their herd health needs and in their sustainability journey.”

To that end, the animal health company will be on-hand to provide ranchers with education on land management, animal management and animal welfare, including

technologies such as Vence, a virtual fencing tool that can help facilitate rotational grazing, according to Mobley.

While the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour begins in Texas this May, it’s making monthly stops across the U.S. throughout the summer and early fall, providing not only in-field learning and education, but also the chance to continue the conversation through a virtual peer network of likeminded producers, providing ranchers ongoing support in their conservation journey.

Registration is still open for this free tour. Learn more and make plans to join the Texas stop or another closer to you by visiting Trust In Beef .

Want to Avoid Leaving Climate-Smart Money On the Table? There's An App for That

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 23:02:47 GMT

In 2023, USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities turned on the spigot to fund 141 projects, totaling $3 billion. Understanding the projects — each run by a different organization with its own unique offerings and structure — begs the question: Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?

“Producers are always interested in looking at opportunities, but we can’t review 141 grants,” says Jimmy Emmons, western Oklahoma rancher and Trust In Food vice president.

To cut out the time-consuming task of wading through the climate-smart projects, a new app pilot, the Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator , seeks to remove the paperwork clutter and match farms and ranches with the right Climate-Smart Commodity grant project in minutes.

“Quicker and more efficient means to evaluate opportunities will increase participation, offer simple communication avenues, and, ultimately, get funding into the hands of growers so they can quickly turn those dollars into applied practices,” says Joelle Mosso, Western Growers Association associate vice president of science.

How Does the Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator Work?

The app pilot, created by Farm Journal’s Trust In Food and AgWeb, is powered by USDA data on the 141 projects, most of which are focused on major commodities such as corn, soybeans and livestock. Harnessing this data in an app, producers can input their operation basics – such as location, commodities produced, and production practices and interests – and be matched with one or more of the Climate-Smart Commodities projects that fit their individual specs.

The app provides a basic description of each program match along with contact information so it’s easy to compare options and take the next step to participate.

For example, an Indiana corn grower interested in adopting no-till and cover crop practices would input their data to the Climate-Smart Commodities Opportunity Navigator. In four questions, the tool matches the farm’s profile and interests with 11 possible grant projects, such as:

Field to Market’s “Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative”
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s “Farmers for Soil Health Climate-Smart Commodities Partnership”

In contrast, a Colorado beef and bison producer looking to adopt prescribed grazing and soil health improvement practices on pasture would input their information to the Navigator tool and it matches the farm’s profile and interests with 9 grant projects that includes:

American Sustainable Business Institute Inc.’s “The Growing GRASS Project”
Sustainable Northwest’s “Building a Regenerative Ranching Economy in the West”

A Pennsylvania dairy producer interested in adopting nutrient management and cover crop practices matches with 9 grants, such as:

Truterra LLC’s “Climate SMART (Scaling Mechanisms for Ag’s Regenerative Transformation)”
Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.’s “Scaling Methane Emissions Reductions and Soil Carbon Sequestration – A Value-Added Commodities Approach for U.S. Dairy”

And an Indiana pork producer who practices feed management and integrates cover crops matches with 2 grant projects:

Fischer Farms Natural Foods LLC’s “Fischer Farm Ultimate Beef and Pork Strategy”
Farm Journal’s “The Connected Ag Project”

Big Picture: The Perfect Climate-Smart Project Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

“It’s great there are lots of opportunity for producers with USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, but with so much opportunity it can be very overwhelming,” says Andrew Lyon, Trust In Food’s director of technical assistance and Kansas rancher. “By putting in specific information about your operation, the Navigator tool allows you to whittle down grant opportunities to the handful that are most applicable to you and provides you contact information so that you could follow up with those few opportunities that best suit you.”

While Farm Journal is excited about its own $40 million Climate-Smart Commodity grant, The Connected Ag Project , it wants producers to get in touch with the opportunity that best suits them, Lyon adds.

Test Drive the Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator Tool

Farm Journal’s AgWeb and Trust In Food look forward to hearing from producers about their experience using the beta version. Take the Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator for a test run, and let us know what worked and what didn’t.

USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities, Explained

In 2021, USDA announced a historic investment in farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners through a program dubbed the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities . The goal? To scale climate-smart agricultural production practices across the U.S. and to promote and market climate-smart commodities in thriving markets.

To do this, over the next 5 years USDA is financing 141 pilot projects to support the production, tracking and marketing of these climate-smart commodities.

While the specific Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant projects vary widely, each boil down to putting financial incentives or technical support directly into the hands of U.S. farmers, ranchers and landowners to produce and market climate-smart agricultural commodities.

While the term, “climate-smart commodity” is relatively new, the farming and ranching practices it describes have, largely, been around for much longer. Incorporating cover crops, grazing and rangeland management, prairie restoration and nutrient management are just some of the practices that fall under the climate-smart umbrella.

For many producers, participating in a CSC grant translates to getting credit and even cash payment for practices already in place on farm. What’s more, for producers seeking funding sources or simply a push to try something, new these grants are an opportunity to make a change with support along the way.

Give It a Name: Family Ranch Adds Value to Common Practice with New Beef Label

Thu, 18 May 2023 13:46:06 GMT

For fifth-generation rancher, Jaclyn Wilson, raising cattle is nothing new, and her family’s traditions and dedication to the industry run deep. However, what started over 130 years ago as a family homestead in northwestern Nebraska has quite literally stretched far beyond what may have been imagined back in 1888.

While many of the daily ranching tasks for Jaclyn and her father, Blaine, are similar to those of past generations, the family’s operation, Wilson Flying Diamond Ranch near Lakeside, Neb., has continued to keep up with the cattle industry’s best practices, innovation and technology.

A predominantly Red Angus and Red Angus/Simmental composite operation, the Wilsons can be found tending to their spring and fall calving cow-calf herds, their long yearlings and the Flying Diamond Beef program.

Direct-to-Consumer Beef Business

Like many beef producers who initiated a direct-to-consumer component to their cattle operations in recent years, the Wilsons capitalized on the opportunity to share their beef with consumers in 2019.

Over the last few years, the business has grown to ship all across the U.S. using ground and air transportation. However, simply marketing their family’s beef as a ranch-raised product was not where they stopped.

Seeing the push towards environmental stewardship, the Wilsons took their beef business one step further.

“We all know that ranchers are the original conservationists, right?” says Jaclyn. “I think every rancher knows that. Surprisingly, a lot of consumers don’t understand that concept because they’re getting drowned out by the media saying cattle are harming the environment, etc.”

In late April, the Wilsons launched their special Envirosmart Beef Label, which is currently in the trademark process.

“What we’re really trying to do here is we’re trying to use a combination of genomics and technology in order to really focus on some of that environmental impact that we’re having. Because I love our Sandhills operation, and I know it’s better now than it was 135 years ago,” Jaclyn adds.

What is Envirosmart Beef?

The program focuses on three main concepts including:

Human wellbeing – This includes bettering the beef and non-beef community, including educating consumers, working to help with mental health, and utilizing interns and teaching future generations.

Animal wellbeing – This refers to doing the best for the animals by implementing animal health and wellbeing management practices.

Environmental wellbeing – This focuses on taking care of the land, including the use of grazing rotation systems, identifying plant species and plant diversity, as well as looking at wildlife populations.

Jaclyn notes that since the ranch already utilizes these practices, it was time to give it a name.

Along with following the three concepts, cattle gaining the family’s official Envirosmart Beef Label must be tested through the Neogen’s Feeder Identity Program. Using a genomic sample of the animal, along with initial weights from when the animal enters the feeding facility and ration information, an “optimal days on feed” determination is made for each individual animal.

“So, the goal is that we’re able to pinpoint better when those cattle will reach their peak performance,” Jaclyn explains. “Which, surprisingly, for us, we found out that it was significantly fewer days than what we were feeding cattle.”

Jaclyn says before implementing this practice, 1550 lbs. was considered her “ideal out weight.” However, following the feeder identity program, the optimal finishing weights of their cattle were found in the 1400 lbs. range.

“In theory, the thought process is, and they’re working on this research to prove it, but in theory, for every so many days you feed above the [optimal weight], you’re adding to your carbon footprint,” Jaclyn explains. “So, it hopes that if we can make feeding more efficient and utilize genomic [testing] to reach that optimal peak performance for that animal, that animal can go to harvest faster, be more efficient, and at the same time maybe we can reduce some of that carbon footprint.”

Value-Added Beef

As Jaclyn explains, all the cattle on their operation would qualify to be part of their program. However, it’s the genomic testing that sets their two product lines—Classic and Envirosmart—apart.

Since launching the brand on Earth Day, Jaclyn says the Envirosmart option has predominately traveled to the east and west coasts.

The Wilsons have been able to capitalize on the specific consumer preference and add a premium to their “green label” boxes—that more than pays for the animal’s genomic test to be part of the program.

Jaclyn says that the niche program has been a way to expose more consumers to how beef is raised.

“I think it’s a win-win for the industry in general, because it’s able to get a story across that ranchers out there are doing the right thing in terms of land and livestock management. It gives us more exposure to some of those people that might not have a clue as they’ve never bought beef outside of a grocery store,” Jaclyn explains.

More information about the Wilson family’s Flying Diamond Beef Envirosmart Beef Label and their family’s ranch can be found on their website— www.flyingdiamondbeef.com . Jaclyn can also be found @FDGenetics on Twitter.

Sustainability Goes Mainstream: U.S. Food Companies Respond

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:23:01 GMT

Under intense pressure to meet demand for products that measure up to consumers’ personal values, U.S. food companies are feverishly working to rejuvenate their brands with green initiatives.

Last year’s IFIC Foundation’s Food and Health Survey found over half of consumers (54%) say it’s at least somewhat important that the products they buy be produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

Among those 54%, many consumers look for specific labels or attributes to assess whether they believe a product is environmentally sustainable: 51% perceive products that are locally produced are also environmentally sustainable, followed by products that are labeled as sustainably produced (47%), products labeled as non-GMO (47%) and products labeled as organic (44%).

In short, sustainable is no longer a fad. The heavy-hitters of the retail food industries are jockeying for position, and actively recruiting suppliers — farmers and ranchers — ready and willing to help meet new consumer demands.

Last fall McDonald’s named Stephen Hughes from Chinook Ranch, Alberta, Canada, as its first representative for McDonald’s Flagship Farmer Program, a global initiative that amplifies the stories of farmers and ranchers who exemplify best practices.

Selling 75 hamburgers in America every second, McDonald’s has the clout to effect change. But the company is far from alone in its embrace of sustainability. A non-governmental organization (NGO) called The Sustainability Consortium calculates an annual sustainability index it calls the Thesis Index, with participation by companies such as Walmart, Amazon and Kroger.

The Thesis Index reports, in the past year, 25% more companies have touted the environmental and social benefits of their products, and 40% of all companies say they’ve taken action to improve the ecofriendliness of their products.

Ranchers such as Hughes, whose Chinook Ranch spans 4,500 acres with 500 Hereford X Angus cows, 400 yearlings and 80 heifers, put a real-world image to such sustainability campaigns.

“I am happy to be an example of all the good work that is going on in my industry, and I appreciate and recognize the commitment that McDonald’s has made to Canadian ranchers,” Hughes says.

A key objective for food companies, especially those selling meat, is to push back against claims livestock production drives climate change. Tyson Foods launched a new multistakeholder global sustainability initiative last month on what was, at that moment, the world’s largest stage: the 50th World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.

Seeking to advance what it calls the “future of global protein,” Tyson unveiled the “Coalition for Global Protein” that will convene leaders from the global protein industry along with academia, NGOs and financial institutions. Tyson says its goal is to unite stakeholders across the food and agriculture sector to identify and implement new and creative solutions to sustainably feed the world’s growing population.

“Efforts to make the production of high-protein foods more sustainable must continue,” says Lawrence Haddad, of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, speaking in Davos. “These foods, many from animal sources, are vital for the healthy growth of young children, especially those who already have poor-quality diets.”

Tyson Foods CEO Noel White says the company wants to “help ensure the responsible production of affordable, nutritious food for generations to come. Collective commitment and immediate action are needed to deliver the greatest impact on the future of sustainable food production.”

The launch of the Coalition for Global Protein comes as global livestock production falls under increasing criticism for its contribution to climate change. Reporting on Tyson’s announcement of the “Coalition for Global Protein,” Yahoo! News called the initiative “the latest move by a meat giant to help scrub the industry’s image as a greenhouse-gas-emitting machine.”

Such sentiments are already firmly entrenched in consumer media, so corporate sustainability efforts will need to be both transparent and effective. For its part, Tyson says the coalition will focus on increasing understanding around the challenges of feeding a growing population and testing new ideas through pilot programs. Areas of focus could include reducing food waste, increasing access to protein and protecting ecosystems.

“We’re focused on uniting the world’s most influential, food-focused stakeholders around a shared purpose to build a future of protein that is sustainable and equitable across global communities at every link in the supply chain,” John R. Tyson, chief sustainability officer at Tyson Foods says.

Many companies are jumping on the sustainability bandwagon. Last month The Wendy’s Company, with more than 6,700 stores worldwide, released its 2019 corporate social responsibility (CSR) report under its new banner, Good Done Right, highlighting a new commitment to have a comprehensive accounting of animal care best practices, including responsible use of antibiotics and animal housing conditions, by the end of 2024.

“Good Done Right is our way to communicate how we’re advancing various commitments to make a positive impact in the areas of food, people and our environmental footprint,” says Todd Penegor, Wendy’s president and CEO.

Others with growing sustainability efforts include: Taco Bell, which last year stated it would “work to ensure all of our beef is sustainable;” Starbucks, which announced a goal to double the recyclability and compostability of its cups and packaging by
2022; and Walmart, with Project Gigaton, an initiative to remove 1 billion tons of GHGs out of its supply chain by 2030.

4 Things To Know About Cattle And Their Impact on Sustainability

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 21:05:17 GMT

Sara Place likes to say that beef is the original plant-based meat. “I think it’s important for us to remember the power of ruminants and how amazing these critters are,” says Place, Ph.D., chief sustainability officer at Elanco.

During a presentation at the 2021 Alltech ONE Ideas Conference, Place addressed sustainability and beef production. She says the topic is complex, and one reason for that is because people have different values.

“One person may prioritize animal welfare above an environmental footprint; another may prioritize the affordability of food above all other issues,” she explains. “It’s not that one person is right or wrong, it’s just the reality that this is the challenge we’re dealing with in a pluralistic society when it comes to sustainability.”

With that perspective in mind, Place addressed four common questions she hears from consumers.

1. With regard to resource competition, are livestock eating what could be food for humans?

She says yes, in part, but not as much of the total global feed ration as many people think.

According to analysis of research by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 14% of what livestock consume globally, mainly in the form of grains, could be eaten by humans directly. However, 86% of feedstuffs livestock eat are made up primarily of forages that cannot be consumed in a direct manner by people.

“That’s really the headline—ruminants are able to upcycle, taking something with little or no value and upgrading those plants into higher value products,” she says. “That’s what livestock in general, and especially ruminants, excel at in the food system.”

Because the majority of the feed resources used to generate grain-finished beef in the United States is not in competition with the human food supply, and the protein value of beef to humans is 2.63 times greater than corn grain, the U.S. grain-finished beef system is generating more high-quality protein for the human populace than it is using.

“Cattle only need 0.6 kilograms of human edible protein in feed to make 1 kilogram of human animal protein and meat,” she says.

2. Is meat production taking place on land that should be used to grow crops?

Very little. The vast majority of land used for beef production is on land unsuitable for crop production.

“These are landscapes that are too arid, too rocky, and too steep for us to cultivate crops on directly,” she says.

While some groups and individuals would recommend pulling that land out of any agricultural use whatsoever, that move would likely be counterproductive.

Keeping a continuous cover of some type on highly erodible soils is a key to keeping erosion at bay, Place says.

“When ruminant animals are kept on those (fields), they allow for use of rotations and forage crops that can help improve soil health and water retention,” Place says.

Multifunctionality of land is another important consideration.

Place references the southern Great Plains as an area where multifunctionality works well. “Stocker cattle commonly graze winter wheat there until March or April. They are then removed, and the wheat is allowed to grow and be harvested for human food. In the milling process wheat provides byproducts that are then fed back to cattle, which are (then harvested for beef),” she says.

California almond “milk” and orange juice production are two other examples. Both provide byproducts that Place says are fed to dairy cattle that then produce milk and meat.

“For every 100 lb. of human food that comes from crops, 37 lb. of byproducts get generated,” she says. “That’s a global average, and a lot of those byproducts can be fed back to livestock.”

3. What is the impact of U.S. agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)?

About 9% to 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, Place says. She notes that animal agriculture contributes about 4%, and crop production contributes about 5%.

“The single-largest source of emissions in the United States would be burning fossil fuels,” she says. “Somewhere around 75% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are because we are burning fossil fuels, and releasing CO2 (carbon dioxide) that was locked in the Earth’s crust for a long time.”

4. How big an issue is methane production in the beef industry, and how do we address it?

Place says cattlemen are creating more beef today with fewer emissions.

“When cattle go to feedyards and eat a diet containing more fermentable carbohydrates like corn, they tend to reduce their methane emissions,” Place says.

“They’re more feed efficient. And part of that efficiency is a result of not losing as many feed calories to methane; we’re capturing more of them in the animal,” she adds. “Essentially, we’re producing the same amount of beef today as in the mid-1970s, with a third fewer cattle.”

Livestock: A Powerful Tool

I’m a Drover: Preserving a Legacy

A Brittle Environment
Feed Sustainability: Moving the Animal Protein Industry Forward

What Do Biden’s Climate Policies Mean for Agriculture?

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 19:35:55 GMT

What farmers think about Biden’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030? In an April 27 Farm Journal Pulse poll, we asked:

“President Biden released a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030. For agriculture, this will be:”

Here’s how the 976 respondents answered:

4%—Positive, creating new revenue
72%—Negative, creating new regulation
14%—Positive and negative
1%—Neutral—will not impact agriculture
9%—Don’t know

Want to share your feedback? Text “Pulse” to 31313 to join the Farm Journal Pulse audience.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

A Brittle Environment

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 21:02:38 GMT

Resiliency has defined Collins Ranch for more than a century. Under the same family’s management, the ranch has weathered the Dust Bowl, crippling droughts, volatile commodity prices and sizable prairie fires.

Today, the ranch’s fragile grassland environment benefits from continued stewardship provided by Toby and Amy Johnson and their children: Brad, Haley and Tess.

The Johnson’s 1,000-cow ranch on Colorado’s Eastern Plains consists mostly of shortgrass and sandsage prairie. The family believes they are grass farmers first and cattle ranchers second. They take pride in how well their grass grows in a semi-arid region.

“Land is the foundation of the ranch,” Toby says. “You have to take care of the soil and the grass.”

The Collins Ranch was selected as the recipient of the 2020 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award®. The award, given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes ranchers, farmers and foresters who inspire others with their conservation efforts on private, working lands.

The Collins family knows overgrazing during a drought, or overstocking their herd when beef prices are high, could have devastating consequences for this brittle rangeland.

Transitioning to a rotational grazing system has improved their soil’s health. Now, each pasture is grazed for less than a week before the land gets a minimum of 100 days rest. Utilizing more, but smaller, pastures protects against overgrazing, allows for rapid range improvement and achieves optimal nutrition for cattle.

“All our pastures have more diversity and more production” since implementing rotational grazing, Toby says.

By moving cattle to fields of corn stalks and wheat during the winter, native grasses and riparian areas have been protected. Likewise, switching the herd’s calving season from late winter to May also proved beneficial to the health of cattle and grass.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service assisted Collins Ranch with 35 miles of underground pipelines to widely distribute water for livestock and wildlife. More than 50 water sources have been replaced or installed, with bird ramps placed in all water tanks. All water sources are located uphill to prevent erosion in meadows and riparian areas along creeks.

Among their other innovative conservation practices, the Johnsons released tens of thousands of beetles as a cost-effective
and environmentally-friendly way to eradicate invasive and water-intensive tamarisk trees from riparian areas. They also work with Colorado Parks & Wildlife and a hunting outfitter to sustain the strong population of deer on their ranch, and they defer grazing and mark barbed wire fences to protect lesser prairie-chicken leks.

Tucked away on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, Kit Carson (population 234) is what some would call flyover country. That compels the Johnsons to focus not only on the health of their ranch, but on the health of the community.

Amy is the chairperson of Kit Carson Rural Development, a nonprofit that works to fill the gaps that exist in a community without a department of public health, public housing, hospital, day care and recreational center. Since 2006 the group has built the town’s only park and a business incubator, cleaned up a massive brownfield site and created affordable housing for teachers and local families, by leveraging more than $2.7 million in grants and contributions. Likewise, Toby serves on the local school board, which successfully sought a grant to build a new school.

The Johnsons are doing more than their part to keep this town thriving for future generations.

The Sand County Foundation and American Farmland Trust present the Leopold Conservation Award to landowners in 21 states with a variety of conservation, agricultural and forestry organizations. The award is presented in Colorado by the Colorado Cattlemen and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust. leopoldconservationaward.org

America’s Conservation Ag Movement Engages Farmers

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 21:04:17 GMT

Widespread adoption of sustainability practices throughout agriculture is key to the industry’s future. Trust In Food , a Farm Journal initiative working to accelerate the adoption of sustainable agriculture, announces the successful completion of the first wave of dedicated regional conservation agriculture programming for farmers in five states.

With financial and technical support from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and in collaboration with the independent Farm Journal Foundation , Trust In Food organized virtual continuing education, promotional outreach and delivery of action-oriented resource guides to help producers take the next step in conservation agriculture adoption.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is comprised of leading industry organizations aligned around a common mission to assist farmers, growers and ranchers on their conservation ag journeys: American Farmland Trust, Corteva, Ducks Unlimited, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, National Corn Growers Association, National Pork Board, Sanderson Farms, SIMPAS, The Nature Conservancy, United Sorghum Checkoff Program and Valent.

“Producers and consumers alike want a food system that supports clean water, healthy soil and a stable climate,” said Amy Skoczlas Cole, executive vice president, Trust In Food. “Throughout 2020, America’s Conservation Ag Movement collaborated with hundreds of farmers from coast-to-coast through information, insights and farmer-centered experiences that pave the way for increased conservation agriculture practices.”

All conservation events delivered in 2020 with the financial and technical support of NRCS are available at www.agweb.com/ACAM . Topics covered include soil health, water quality, water quantity and nutrient management.

“The guidance documents and other materials produced in this partnership will allow conservationists to engage producers in new ways. Farmers and ranchers are central to conservation stewardship and play a leading role in implementing innovative practices,” said Terry Cosby, acting NRCS chief. “We want to help inspire producers to put conservation on the ground, and partnerships like America’s Conservation Ag Movement continue to enhance our ability to do that.”

In 2021, the Movement will work with NRCS to develop additional national and regional education and outreach centered on farmer-first conservation, including events in each of the five states and a resource guide on water quality.

To learn more about the Movement, visit www.AgWeb.com/ACAM .

About Farm Journal

Farm Journal is the nation’s leading business information and media company serving the agricultural market. Started 145 years ago with the preeminent Farm Journal magazine, the company serves the row crop, livestock, produce and retail sectors through branded websites, eNewsletters and phone apps; business magazines; live events including conferences, seminars and tradeshows; nationally broadcasted television and radio programs; a robust mobile-text-marketing business; and an array of data-driven, paid information products. Farm Journal also is the majority shareholder of the online equipment marketplace, Machinery Pete LLC. In 2010, the company established the non-profit, public charity, Farm Journal Foundation, dedicated to sustaining agriculture’s ability to meet the vital needs of a growing population through education and empowerment.

Grazing in Harmony

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:04:57 GMT

Craig and Conni French always considered themselves good land stewards, but six years ago things really began to change. They came to realize their cattle ranch’s fate was tied to healthy soils and grasses.

“We are a part of this ecosystem,” Conni says. “How do we live in harmony and work together within this system?”

They found the answer in holistic ranch management techniques, which called into question long-held, traditional ways of thinking. Toward that end, the Frenches implemented rotational grazing on their C Lazy J Livestock operation in Phillips County in north central Montana.

The drastic changes that followed required a leap of faith for the fourth-generation ranchers. They traded harvesting hay for grazing methods that let their cattle harvest the forage themselves. Such changes didn’t happen overnight, and each came with its own risk and learning curve.

“To be a steward of the land in my mind is recognizing the importance of a natural resource, and it is to be harvested,” Craig said of the grass on the ranch. “That’s the whole point of renewable.”

The Frenches recognize that without a healthy, sustainable land base they will not be able to carry the ranch into the future. Increasing grass and soil health are considerations that are always front of their minds in their decision-making process.

With the use of electric fence, they have increased the number of cattle moves and the number of pastures. They now move cattle around 40 times per summer. This allows for increased rest for each pasture and more control over where and when cattle are grazing.

Last fall Craig and Conni were the recipients of the Montana Leopold Conservation Award®, given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold. The prestigious award recognizes farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife habitat management on private, working land.

“Recipients of this award are real life examples of conservation-minded agriculture,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer. “These hard-working families are essential to our environment, food system and rural economy.”

“Setting themselves apart, the Frenches are ranching in sync with the soils, vegetation, insects and wildlife they steward alongside their operation and for the benefit of their community, sharing their experiences with others,” said John Piotti, president and CEO of American Farmland Trust.

The use of cell grazing (a form of rotational grazing that moves a large herd frequently to new pastures) allows more recovery time for perennial vegetation to flourish on a semi-arid, brittle environment of short prairie grass. This results in better forage and wildlife habitat.

The Frenches make decisions not just with their cattle herd’s health in mind, but also the impact on soil, insects and wildlife and the ranch’s financial and human health. Targeted grazing of non-native grasses has improved habitat for grassland birds and sage grouse.

With assistance from the NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, they moved livestock water tanks and windbreaks away from a creek. Beaver Creek flows through three miles of the ranch and its health is a conservation priority for the French family. The return of willow trees along the creek’s banks is a sign their efforts are paying off.

The Frenches collaborate with federal and state agencies, non-profits and other ranchers to achieve conservation success.

Their voluntary 30-year conservation lease with Montana’s Fish, Wildlife, and Parks ensures their land’s native grassland and sagebrush will remain uncultivated and undeveloped. Likewise, hunters are allowed access to their ranch’s thriving wildlife populations through enrollment in the state’s Block Management program.

The Frenches have also agreed to sustain and improve habitat for four species of imperiled grassland birds and sage-grouse, and have their numbers surveyed.

As long-time members of The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, a rancher-led conservation group that aims to educate within and outside the ranch community, the Frenches share their experience with holistic management, cell grazing and other innovative conservation practices.

The Frenches, who farm with their three children, aren’t ones to rest on their laurels. They plan to treat 320 acres of recently purchased farmland as a demonstration site for the soil health benefits of cover crops. As they steward a ranch homesteaded by Craig’s great grandfather in 1910, the Frenches understand the importance of passing on a land ethic to the next generation.

One of the most important aspects of making sure that their ranch will stay productive into the future has been engaging their three children, Tyler, Jacki, and Kelli in ranch planning. Tyler and Kelli are pilots and Jacki is a civil engineer (and her husband Brent is a pilot). They are all trying to figure out when they will return to the ranch and what that role would look like. They also recognize that even if their kids don’t take over the ranch they would like to pass on a ranch operation that is sustainable, both environmentally and economically. As their vision statement says they aim to “provide opportunities and hope for future generations.”

The Sand County Foundation and American Farmland Trust present the Leopold Conservation Award to private landowners in 21 states with a variety of conservation, agricultural and forestry organizations. For more information on the award, visit leopoldconservationaward.org .

Feed Sustainability: Moving the Animal Protein Industry Forward

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 16:22:09 GMT

As the animal protein industry continues to find innovative ways to decrease the carbon footprint of animal products, a new resource guide may help move those efforts forward.

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) recently released the Resource Guide on Sustainable Animal Feed , a digital resource to help companies in the animal feed supply chain better understand and address how the demand for animal protein products – and subsequently animal feed – affects the environment, including air, land, soil, water and biodiversity.

The free resource guide was developed by TSC alongside a group of stakeholders made up of over 20 different organizations including the National Pork Board, Pipestone Systems, BASF, The Nature Conservancy, Syngenta, American Feed Industry Association, Sustainable Food Lab, and others.

“As the demand for animal protein increases, so does the demand for animal feed. Every company along the value chain has the opportunity to make a significant contribution towards feed sustainability. This resource guide supports these organizations in their efforts,” Christy Slay, TSC’s senior director of science and research, said in a release .

Demand Is Rising
Population growth, rising income and changes in diet are just a few reasons why the global demand for animal protein is increasing. According to TSC, recent life-cycle assessments estimate that feed production accounts for 70% of the total carbon footprint of animal products.

The resource guide was created as a resource for sustainability professionals, procurement teams, feed and animal protein industry professionals, researchers, and non-profits. The guide brings together relevant resources and information related to feed sustainability globally with a focus on the U.S.

“The National Pork Board is committed to greater transparency about our industry’s efforts regarding environmental sustainability and our journey of continuous improvement,” Brett Kaysen, vice president or sustainability at the National Pork Board, said in a release. “This means making information, resources and tools available to those who buy pork to sell pork and help them better understand the animal feed supply chain. We’re proud to work with TSC and the other stakeholders to produce this valuable guide.”

A Holistic Approach to Sustainability
The authors behind the guide, Slay and TSC research assistant, Teresa Garcia-Moore, LL.M., hope companies will use this guide to create a more holistic approach to enhancing the overall sustainability of the animal and environment systems.

The guide addresses these key topics:
1. Leading organizations engaged in feed sustainability efforts
2. Useful tools
3. Reports and case study spotlights
4. Research
5. Companies’ feed sustainability initiatives

TSC plans to continually update the guide as resources become available. Access the free, digital guide here .

More from Farm Journal:

The Carbon-Neutral Pig and Chicken: The Pivotal Moment is Now

U.S. Pork More Sustainable Than Ever, Study Shows

Supply Chain Synergy

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 15:14:09 GMT

Building trust in food begins with empowering farmers through one of the largest and most diverse conservation- and sustainability-focused public-private partnerships in our nation’s history: America’s Conservation Ag Movement. To find the latest news and resources related to the Movement, visit AgWeb.com/ACAM .

Consumers are more vocal now than ever on how they want their food produced, packaged and provided. That trend is driving companies throughout the food chain to seek new producer alliances.

“Retailers are facing pressures to adopt sustainability metrics, and they’re reaching back into their supply chains as a way to track, document and meet sustainability metrics,” says Jayson Lusk, Purdue University economist.

Such corporate initiatives are creating opportunities for producers. 44 Farms was already producing some of the highest quality Angus beef on the planet, and coupled with a family legacy stretching back four generations, it was a natural fit for an aggressive sustainability project by Walmart.

Branded Beef

In April of 2019, Walmart announced a partnership with 44 Farms to create a branded beef program for 500 of its stores in the Southeast. Cattle for the program are sourced by 44 Farms through its Prime Pursuits feeder calf program, with the cattle finished at Mc6 Cattle Feeders near Hereford, Texas.

The cattle are harvested at Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City, Kan., with further packaging completed at FPL Foods in Augusta, Ga.

“By enlisting a number of best-in-class companies to take part in the supply chain, we’ll be able to provide customers with unprecedented quality and provide transparency throughout the supply chain,” says Scott Neal, Walmart senior vice president of meat.
The retailer’s new supply chain effort will create a steady demand for cattle from ranchers and feed-yards offering marketplace stability.

“No bigger paradigm change has taken place in the beef industry than what is happening with Walmart bringing high-quality, all-natural, no-hormones-added Black Angus beef to its customers,” says Bob McLaren, CEO of 44 Farms.

This partnership is an example of how cattle producers can capture more value for their products.

“Beef producers have been working directly with retailers to engage in alliances and relationships for many years to better serve consumers,” says Russell Woodward, senior manager, product marketing for the Texas Beef Council. “This is an important relationship for both retailers and producers in the demand-building process.”

Sustainable Ranching and Native Bees Pair Well

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:56:32 GMT

Public awareness and concern for the future of bees has gone through the roof. “Save the bees” has become one of the most popular slogans of our time. Yet, while many people are familiar with the domesticated honey bee, they are also surprised to learn that we also have an abundance of wild, native species at risk of vanishing forever.

The U.S. and Canada are home to upwards of 4,000 species of bees. In a healthy ecosystem that means a lot of individual bees in the landscape. And while we are still learning about them, we do know a few key facts: for many crops, they are better pollinators than honey bees; they make honey bees better pollinators through competition; and, sadly, many of them are in serious trouble due to habitat loss, pesticides, and disease. A recent study estimated that one out of every four species of bumble bee—some of our most valuable native pollinators—are at risk of extinction.

Native bees have relatively simple needs. Their three main requirements for a healthy life are food (wildflowers), shelter (places to nest), and a pesticide-free environment. Some of the very best places for North American native bees to thrive are sustainably managed working lands.

Well-managed grasslands, where cattle graze in harmony with the natural environment, keep woody vegetation like juniper trees at bay and make space for wildflowers to flourish. Cattle hooves break through the hard soil allowing water to seep into the ground, providing plants with plenty of moisture and opportunities to reseed.

In recent years, ranching has been targeted as a source of environmental degradation around the world. While it’s true that in some places beef production can harm sensitive ecosystems, in the Northern Great Plains cattle are a key component in the strategy to keep it healthy. Today, many ranchers are applying grazing methods that ensure that the land remains resilient, allowing wildlife communities to thrive.

In contrast, grasslands that have been plowed up for row-crops such as corn, soy, and wheat offer little to no food or shelter for bees. Even monoculture crops that offer a limited supply of food during the blooming period don’t produce food for bees before or after this brief window of time, essentially becoming a food desert for pollinators. Like us, they need a well-balanced diet from spring through late fall to survive.

It is time for the public to recognize that our native grasslands require sustainable habitat management, which in the case of grasslands, includes ranching. If you love bumble bees and other native bee species, take a moment to thank a rancher. They may be one of the last, best defenses we have for protecting these amazing creatures.

Article and photos by Clay Bolt, World Wildlife Fund, Northern Great Plains Program.

Ag Retailers and Conservation: Can They Work Together?

Screenhouses Boost Marketable Yields for Farmers

Hungry Harvest maintains new sustainable practices during pandemic

Drones, Data Could Track Cattle Health

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:55:56 GMT

Scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo, are testing different technologies that could make caring for animals easier.

“We’re trying to accelerate how we detect and respond to disease status or some other health status of the animals,” Brent Auvermann, director of the center, told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “Cowboys in a feedlot, for example, already look at every animal every day from horseback. But is it possible for us to use some kind of remote sensing, whether it’s on a drone or fixed up high?”

Researchers are trying to determine if it’s possible to use imaging techniques, digital video and other systems to identify livestock with signs of illness or poor feed-to-gain performance.

“Really, the objective here is to identify animals earlier than we otherwise could,” Auvermann said. “Perhaps, for example, we can do it at night when we don’t have a lot of human beings in the feedlot. Maybe there’s evidence that shows up at night that we could detect using either drones or some other remote sensing technique.”

One technique being tested involves thermography via drone. This method searches for subtle temperature differences to identify sick animals.

Thermography looks at surface temperatures and can be used from a distance on several animals at once with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

“In a feedlot you can mount digital video cameras up high and just continually monitor their behavior,” Auvermann said. “One thing we’re investigating is what behavioral cues can be extracted from a digital video loop to figure out if an animal is not eating consistently.”

The cameras capture a lot of data and AI is used to sort the images.

Although the research is in the very early stages, it could one day be used on a private ranch to
monitor cattle health and behavior.

“I think all of agriculture is moving this way. The main idea here is not the drone, per se, it’s the remote sensing and the data analytics that go along with it.”

Jessica Domel is the multimedia reporter for Texas Farm Bureau. Jdomel@txfb.com

I’m a Drover: Regenerative Ag with a Twist

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:54:41 GMT

Sitting just outside of Missoula, Montana, the cattle at Oxbow Cattle Company is grass-fed and finished. For owner/operators Bart and Wendy Morris, treating their herd with the highest standard of care, while maintaining good stewardship of the land they work on is their utmost priority. The cattle graze pasture before being rotated, sometimes daily, to another area to maintain a healthy ecosystem for both the grass and the cows. But sometimes, the herd grazes next to a small building on the property, called the f2m store .

f2m (short for farm-to-market) was created out of necessity. Prior to its opening Bart was spending a huge amount of time driving around to meet customers in Missoula and the surrounding areas in parking lots and other places to deliver their beef orders.

It’s how f2m is maintained that’s the surprising element of their business model.

While the traditional farmer’s market stall may come to mind, f2m is operated entirely on the honor system, staying open 24/7 365. Customers simply come in with cash, check or a Venmo account and select the Oxbow beef or other locally sourced items the store carries, log what they’re purchasing, and then deposit the total amount in the lock box provided or send payment through Venmo. That’s it. There’s no staff manning the store during designated business hours, aside from the Morrises keeping the beef stocked.

In a day and age where it seems like operating on the honor system would be crazy, it’s working. As they note on their website, “We believe in this because of how you all believe in us. You trust us to raise beef in the healthiest and most responsible way and we trust in you to make this honor system a success!”

But the benefits are twofold, not only does the store serve a functional purpose, centralizing the pickup and storage of beef orders, it also provides the community with an opportunity for education about sustainable ranching practices, Bart Morris says.

“We want to connect people with where their food is coming from, and there’s no better way to do that than to have them come and see the land and see the cows and what we’re doing. I can tell them whatever I want at a farmer’s market where we’re not on the land, but to have them come see the land, you have to stand behind what you’re saying” he says. “We are big time into regenerative ag. We want to leave the land better than when it came into our control and improve it for the next generations.”

Oxbow Cattle Company offers educational tours to the schools and universities in the area, but where education comes in to f2m is in sharing the full-circle journey of the food chain.

“When they come, people have the chance to see the full-circle of production. It’s the land and soil, to the cows and beef and then ultimately back to the soil,” Morris says.

Since its inception in mid-2018, f2m’s customer base has grown exponentially, with mainly word of mouth promotion, and to Morris it’s a testament to their philosophy working.

“We say it takes a community to raise a cow the right way, and we believe the community is standing behind us 100%,” Morris says.

“In this day and age, we want to be able to connect traditional agriculture to regenerative practices. We really care about stockmanship and horsemanship, and grass farming and soil health, and one of the most unique things about us is that we rope and ride and we handle all of our cows only on foot or horseback but yet we run tons of polywire and do MOB or MIG grazing.

“It’s important for us to hang on to the cowboy/cowgirl heritage and tradition because in Montana, everyone is connected to someone who had a ranch or was part of a ranch at one time. We have photos of Wendy roping and branding in f2m. And that’s important to us to not forget where we came from. Wendy has four generations of working ranchers in her family that came ahead of her, so it’s important for us to hang on to that, but move with the times and be better,” he says.

To learn more about Oxbow Cattle Company, check out their website , or Facebook page .