Trust in Beef

Spring Success: How Strategic Pasture Planning Boosts Annual Productivity

Mon, 04 May 2026 15:31:03 GMT

Springtime on-ranch can be a make-or-break time for the entire growing season, especially when pastures come out of dormancy and animals emerge from their low winter energy levels. This is especially true for regenerative ranches.

Putting your herd out on dormant pastures or pastures with depleted resources can negatively impact both herd health — leading to decreased body condition and overall health — and pasture health. Both of these eventualities can cause stress that lingers throughout the entire growing season.

We tapped the expertise of Travis Jones, regenerative ranching adviser for Noble Research Institute , for the top tactics his team recommends to start your high-impact grazing season off in a way that helps you finish with strong productivity, animal health and profitability.

Master the Art of Spring Monitoring

For Jones, this is the time for graziers to open their eyes.

“Spring is usually the time when grazing land producers start to monitor perennial forage growth and forage vitality coming out of dormancy,” he says.

That means it is the perfect time to evaluate past management decisions and determine what has benefited a ranch’s overall goals and objectives and what has caused challenges.

A good monitoring plan is a safe place to start, Jones says. Each spring, he encourages ranchers to get out in pastures to get eyes on the following:

Grazing enclosures
Watering systems
Photo points
Soil health systems
Grazing patterns and rotational grazing systems

In the spring, graziers should spend time diligently monitoring and tracking their grazing infrastructure and forage. Accurate data can help ranchers make better operational decisions in the following year.

(Noble Research Institute)

But monitoring shouldn’t be limited to infrastructure; observing and tracking forage is also critical.

Jones recommends keeping diligent data around the following forage observations:

Plant health and vigor
Winter precipitation
Plant species
Plant growth phase

“These are all factors that help producers stay adaptive in their management,” he says. “Current data is a must for making good grazing decisions.”

From Data Points to Pasture Profits

If the data collected during spring monitoring doesn’t give you hope for the growing season, Jones says that forage additions can be a way to course-correct for the future.

“Overall, ranch productivity can increase with a bump in forage production and quality,” he says. “Often, producers can sustain livestock production with forage additions rather than feeding hay.”

While every ranch’s unique ecosystem drives which forage additions are needed, Jones says that vibrant native systems should have multiple species of plants representing all forage groups, including:

Woody
Legume
Warm-season annual grasses
Cool-season perennial grasses

Depending on a ranch’s goals and context, interseeding a primary warm-season perennial pasture with a legume or cool-season grass can not only boost forage quality for an introduced system but also extend grazing from fall into early spring, giving a marketable advantage over others.

“For animal health, having high-quality forage after the winter months when animal energy consumption may be higher can help increase body condition and overall health,” Jones says. “Often, this early spring growth is good for building condition in bred livestock expected to give birth during the spring months.

“The more options you have regarding forage quality and availability, the more you can take advantage of opportunities in market and seasonal weather dynamics,” he adds.

High plant biodiversity contributes to overall soil health, which can enhance the resilience of pastures, giving them the power to withstand drought conditions.

Step-by-Step Tactics for Forage Enhancement

For forage additions to work in the spring, Jones says that fall planning is critical. Following these steps can help you choose the correct spring forage addition for your ecosystem, environment and ranch goals.

Test the soil — Using a traditional soil test can ensure that you have the correct soil chemistry to make your forage additions work. “Seed germination can be highly dependent on soil pH; if your pH isn’t right, you might not get the forage intended,” Jones says.
Choose a trusted seed mix — Knowing the makeup of your soil can help you choose a seed mix that works for your soil type and management style.
Start small — Investing in forage additions on your most at-risk pastures is a good way to start a forage enhancement program in a way that is cost-effective and will have maximum impact on your overall grazing plan. Additionally, at-risk pastures can often benefit from investments in soil health that forage enhancements provide.

Whatever spring changes you make to your pastures must be part of your holistic management strategy, Jones says.

“New ideas and plans should be documented and discussed for how they will impact overall ranch goals and mission,” he explains. “The beauty in capturing this data is that it establishes a baseline for future decisions.

“In our education courses, we advise ranchers to prioritize capturing data that will help make future management decisions,” he adds.

Noble Research Institute provides education resources and courses that can help regenerative ranchers capture productivity, profitability and stewardship on ranches throughout the U.S.

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Dakota Ranchers: New Program Available To Promote Data-Backed Grazing Management

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:36:10 GMT

Ducks Unlimited and AgriWebb are joining forces and taking aim at addressing the challenges of grazing on public lands in North and South Dakota.

Supported by a grant through National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the program provides livestock producers in cow-calf or stocker operations with digital tools and infrastructure to manage their public land, livestock and profitability more effectively. Ranchers enrolled in the program benefit from AgriWebb software combined with temporary and virtual fencing to holistically manage their livestock and land.

“Keeping grasslands intact is essential to the long-term sustainability of waterfowl and other wildlife,” notes Billy Gascoigne, DU senior director of agriculture & strategic partnerships. “Ranchers are the primary stewards of these landscapes, and it’s imperative that we develop solutions that help them implement adaptive, profitable grazing practices while ensuring the next generation can continue this important work.”

According to the organizations, the partnership will provide a streamlined way to report livestock numbers and managed acreage to NFWF. By capturing this data, the partnership is tackling some of the industry’s biggest challenges, including:

● Enhance grassland health: Promoting vibrant nesting cover for waterfowl through ample rest and rotation.
● Empower producers: Providing the “productivity-driving” insights needed to manage herds more effectively on complex public lands.
● Strengthen the food chain: Ensuring long-term land fertility to support a growing global population.

“Producers wear many hats, but none are more critical than feeding the world while stewarding the land,” says Campbell Mauchan, AgriWebb vice president of partnerships. “By combining DU’s conservation expertise with AgriWebb’s ability to turn simple data collection into actionable insights, we are helping ranchers nurture the ecosystems we all rely on. When a rancher is equipped to not just record their data, but use it, they are able to make decisions that help them nurture the ecosystems that support their legacies.”

According to the organizations, the initial roll out focused on Dakotas state trust lands is being considered a pilot for a scalable model in how technology and conservation can work to support ranchers across North America.

For more information, ranchers can visit ag.ducks.org .

Old Ranching Heritage Meets New Tech

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 16:30:46 GMT

In Kingsville, Texas, near the Mexico border, the only thing thicker than the accents is the ranching culture.

Natives call it the birthplace of American ranching.

“This is where European immigrants from Scotland, England and Ireland combined with a lot of the native peoples and the Spanish-descended settlers,” says James Clement.

Kingsville is his home, and he knows that heritage well.

“This is where the Catholic mission system and the Western European farming systems collided to create what is known as ranching,” he says.

Much of today’s ranching terminology and practices originated in this South Texas region, and Clement is quick to note that the tradition endures.

“You still see a lot of commitment by the people that own land in this part of the world to maintain large-scale ranches,” he says. “We call this region the last great habitat.”

With his well-worn and scuffed cowboy hat, Clement not only has ranching culture in his heart, it flows through his veins.

At the King Ranch Museum in downtown Kingsville, Clement traces his family’s lineage on a massive, framed portrait that hangs above a stone fireplace. Capt. Richard King and his wife, Henrietta, were Clement’s triple-great-grandparents. His family has all matriculated from the famed King Ranch, a major corporation of modern ranching that has expanded to include farming, luxury retail, recreational hunting and more.

Land of His Own

Though Clement maintains ties to King Ranch, he also now manages his own operation, Bloody Buckets Cattle Co., a ranch deeply steeped in family tradition.

“Our Clement family has been in American military service since the War of 1812, beginning with Sgt. Maj. Kay Clement and his son, Gen. John Clement,” he says. “Four of those generations (from 1812 to 1945), served in the 28^th Division of Pennsylvania.”

During World War II, Clement’s grandfather, Capt. James “Jim” Clement, fought with the division dubbed the Bloody Buckets Division by German forces due to its red keystone insignia

“My grandfather wore the bloody buckets patch on his left shoulder, and we still brand our cattle on the left hip with a brand that is modeled after that patch,” he says.

Bloody Buckets Cattle Co. uses King Ranch American Red genetics. All wear the Bloody Buckets brand on their left hip to pay homage to the ranch’s founder and the family’s military service record.

(Angie Stump Denton)

His grandfather, wounded in France, returned to South Texas as the recipient of a Purple Heart Medal and began a long career with King Ranch, ultimately serving as CEO from 1974 to 1988.

While living in South Texas, he founded Los Hermanos Ranch in 1967, which Clement now operates under the Bloody Buckets Cattle Co. brand. In the 1970s, his father, James “Jamey” Clement Jr., and his uncle, Martin “Martín” Clement II, assumed ownership and day-to-day responsibilities for Los Hermanos. Together, all three men shaped the ranch’s history while each spent his full-time career working for King Ranch.

Clement and his family have been exposed to 400 years of ranching in three operations. Clement’s mother came from the historic Beggs Cattle Company, established in 1876. They, along with their partners, have put that knowledge together and found a way to manage their land and cattle.

“We used the lessons learned from Beggs, King, the experience of our partners and the King Ranch Institute of paying attention to the land, natural resources and wildlife,” he says.

“As we were continuing to grow our operation, we were seeing that we were surviving droughts better, our wildlife quality and quantity was increasing, our water retention was improving and our business lines were growing,” he adds.

A New Approach

Now supporting those heritage practices on-ranch is a host of ag tech advancements. Certainly, they were not seen on his grandfather’s ranch, but Clement knows they are the way of the future, making practices more efficient and easier to accomplish with less labor and fewer man-hours.

He uses Ranchbot Monitoring Systems to keep an eye on his watering systems. Frontiers Market Artificial Intelligence gathers animal health data. On-vehicle cameras are helping to map his land and resources through Enriched Ag.

But his greatest passion lies below the surface in soil carbon capture, so much so that he works as senior vice president and general manager of grass and rangeland for EarthOptics , a company that uses the study of soil biology to predict agronomic outcomes and measure soil carbon. In the role, he helps landowners measure and monetize soil carbon through data-driven insights.

For Clement, it’s a business model that he likens to one he knows well.

“Using an oil and gas analogy, EarthOptics is the drilling company; other people sell the crude (soil carbon in this sense), but we find it.” he says. “What we’re trying to do is help people make more efficient decisions on their land, reduce cost and then potentially also look at additional cash flow streams through the sale of carbon credits.”

Clement calls himself “bullish on carbon” for one particular reason.

“This is really the first opportunity in ranching — first of the growing ecosystem markets — where large companies are paying people to make good stewardship decisions,” he says. “Historically, how did you judge other ranches against each other? Who was selling the most cattle for the most money, selling the most expensive hunts or had the most pump jacks? Now we can pay for taking care of the land and making long-term decisions.”

EarthOptics not only finds a way to quantify and qualify good land and soil stewardship, they validate the data in such a way that farmers and ranchers can capitalize on them.

“We’re at the crossroads of the industry,” Clement says. “EarthOptics is not selling the credits. We’re just advising the ranchers on how to partake in these markets and then also making the introductions and building the industry.”

In November, Bloody Buckets Cattle Company hosted the final 2025 stop in the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour. Owner James Clement III used the event to share the importance his operation places on heritage land stewardship and ag tech advancements for profitability.

(Trust In Beef)

New Land Equals an Accelerated Approach

Clement is broadening the scope of Bloody Buckets Cattle Co., buying additional land and leasing land with his partners, “Poncho” Ortega Sr. and “Poncho” Ortega Jr. They are currently ranching on six ranches in four different South Texas counties. Acquiring new ranches and leases means the work on some of the new land is just beginning.

“On the west side, we acquired some ranches in the last 20 years that had previously been farmed,” he says. “We spend most of our time and resources in the pastures with the worst conditions to build back soil health.”

By applying the same technology he’s helped develop and test elsewhere, Clement is accelerating the restoration process. Their ranching operation has become a testing ground for many of the new ag tech companies in the industry, seeing if these concepts can work in rough country and be beneficial to the operation.

“We’re on a mission to get each of these newer owned or leased properties back in better shape,” he says. “As we expand, we want to make sure that acre is productive.”

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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4 Ways to Boost Profitability Through Soil Health

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:25:46 GMT

In ranching, there are no easy buttons — certainly none exist to achieve overall profitability — but there may be one factor that can come close.

Adaptive grazing practices on ranch, which means using forage observations to determine the best time to move cattle, can be a key that unlocks higher productivity.

“Adaptive grazing to accomplish better grazing distribution across the ranch will almost always result in higher plant productivity, higher carrying capacity and higher profits,” says Josh Gaskamp, associate director of outreach and partnerships for Noble Research Institute.

Gaskamp has seen the practice in action on Noble’s ranches.

“On Noble’s ranches, bare ground averaged 13% in 2019 and is close to zero now,” he says. “We got 13% of a ranch for free, and now it is productive for our livestock.”

He adds: “It’s not always about finding the best forage, the best livestock or the best market; management for soil health does pay.”

Gaskamp says healthy soils can boost bottom-line productivity and profitability. He encourages producers to consider these tips and how some simple moves can translate to cost benefits on the ranch:

1. More Grass = More Cows + Less Feed Cost

Overgrazing, either through continuous grazing or not achieving full pasture recovery between grazing events, can limit a plant’s ability to grow.

“The ultimate result is less grass,” Gaskamp says. “When a rancher more closely follows the full potential of their forages’ growth across the growing season by implementing timely, intentional grazing, they not only put more of that grass in the cow, but they also grow more grass.”

It’s not hard to follow the direct line between more grass and more cows.

“Growing more grass means improving the carrying capacity of the ranch, and that means more money,” he says.

The significant savings, according to Gaskamp, comes in avoiding substitution feeding costs — feeding hay in times of the year when forage would normally be available. Improving your pastures’ ability to grow grass limits the amount of feed you purchase out of pocket.

2. More Ground = More Cows + Less Maintenance

Better-performing forage can be the key to gaining more “ground” on a ranch, but making the most of marginalized areas can boost productivity as well.

Certainly there are areas where cattle simply don’t want to be. Gaskamp says that adaptive grazing can be the investment those areas need to flip them to optimization.

“Underperforming areas of the ranch can often be improved by bringing livestock, nutrients, organic matter and proper recovery times to them,” he says.

Two ways to attract cattle to marginalized areas on ranch are:

Planting cover crops to graze
Bale grazing

“When followed by appropriate rest and recovery, these hotspots of organic matter and animal density are revitalized,” Gaskamp says.

“When energy is flowing through our soils through photosynthetic solar capture rather than coming out of them through overgrazing, soil is building and biological communities are thriving. It’s great that these impacts also come with greater forage production,” says Josh Gaskamp of the Noble Research Institute.

(Noble Research Institute)

3. More Diversity = More Cows + More Biodiversity

There are a variety of benefits to having diversity in forage.

“Diversity provides resilience to weather and climate extremes (with more days having living roots in the soil), and when cover crops are developed to complement available forages on the ranch, they drastically extend the number of grazing days,” Gaskamp says.

Many ranchers capitalize on diversity by implementing cover crops, especially in marginalized lands or in diversified operations. Pragmatically, cover crops can cover a lot of ground, including:

Keep supplementation costs down by extending grazing.
Break up compacted soil.
Finish livestock on high quality forages for human consumption.
Provide a supplemental forage that has good quality when other plans are dormant.
Provide habitat for wildlife.

4. More Investment = More Opportunity

While the goal is to use soil health as a profit-generating strategy in and of itself on-ranch, there are opportunities to cash in on healthy soils that can present additional opportunity to enhance the bottom line.

“There are a number of established ecosystem services and carbon markets that can help ranchers capture value from the improvements they make to the land under their management for soil health,” Gaskamp says. “These provide an opportunity for ranchers within the right context.”

These opportunities may not work for all, and Gaskamp recommends that you do your homework to find the right partner, but he considers them “icing on the cake” for the proper soil health investments.

Farm Journal’s Trust In Beef™ and Noble Research Institute partner to share information about how investing in your soil health can build profitability and legacy on your ranch. Visit www.TrustInBeef.com or www.Noble.org for additional resources or to tap into Noble’s education opportunities on this topic and others.

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Herd Sustainability Begins at the Bull Sale

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 12:52:04 GMT

Building a herd, or even maintaining a herd, that works for your unique operation, in your unique environment and helps to enhance profitability, marketability and sustainability on your ranch requires diligence.

That diligence begins at the sale for most operations when buying herd bulls, but it’s easy to get swept up in those moments.

“There are always a handful of bulls that are right at the top of the sale — the ones that everybody wants — but only a handful of people will be able to get that bull bought and take him home,” says Robert Williams, Trust In Food sustainable livestock technical manager. “The reality is, there are a lot of bulls at the sale that will fit differently in different programs.”

“When genetics for reproduction, growth, functional traits and efficiency align with cattle adapted to their environment, the result is a more sustainable beef production system.”

Williams brought together experts at the most recent Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour stop in Kingsville, Texas, to share how you can change focus at the sale and reap the benefits for your operation.

Make a Plan and Stick to It

Lindsay Upperman, ABS Global beef genetic services manager, says a successful sale begins before you walk into the barn door.

“Start with what you need,” she explains. “What are the one or two traits that you’re looking for to improve in that next calf crop? Do you not have as much weaning weight? Do you need more fertility or reproductive efficiency in your females?”

Once you’ve narrowed your goals, Upperman says you can narrow the number of bulls that fit within those percentile rankings.

“I know a lot of people don’t like those numbers, but they help a lot,” she explains. “If you’re choosing at that 50^th percentile, that’s breed average for that sire or that group of animals, and if you choose above that, you’re doing better than the breed average in that given trait.”

Selecting animals in those upper percentile rankings moves the herd average where genetic improvement is needed, but is the top 1% always better?

Robert Wells, King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management professor of practice and endowed chair in ranch management, cautions the top rankings can be deceiving.

“The top 1% is not always better,” he stresses. “Think about your environment. If you’re down here in south Texas, we’re in a drought. A top 1% bull in lactation and milk is not where we need to be.”

He adds: “Think about the mature size of your cow. If you’ve got a small cow, maybe you need to add a little bit. But if you’ve got a large cow, that we don’t want to select for those really, really heavy growth type individuals, especially if we’re going to be making maternals happen.”

Then comes the bidding. Upperman recommends you stick to your plan in that decision as well.

“Now, how much better dictates how much money you want to spend on that animal at the end of the day,” she says. “Pick the 10 best bulls that fit maybe those two or three traits you’re looking for to get into your next set of calf crop. Go from there and see what you can give. But I would say try to offset as best you can, because obviously the more you pay, that doesn’t always mean you’re going to get, 10 percentage points better, so definitely offset with what you’re going to get.”

Wells says having a solid plan for the day means you are in a much better position when bidding begins.

“When you go to those auctions, it’s really, really easy to get caught up in the moment, and next thing you know that auctioneer is going really fast, and all sudden, you’re buying a $10,000 bull,” he says.

The 2025 Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour culminated in Kingsville, Texas in November where experts shared insights into unlocking production efficiency on-ranch.

(Trust In Beef)

Use EPDs wisely

“Using EPDs (expected progeny differences) does work every day of the year,” Wells says. “Using those EPDs to look at production practice parameters, such as weaning weight, yearling weight, looking at your marbling scores — that’s how the industry has been able to have this remarkable spurt-up on our carcass characteristics.”

Taking into account genetic traits are one way the industry as a whole has seen significant improvement, but the same can hold true at the ranch-gate as well.

“It can be huge,” Wells adds. “I’ve seen producers who have increased their weaning weights by over 100 lb., and not increase the cow size and not do anything different, other than just putting the right genetics in that cow.”

Make Smart Matches

Each breed can contribute unique genetics and characteristics. Successful ranchers find ways to leverage those traits alongside operational goals and the environment around them.

“Different breeds bring an asset to your herd — a special set of characteristics or traits that are going to offset the other part of that group that is mating, so making sure that you’re utilizing that,” Upperman explains. “And again, thinking, are we retaining females? Does that mean two breeds work better in that female mating than maybe a terminal cross? And nine times out of 10, that’s true. Just make sure you’re thinking about both ends, and maybe it’s not just one breed that capitalizes on all of those.”

Wells shares a critical tip that can help differentiate breed selection at the sale.

“Your cow works 365 days of the year, so match your cow to your environment, but match your bull to your market,” he says. “Think about breed complementarity for cows, because she has to work every day of the year. The bulls only work 60, maybe 90 days. Make sure that cow fits your environment. Because if she doesn’t fit your environment, it’s like trying to push a rope up a hill. It’s not going to be very successful. And if you do it, it’s going to be very costly. And then use breed complementarity to match your bull to your marketing outcomes.”

No matter what is out there at your next bull sale, Upperman say the primary tool you have is your gut.

“There’s always going to be something new, there’s always going to be the next best thing, the next tool, because that’s what geneticists like to do is try to make things better,” she says. “We’re trying to give you new things to utilize that may help within your herd. But if it doesn’t fit within your productivity, your profitability for your herd, then why are you considering it? Use what you have and what is already there that gives you profit.”

Farm Journal’s Trust In Beef shares information about how investing in sustainability can build profitability and legacy on your ranch. Visit www.TrustInBeef.com for additional resources or to learn how to connect with a future Sustainable Ranchers Tour event.

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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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The Power of a Decision

How Missouri is Turning to Genetics and Technology to Boost Cattle Profits

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:46:21 GMT

Missouri’s cattle industry is experiencing a wave of optimism. Prices are soaring, herds are rebuilding and innovations in genetics and technology are transforming the business. At the center of it all is a homegrown initiative that’s quietly reshaping the future of beef production: the Show-Me Select Replacement Heifer Program .

Since 1997, this University of Missouri Extension program has become the gold standard for replacement heifer development, bringing cutting-edge science and data to pastures across the state.

Boom for Beef Producers

Cattle prices are climbing to levels not seen in years — and for longtime producers, the rewards have been hard-earned.

“It’s hard not to be in a good mood if you’re a cattle producer right now,” says Zac Erwin, regional livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension. “This is the moment we’ve been waiting for for about the last decade.”

Erwin has worked with cattle producers for nearly 20 years, helping them navigate the ups and downs of a notoriously cyclical business. After the market peaked in 2013 and 2014, it plummeted in 2015 and stayed low for nearly a decade. Those who held on through lean years are now seeing the payoff.

“Those that were able to maintain inventory are certainly getting paid for their efforts,” Erwin says. “We’re also seeing new money coming into the business because of the profitability we’re currently experiencing.”

Grassroots Effort Becomes a National Model

The Show-Me Select Replacement Heifer Program was born out of a simple idea: add value to what was once considered an undervalued commodity — the heifer calf. It began as a grassroots initiative and has since grown into a model replicated across the U.S.

“This is really the gold standard for heifer replacement in the country,” Erwin says. “It started to raise the value of an undervalued commodity — and over the years, it’s snowballed.”

At its core, the program is about technology transfer: taking the latest university research — whether in breeding, pregnancy detection or genetics — and putting it directly into the hands of Missouri cattle producers.

Breeding Smarter with Technology

In the early days, the program focused on artificial insemination (AI) and ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis. Today, it’s moving into genomics and advanced reproductive tools that could revolutionize herd-building.

One of the newest developments is Doppler ultrasonography, championed by Thiago Martins, beef production state specialist at the University of Missouri. This technology allows producers to check a cow or heifer just 20 days after AI — a significant improvement over the traditional 28-day window.

“By exposing cows to two rounds of AI in 24 days, we got 85% of those animals pregnant,” Martins says. “If you compare that to natural service over 60 to 90 days, which gets you around 9% bred, the difference is huge.”

For producers looking to rebuild their herds with better genetics, this technology could be a game-changer.

Genomics: Peeling Back the Hide

The future of replacement heifer selection isn’t just about breeding more animals — it’s about breeding better animals.

“Genomic testing, especially on the commercial side, is relatively new to the beef industry,” explains Jamie Courter, state beef genetics Extension specialist. “With Show-Me Plus, producers can use DNA samples to unlock deeper insights into their heifers’ genetic potential.”

By understanding traits that can’t be seen — like longevity, calving ease and heifer pregnancy — producers can make more informed decisions. And while some are initially hesitant due to testing costs, Courter says the return on investment is clear.

“If you can show up at the sale barn with calves out of high genetic merit for traits like carcass weight, marbling and ribeye, buyers notice,” she says. “They love having that risk management — knowing what to expect when those cattle enter the feedyard.”

Proven Premiums and Long-Term Payoffs

The numbers speak for themselves. According to Erwin, Show-Me Select heifers routinely bring $200 to $300 more per head than comparable animals not in the program.

“Most sales this fall will be in the $4,000 range — and even above,” he says. “Over time, you build a reputation. Repeat buyers come back, and that puts more money in producers’ pockets. Those who stick with the program through good times and bad see the biggest rewards.”

Beyond the dollars, the program has had a transformative impact on rural communities, improving operations and livelihoods across Missouri.

Looking Ahead

The next Show-Me Select Replacement Heifer sale is set for Nov. 21 at the Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Mo., featuring around 275 spring-calving heifers. It’s more than just a sale; it’s a showcase of how genetics, technology and trusted branding can add real value to Missouri’s beef industry.

As Erwin puts it, “This program changes people’s lives.” And in today’s high-stakes cattle market, it may just shape the next decade of beef production.

Ranchers Make Tough Decisions to Weather Intense Southwest Drought

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:24:39 GMT

In the Southwest, dry conditions are the name of the game for cattle ranchers. But something about 2025 feels a little different.

With haboobs shoving dust into the air so heavily that nearby airports must force shutdowns — along with only a fraction of the average yearly rainfall thus far — Arizona producers are left hanging on by a thread. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 65% of the area has been in drought on some level.

It’s a feeling David and Tina Thompson of YY Ranch know well. Their generational ranch sits in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert of Cochise County, near the Chiricahua Mountains. Tina grew up on this land. She knows that rains come and go.

But this year’s monsoons were not showing up. Left in the wake, the Thompsons were forced to make some tough decisions for their 300-head Angus cow-calf and seedstock herd.

“Our NRCS stocking rate says we should be able to run about 400 cows, but Tina and I, over the years, have cut that back to about 350 on our own because of water and resources,” David says. “Due to drought, we’re down to about 300 currently.”

Managing the Water

In the summer, Tina says she plans for each cow-calf pair to drink about 30 gallons of water a day.

“It’s life or death for them,” she says. “They are just like people. If they don’t drink enough water, they’ll die.”

But, when the water doesn’t come from overhead, it must come from underground — and sometimes even that is tricky.

“Our water at the house is only about 20' down, but you get to other places on the ranch, and it can be 400' to 500' down,” Tina says. “When you do find a good water source, you pipe it to the places that don’t.”

They have invested in their water management infrastructure to ensure they can pipe enough water for their herd, no matter where they are grazing.

But, with nearly 18 miles of pipeline, there are a number of vulnerabilities. And water loss can be catastrophic.

“Maybe you just checked everything and then a bear comes along and breaks your float, or you have a float break and you’ve lost 12,000 gallons of water in a single day,” Tina says.

With just the two of them on-ranch full time, the Thompsons were wearing themselves out just staying on top of their water. With the help of their local retailer, they found technology that could take the stress out of that water monitoring and place it right in the palm of their hands.

The Thompsons route critical water to their herd through 18 miles of pipeline. Ranchbot’s water management system helps them manage and monitor that water infrastructure for security and planning.

(Trust In Beef)

“Every morning, that’s the first thing I do when I wake up,” David says. “I check my Ranchbot on my phone and make sure everything looks good.”

For Bain Wilson, rancher education and outreach manager, this is precisely the on-ranch pain point the Ranchbot system is designed to alleviate.

“We know a lot of ranchers don’t think about what their hourly rate is,” he says. “They know they pay it out to their crew, but their time is money and we help them save that by not having to make as many of those trips out to check all those water points.”

That maintenance, Wilson says, does more than just cause stress. It impacts the bottom line.

“With Ranchbot, there’s a tremendous amount of time, money, labor savings and reduced wear and tear on vehicles. That’s really helping drive profitability along with the better management of that water resource,” he explains.

Forage Management

The Thompsons know there are two things they need in order to sustain their herd health throughout the year. Along with sufficient water, they need forage. But, the forage is struggling too in the drought.

Breaking up cow/calf pairs earlier than normal has allowed YY Ranch to weather the intense drought that they have experienced this year.

(Tina Thompson/YY Ranch)

It helps, Tina says, that they have been on a generational mission to break their land into smaller pastures.

“My dad started making the pastures smaller,” she says. “When I was a kid, we had a pasture up there that was 4 or 5 square miles and, of course, the cows would always congregate in the favorite areas with the ice cream grasses.”

Now, they run 18 different pastures over two non-contiguous ranches. Tina says it’s basically like running four mini-herds.

Their smaller sections allow them to rotate their herd more and let grasses rest. Rested grasses have a greater potential for bounce-back when the rains come.

“We’re fortunate to have hearty varieties of grass,” David says. “I believe with our rotational grazing we can protect those small plants when we need to.”

At a recent Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers event, Hugh Aljoe, director of ranches, outreach and partnerships at Noble Research Institute , praised YY Ranch’s forage management.

“When you get rain, it makes everybody look smart,” he says. “But when you get into severe drought conditions like they deal with here, you find out who really knows how to manage.

“Knowing the severity of the drought, I was delighted to see that their forage is holding everything together. There are a lot of positive signs out there — it’s just waiting for a rain. You don’t get that without managing correctly for a long period of time.”

Herd Management

Just 50 miles north of the Mexico border, YY Ranch has a front-row seat to the epicenter of many of the issues facing America’s cattle ranchers. But, they aren’t wondering how limited cattle inventory will impact their ability to rebuild their herd.

This year, they had to cull strategically, especially given their business as a seedstock producer.

Tina says they sold their calves a few weeks earlier than normal.

Breaking up cow/calf pairs earlier than normal has allowed YY Ranch to weather the intense drought that they have experienced this year.

(Tina Thompson/YY Ranch)

“Our first move when we’re in a drought like this is sell those calves earlier than normal to get them off the cows so that the cows can recover,” she says. “If we do get rain, they’ll have a better time recovering if the calves aren’t on them.”

And, they made the decision to cull 70% of one of their mini-herds.

It’s something they’ve had to do before, and Tina knows the ramifications of a hard cull can last for several growing seasons.

“The thing about selling your herd is a cow that’s been on your ranch is worth more than just the price of beef because she’s learned how to graze and survive in this country,” she says. “There’s a learning and evolution that you have in your herd that you lose.

Tina continues: “If you suddenly get rain, it’s hard to bring in new cows that will survive as well on your ranch.”

Fortunately, recent rains mean YY Ranch can keep their herd size steady for the moment, a move that is critical with cattle inventory prices skyrocketing across the nation.

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 2025 Sustainable Ranchers Tour by visiting www.trustinbeef.com

How Arizona Is Preparing the Public To Scout for New World Screwworm Threat

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 13:12:08 GMT

With its high temperatures and few winter freezes, Arizona is ripe territory for infestation from New World screwworm (NWS).

Ryan Wolker, state veterinarian with the Arizona Department of Agriculture, says he thinks the threat to his state from NWS is significant.

“It is definitely a concern,” he says. “The New World screwworm detections in Mexico have surpassed 3,000 premises and have come within approximately 370 miles south of the southernmost point of Texas, but obviously that can change quite rapidly, especially with the animal movement within the country of Mexico itself.”

Wolker has concerns about the impact NWS could have on Arizona’s already-stressed cattle ranchers.

“There was a limited outbreak of NWS in Texas in the 1970s, and USDA conducted a study of that economic impact in 2016,” he says. “Even without adjustment for increased inventories of animals since that time, because obviously, herd sizes are larger, feedlots are bigger, etc, the economic impact of that same outbreak in Texas now, only counting for inflation, would be looking at a cost to producers and lost revenue in the neighborhood around $1.4 billion.”

At a recent Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour event in Willcox, Ariz., Wolker and the Arizona Livestock Incident Response Team (ALIRT) began an initiative to get ahead of the potential economic damage.

The Arizona Livestock Incident Response Team (ALIRT) gathered at YY Ranch during a recent Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour event to hone tactical skills needed for a possible New World screwworm response in the state.

(Photo courtesy of Dr. Betsy Greene, University of Arizona extension specialist )

After gathering the team to practice on-the-ground incident response at YY Ranch, Wolker and Betsy Greene, extension specialist with the University of Arizona, unveiled the first of the state’s saddlebag scouting kits that are available to ranchers.

The kit includes:

Specimen collection vials with tweezers.
Specimen baggies with cotton balls for safe transport.
Collection and mail instructions.

“The whole point is, we can get and find things faster,” Greene says. “If someone sees it, gets a sample, then we can deal with it.”

Greene and Wolker urge ranchers to begin scouting now in their herds, looking at open wounds for any signs of infestation. Hunters should scout not only their harvests but any carcass they encounter during hunts.

In addition to specimen collection, Wolker stresses the importance of gathering additional data as well.

“Take some pictures for documentation purposes,” he says. “If you’re proficient with Google Maps, drop a pin to grab those GPS coordinates for us.”

The Arizona Livestock Incident Response Team (ALIRT) is a cross-functional team that aims to improve the diagnosis and response to unexplained livestock deaths in the state by providing resources and expertise from the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, Arizona Department of Agriculture, USDA and University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.

(Photo courtesy of Dr. Betsy Greene, University of Arizona extension specialist)

NWS scouting kits are available to ranchers through ALIRT . The team has issued a resource with additional scouting and specimen collection tips .

Additional resources can be found through your local Extension office, large animal or equine veterinarian or through the Arizona Department of Agriculture Animal Services Division.

AgriTalk Host Chip Flory recently visited with Wolker about NWS. You can hear the complete discussion here:

Visit trustinbeef.com for information about upcoming stops on the 2025 Sustainable Ranchers Tour and make your plans to attend.

Your next read: Stay up-to-date on NWS with Drovers coverage.

New Partnership Supports Ranchers in Grazing Management and Soil Health

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 12:57:20 GMT

Trust In Beef empowers a more resilient future for America’s beef supply chain by leveraging the power of Farm Journal’s Trust In Food and Drovers brands with the ingenuity and innovation of private-sector and non-profit partners.

Entering the program’s third year, Trust In Beef welcomes two new partners, National Grazing Lands Coalition and EarthOptics , to bolster the technical expertise provided by the coalition’s existing partners – which include ABS, Merck Animal Health, Ducks Unlimited, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Enogen/Syngenta, Tyson Foods, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, PowerFlex and Country Natural Beef.

“Trust In Beef is experiencing significant momentum in supporting a resilient future for our beef supply chain at a time when ranching is facing significant challenges,” says Andrew Lyon, director of technical assistance, Farm Journal. “Bringing partners like National Grazing Lands Coalition and EarthOptics to the table expands the technical expertise that we can use to meet ranchers where they are and provide tools to build resilience, productivity and legacy on the nation’s grazing lands.”

The mission of the National Grazing Lands Coalition (NatGLC) is dedicated to providing voluntarily ecologically and economically sound management of all grazing lands for their adaptive uses and multiple benefits to the environment and society through science-based technical assistance, research and education.

“At NatGLC, we believe resilient grazing lands are the foundation of a strong beef supply chain. While we have supported the mission of Trust In Beef since its formation, we are excited to formally partner and expand opportunities to provide ranchers with science-based technical support that enhances productivity, profitability and the overall benefits to society as a whole,” says Rob Cook, chairman. “Healthy grazing lands contribute to improved soil health, water quality and biodiversity, all while ensuring long-term viability for ranching families. We are excited to collaborate with Trust In Beef to bring practical, on-the-ground solutions to producers across the country.”

Through innovations in soil health analysis, EarthOptics tackles agriculture’s most elusive challenges: accurately measuring and mapping soil nutrients, soil compaction, biology and carbon with a solution that gives ranchers and farmers precise insights while reducing unnecessary input costs and promoting carbon retention for healthier soils. EarthOptics is committed to advancing sustainable ranching with a new level of data-driven insights from cutting-edge technology – at prices that deliver high, in-season ROIs.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Trust In Beef and join this impressive coalition of organizations working to secure a more resilient future for American ranchers,” says Lars Dyrud, EarthOptics CEO. “At EarthOptics, we believe advancing soil health through innovation can transform ranching and agriculture, and this partnership represents a powerful opportunity to bring our technology and insights directly to those who steward our grazing lands.”

“Ranchers are at the heart of sustainable grazing practices, and we’re proud to support their efforts with practical tools and data they can trust,” James Clement, EarthOptics vice president of grass and rangeland. “By helping producers better understand their soil health, we can work together to improve productivity, increase resilience and ensure the long-term viability of rangeland operations — so that today’s stewards can confidently pass their land on to the next generation.”

Trust In Beef provides technical resources, insights, data analysis and support to help empower beef producers to understand, value and implement conservation practices while also connecting consumers to the industry’s accomplishments in conservation.

To learn more about Trust In Beef and its partners, visit www.trustinbeef.com .

State of Grazing Management: Paving the Way for Progress

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 20:59:58 GMT

Rotational grazing is more than just a buzzword.

The practice of moving cattle and letting pastureland rest has a myriad of benefits to productivity, profitability, sustainability and legacy for America’s grazing lands.

To reap the most benefits from rotational grazing, farmers and ranchers can utilize written grazing management plans that allow them to track their success year-over-year, pulling in data they can use to make better decisions in the future.

With those benefits in mind, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef has established an ambitious goal of putting 385 million U.S. grazing lands acres under written management plans by 2050.

Anecdotally, USRSB leadership, which is made up of farmers, ranchers and value chain officials, knew that grazing management practices were as diverse as the lands and ranchers they represented. Common practices for managing grazing can range from plans that exist in an operator’s mind to pen/paper tracking and even to sophisticated software or web-based platforms.

In the previous article in this series, we heard from two generational ranches that have historically had different approaches to grazing management and planning.

In that piece, Suzanne Schuchart of Running V Ranch in Texas says, “I didn’t have a visual grazing chart or plan because I just knew my rotation in my mind.”

Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado countered, “Writing down the plan helps you remember it and gets everyone engaged with it.”

In order to more fully understand that diversity in planning, USRSB turned to data.

The Study
Recently, USRSB tapped the expertise of Trust In Food , Farm Journal’s social purpose initiative, to fully understand both where the industry stood toward its goal and to comprehend the unique barriers that stand between ranchers and the adoption of written grazing management plans.

“We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us to work with farmers and ranchers across the U.S. to put their plans to paper and support efforts for them to optimize their management strategies and build resilience in not only their businesses but in the land they manage and in their communities,” says Samantha Werth, PhD, executive director of USRSB. “Ultimately, reaching our goal of 385 million acres under written grazing management plans supports industry-wide commitment to continuous improvement while also helping to build a more resilient beef supply chain.”

The study, which pulled from quantitative and qualitative data gathered from ranchers across the U.S., dug into findings around:
- Grazing management plan goals and sentiments
- Approaches to planning
- Current acreages managed under best practices
- Potential value chain actions that would support more rapid transition to written plan

The collaborative has released the study findings in a public report titled, “ State of Grazing Management ,” which provides a tool for quantifying the positive progress that beef cattle ranchers are making so that a pathway will emerge for ensuring sustainability in the beef value chain through securing economic and environmental value simultaneously.

A free report from USRSB and Trust In Food details where the industry stands on written grazing management plans now and what opportunites exist to accelerate adoption.

(Trust In Food)

The Findings
The study found that ranchers who report managing their resources under a written grazing management plan overwhelmingly capture their entire acreage within the plan and utilize it in making operational decisions on their farms that ensure productivity and profitability. Additional key findings from the report include:

- USRSB’s goal of 385 million acres under written grazing management plans is 11% fulfilled.
The study found that 44 million acres would qualify now as managing under a written grazing management plan, representing 10% of all U.S. ranchers and 11% of USRSB’s target acreage.
- Grazing management is currently diverse.
372 million acres (40% of U.S. ranchers) are managed under grazing management plans that are undocumented. 66% of written grazing management plans utilize pen/paper and only a fraction (7%) use a farm management software or app to track grazing management.
- Stewardship drives the need and desire for grazing planning.
Ranchers who regularly face natural resource stress are more likely to have a grazing management plan than ranchers who are less likely to face similar stressors, indicating that they are using GMP to steward resources for their land. Additionally, 60% report that having a plan is the “right thing to do” for overall land and legacy stewardship. Conversely, very few respondents had a plan because it was a requirement or a condition of lease agreements, indicating that requirements may not be a significant driver.
- Producers without a formal, written plan are more diversified.
This group is less focused on cattle as core revenue drivers, may be structured around row crops or a more diversified income, are less comfortable with technology and less proactive in running their livestock operations and are less motivated by resource management.

“Interestingly, this report uncovered that ranches managed under a written grazing management plan are more likely to also have succession plans in place, which gives us some insights into the generational resilience of the beef supply chain as a whole and indicates that a leading indicator of change overall could possibly be written plans,” says Amy Skoczlas Cole, president, Trust In Food. “This is critical information as our industry faces a widening gulf between farm and table and also a tipping point for generational transfer of working lands.”

The free report , along with its methodology and further insights, is available online.

This article is part of an ongoing State of Grazing Management series brought to you by Trust In Food and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. You can learn more by visiting www.trustinfood.com or www.usrsb.org .

Your Next Read: State of Grazing Management: To Plan or Not to Plan

State of Grazing Management: To Plan or Not to Plan

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:53:21 GMT

Rotational grazing is critical to maintaining the health of a herd and the overall stewardship of land and natural resources. Successfully managing a grazing plan year after year, balancing stable elements with shifting factors like weather, forage, rainfall and labor can be a juggling act that, when done correctly, could yield enhanced profitability, stewardship and legacy.

Despite the benefits, an overwhelming majority of ranchers and farmers who raise beef still do not maintain yearly rotational grazing plans in a written or digital form, opting for a free-for-all flow of grazing information or, most commonly, a grazing plan honed over years that exists only in the minds of the operators who manage it.

Bought In
For Steve Wooten, owner and operator of Beatty Canyon Ranch, a cow-calf operation in southeast Colorado, tackling a growing season or even a single day managing his overall operation without consultation of their digital grazing plan is unthinkable.

“Could you do the budget of a multi-million-dollar business in your head?” he says. “If you did, could you tell which parts of the business are helping you and which are hurting you?”

Beatty Canyon Ranch is currently managed by two generations of Wooten family members. Steve Wooten says their written grazing management plan keeps everyone on the same page and aligned with operational and resource goals

(Photo Courtesy of Beatty Canyon Ranch)

Wooten knows that managing the daily operational needs and the overall operational goals of Beatty Canyon Ranch are exactly what it takes to keep his business running. Every single day, the multi-generational family analyzes the environmental resources available on their 27,000-acre home ranch, the additional 25,000-acre state land lease contracts they manage and the health of their 600-head herd. All of this is on top of managing their overall business, actively led by two generations of Wootens, and keeping their additional wildlife enterprises afloat.

“Writing down the plan helps you remember it and gets everybody engaged with it,” he says. “Everybody has a say in it and you’re more apt to hold those trigger points.”

On the Fence
In South Texas at Running V Ranch, Suzanne Schuchart hasn’t needed a formal, written plan to tell her what she knows about her land, her herd and her resources.

Schuchart is the fourth generation in her family to manage this land, taking over from her grandparents.

“We have 5,200 acres of mixed South Texas brush land and 500 acres of open coastal Bermuda fields where we run our cow-calf herd of 175 head,” she says.

The land is broken into 30 different tracts where she and husband, Pat, can graze their herd. Like Wooten, Running V Ranch also manages a wildlife enterprise, capturing opportunity for seasonal hunters to hunt deer, turkey, hogs, quail and dove.

Running V Ranch in Texas is made up of a variety of tracts where owner Suzanne Schuchart can rotate her herd for forage. Until this year, Schuchart has not kept a formal written grazing management plan.

(Photo courtesy of Running V Ranch)

“Running a balance between cattle and wildlife is important to us,” she says. “We make sure we aren’t overgrazing to get a mix of open land and native grassland for wildlife.”

This past year Schuchart finally put pen to paper, working working with a consultant to establish a formal written grazing management plan for Running V. She combined all of the information she knew from daily management and the conservation projects they had done over her three-decade career.

“The biggest thing for us was to get it down on paper so it’s visual,” she says. “I didn’t have a visual grazing chart or plan because I just know my rotation in my mind. Now I have a nice grazing chart where I pencil in whenever the cows have been in one pasture or another.”

Adversity Sharpens the Pencil
Both Wooten and Schuchart learned the art of stewardship at the knee of their grandmothers and mothers, but the challenges that their modern-day ranches face are far from the ones their matriarchs saw.

Wooten and his wife, Joy, started rotational grazing when they took over Beatty Canyon Ranch.

“We experimented with trying to come around to pastures twice a year and realized, in our low rainfall, semi-arid climate, our best expectation for resiliency is to go through pastures one time a year and try to have pastures that don’t get grazed at all in in the growing season,” he says.

But then tragedy struck.

And in that tragedy, Wooten says he saw a new philosophy as their only path forward.

“In 2000 we had a six-year drought, and we completely destocked this ranch and leased a place in Kansas for a few years,” he recalls. “We came back with the decision that we were going to stop feeding hay to mature cows.”

Even with their average yearly rainfall hovering around 11 inches, they were able to cut hay by 70% and supplemental cake by 50% and made a five-year transition of the cows starting to live with forage.

This new philosophy required that Wooten ramp up his grazing management, moving from a paper copy to spreadsheets to record movements.

Over his career, Steve Wooten has transitioned from rudimentary paper data and maps to sophisticated web-based applications and software that analyzes high-resolution imagery of his pastures to track the impact of his grazing management plan on his resources and profitability.

(Photo courtesy of ESAP/NCBA)

“Ultimately we began to use pasture map and Agriwebb as our web-based data storage and now we use Enriched Ag high-resolution cameras that we drive through pastures, catching a picture of our route every six seconds,” he says. “Now we are working with Noble Research Institute to do soil probes to get a baseline of what our carbon level is in our soils.”

All of the data that Wooten collects adds up to an enhanced ability to manage the resources on his land, which can help Beatty Canyon mitigate weather stressors.

On Running V Ranch, Schuchart also knows a thing or two about dwindling rainfall averages.

“Water is a big deal with us not having a lot of rainfall here or very irregular rainfall,” she says.

Back in 1988, she says they had grass but no water, so they began running water lines to help ensure that they could keep their inventory consistent.

Running V has 30 ponds and 30 water troughs across the ranch. From their seven water wells, they pipe water across the whole ranch.

Their freshly completed grazing management plan takes that water into account.

“By mapping out all the water sources, we could see where additional water would diversify grazing or shorten travel distance to water for cattle and wildlife,” she says. “That was helpful.”

With yearly rainfall averages that are nearing single digits, both Wooten and Schuchart utilize water sources on-ranch to ensure that their herd is well-managed.

(Photo courtesy of Beatty Canyon Ranch)

Wooten believes that his intensive rotational grazing is building resilience on Beatty Canyon Ranch, helping him to ensure that another prolonged drought won’t lead to tragedy. They can see the evidence of this when they ride their pastureland and gather data on its health and vitality. He says they have noticed more moisture has made a difference this year already.

“What will happen is the quick, rapid response of healthy plants with deep roots,” he says. “When they do get moisture, they grow rapidly. That alone means that we’re quicker to be able to get cattle back on the ranch and using pastures and get our stock back up again to numbers that are better in our budget.”

Managing the Future
Schuchart is entering her first season armed with the grazing management plan binder and rotational analysis chart at her disposal. She has been penciling in with colored pencils where her cattle have been grazing, using the data to plan their next move.

She has high hopes for the plan and its benefits to Running V.

“It will help with grazing rotation and setting goals of getting water to some other areas that aren’t as well-watered,” she says.

Through grazing management planning, Schuchart learned that her current stocking rate is accurate, but she is hoping that a well-managed grazing system can open up opportunity to increase inventory on Running V Ranch.

(Courtesy of Running V Ranch)

While the planning process revealed that her stocking rate is on-point, she’s hoping that by combining data around grazing, water and brush management, she will be able to increase her herd size.

“Hopefully the plan will help me with forage cover and better land management overall,” she says.

Meanwhile, Wooten, Joy and his children are taking a hard look at their plan for the season.

“We may not make an adjustment this year at all, but we’ve already been talking about it, about which pastures we think we want to try to leave rested this year and that, and then our target dates are still going to stay the same for liquidation or management numbers,” he says.

The plan and the daily management of it are one way in which Wooten says he’s helping to secure the legacy of Beatty Canyon Ranch, which now is under ownership of his daughter and son-in-law.

“You can’t believe how rewarding it is when you hand it over to these young people that you raised, taught and trained,” he says. “We have confidence in them, and they’re going to take care of it because they love it as much as we do.”

Steve and Joy Wooten have officially transitioned management of Beatty Canyon Ranch to the next generation of Wootens. Their grazing management plan is helping them to build the data needed for success into the future.

(Photo courtesy of Beatty Canyon Ranch)

“They might have ideas that they’re willing to take a risk on that maybe at my age, I’m not willing to take,” he says. “They see things different, and they’ve got foresight that comes from their years of experience.”

This article is part of an ongoing State of Grazing Management series brought to you by Trust In Food and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. You can learn more by visiting www.trustinfood.com or www.usrsb.org .

The Power of A Decision

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 15:08:16 GMT

In ranching, and in life, sometimes one decision can have a major impact.

The 2024 Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour hosts manage lands that encompass more than 70,000 acres of America’s rangeland. They are Environmental Stewardship Award winners and recipients of Leopold Conservation Awards. On their generational ranches, more than anyone, they know the power that one decision can have, both on their land and legacy and on their ranch business.

We tapped their expertise to share what one decision they made that has had the most impact on their land and their operation.

Meredith shares prescribed grazing and herd health strategies.

(Trust In Beef)

Meredith Ellis, G-C Ranch, Texas

A Change of Conservation Mindset
I don’t adhere to practices on our operation, but to overall soil health principles and in doing that it allows me to have the flexibility I need to respond to the frequent nuances of managing an ecosystem within the context of my given circumstances. This might mean overseeding a part of a paddock with legumes one year, applying higher stock density to a wheat field to prepare the ground for planting, or resting a portion of a field for an entire year. By not looking at practices “we have always done” and not even looking at field boundaries, it allows me to take into account the health of the ecosystem.

Shifting Herd Management
Focusing on maternal traits and calving efficiency rather than terminal traits has really helped our bottom line. We are selecting for a low maintenance smaller framed cow who is docile and an easy-keeper, who breeds back quickly and maintains a good body condition score. We breed and retain our own females meaning we are building upon generation after generation of cows that are suited to our landscape and management style. By focusing on our mommas we are seeing a more uniform and healthier calf crop. A quicker calving window means we are able to get rotating more quickly and efficiently, and we have heavier and healthier calves when we sell.

The Jorgensens utilize cover crops on their South Dakota ranch.

(Trust in Beef)

Nick Jorgensen, Jorgensen Land & Cattle, South Dakota

Grazing Cover Crops
The introduction of cover crop grazing, both in growing season and fall dormant grazing has yielded a significant difference in feed saving costs but also overall soil health.

Invest in Infrastructure
Because we have invested in fencing infrastructure (both physical and virtual), we can utilize crop crops and rotational grazing and receive the benefits therein.

Clay Burtrum and Burtrum Cattle, LLC hosted the Oklahoma stop of the 2024 Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour at their Stillwater ranch, using the opportunity to share how their use of data and technology is helping them protect profitability while stewarding resources.

(Rachel Slathar - Trust In Beef )

Clay Burtrum, Burtrum Cattle Co., Oklahoma

Rotational Grazing as Key
Rotational grazing has always been a part of our conservation, along with resting pastures during the growing season. We have been cutting cedars to improve land and grazing areas to maximize our rotation.

Data, Data, Data
At Burtrum Cattle, we measure everything from pounds of gain to how much feed, mineral and even miles we drive on a given day. This data allows us to better utilize resources, including the land, the cattle, the labor and industry expertise.

During the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour, Nebraska rancher Homer Buell detailed how his ranch works to preserve their grassland heritage through intensive rotational grazing.

(Trust In Beef )

Homer Buell, Shovel Dot Ranch, Nebraska

Look at the Land
While managing our cattle is important, it is even more important that we monitor how we are affecting everything in our ecosystem — the grasses, the wildlife, the soil, and the water. With our grazing manager software, in the early years we had to input information on pasture sizes, carrying capacity using demand days, forage growth curves, rainfall, and also information about the cattle groups, such as numbers, weight, stage of lactation. From this information, we developed a grazing plan. As we went through the year actual moves were recorded so a record was established and effects on the grass could be monitored over time. Another practice to add to our grass management was establishing GPS coordinates where we monitored plant composition, plant height, density and ground cover to help us further understand the effect of our grazing.

Factor in Profitability
In 1990, we did a Standard performance analysis, which had a big effect on our ranch. This analysis took cattle performance and combined it with cost to give numbers that could be used to compare to other cow calf herds to see how you were doing. The numbers were very important, but what it really taught us was that any performance numbers were of little importance without combining the cost side. This thought-process had to carry over into everything we did, not just the cow-calf phase, but also our backgrounding and yearling operations for both raised and purchased livestock. This led us to doing managerial accounting.

Jerry Doan talks about conservation efforts on his North Dakota ranch.

(Trust in Beef)

Jerry Doan, BlackLeg Ranch, North Dakota

Diversify Cover Crops
We plant 25 different species of cover crops to build soil health, propagate the wildlife and cut winter feed costs as we graze the cover crops in the winter. Utilizing winter grazing in the Northern Plains will save us $200 to $300 dollars per cow in savings. They have also improved our soil biology immensely and increased biodiversity by serving as a food source for wildlife species.

Match Calving with Climate
Moving our calving to May and June allows us to calf in the hills and avoid most weather events. That shift has had the biggest economic impact on the ranch.

Visit www.trustinbeef.com to stay updated on plans for the 2025 Sustainable Ranchers Tour and make your plans to attend.

Your next read:

Washington Grower Shares How To Scale Regenerative Farming

One Ranch Family’s Strategy to Save Their Sandhills Legacy

Data Collection and Analysis Keeps Oklahoma Ranch Profitable

Trust In Beef Expands Solution-Set for Ranch-Gate Conservation with New Partnerships

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:16:35 GMT

Since the program’s founding two years ago, Trust In Beef ™ has been working to empower beef producers on their sustainability journeys by leveraging the power of Farm Journal’s Trust In Food ™ and Drovers brands with the ingenuity and innovation of private-sector and non-profit partners.

“Trust In Beef brings to bear the full capabilities of Farm Journal’s Trust In Food, providing data and intelligence as well as reach at-scale, and then we layer that reach with conservation solutions and technical assistance from the nation’s leading innovators, truly providing a program that is having significant impact on helping to build a more sustainable beef supply chain in the U.S.,” says Andrew Lauver, director of climate-smart programs, Farm Journal .

Entering the program’s third year, Trust In Beef welcomes two new partners, Country Natural Beef and Powerflex Supply , to bolster the technical expertise provided by the coalition’s existing partners including ABS, Merck Animal Health, Ducks Unlimited, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Enogen/Syngenta, Tyson Foods and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

Country Natural Beef (CNB) is the largest ranching cooperative in the western U.S. with nearly 100 members across thirteen states. Over the course of the last 38 years, CNB has created marketing opportunities for cattle that maximize premiums to rancher members and sustain multi-generational ranches. Together with their ranchers, they work to improve soil and water while protecting plant and wildlife diversity across more than 4 million acres.

Powerflex Supply is a national retailer specializing in rotational grazing supplies. Founded by ranchers for ranchers, Powerflex Supply manufactures and sources the highest quality products, leveraging its buying power to offer these products at affordable prices and providing expert advice on products and rotational grazing practices, helping ranchers achieve the best results for their ranch.

“Joining the Trust In Beef coalition allows us to strengthen our commitment to sustainable practices and amplify the positive impact our ranchers make across the land they steward,” says Valerie Rasmussen, vice-president of marketing & communications, Country Natural Beef. “At Country Natural Beef, we believe that doing right by people, animals and the planet leads to lasting value for our ranching families and the broader communities we serve. This partnership equips us with new educational tools for our rancher members, and a voice among industry leaders on the Trust In Beef advisory council, where we can collaboratively shape a sustainable future for beef.”

“Our partnership with Trust In Beef and work alongside Farm Journal’s Trust In Food Partners and our ranching customers across the United States and beyond is a testament to our shared vision,” says Troy Goldhammer, CEO, Powerflex Supply. “We are committed to promoting and supporting regenerative ranching practices that not only enhance ranch profitability but also improve soil health, livestock well-being and biodiversity. Together, we are creating a sustainable future for ranching that benefits both the land and the people who depend on it.”

Trust In Beef provides technical resources, insights, data analysis and support to help empower beef producers to understand, value and implement conservation practices while also connecting consumers to the industry’s accomplishments in climate-smart production. Foundational partners serve as technical advisors to those efforts.

To learn more about Trust In Beef™ and its partners, visit www.trustinbeef.com .

One Ranch Family’s Strategy to Save Their Sandhills Legacy

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:29:28 GMT

Nebraska rancher Homer Buell doesn’t have an exact answer for how the soil beneath his boots originally became less soil and more sand.

“I’ve read different things,” he says. “Maybe during one of the last Ice Ages, when it pulled away it left the sand deposit, or I think they even talk about rivers that ran through the Sandhills. In dry periods, I think it blew up in the hills.”

It doesn’t seem to matter to Buell why his ecosystem is what it is – more that it is his family’s land and he intends to keep it that way for future generations of Buells.

It’s the same attitude that originally landed the family in the Nebraska Sandhills near Bassett back in 1883 when Benjamin and Harriett Buell first homesteaded there. Benjamin had originally passed through on a trek from Michigan to Washington.

“He saw something in the Sandhills that he loved, so he came back and settled here,” Buell says.

“They were good managers and did a lot of good things on the ranch in their own right, including creating the Shovel Dot brand we still use today.”

Continuing the Legacy

In July, Shovel Dot Ranch opened its ranch gates, welcoming neighboring ranchers, researchers and agribusiness officials for the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour. When welcoming the large crowd for the event, Buell began in the most natural of places – with the family. Introductions were comprehensive, including first he and wife, Darla’s, children. Chad joins his father as next-generation leadership in the ranch. Daughter Tara lives a few hours away. And there are grandchildren scattered in various schools and universities across the Midwest. Brother Larry still manages part of the Shovel Dot that was broken up in the sibling’s succession plan.

Then Buell outlined the family’s lineage dating all the way back to the 1800s, complete with vintage photos to illustrate.

The Buell Family legacy and connection to this land is as rolling as the topography formed by the sands.

Buell says they’ve seen a lot of ups and downs on the land. They have rivers and streams diverted by his grandfather for hunting, fishing and family recreation. Family cabins and homes are scattered on the 15,000 acres of Shovel Dot Ranch.

During the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour, Nebraska rancher Homer Buell detailed how his ranch works to preserve their grassland heritage through intensive rotational grazing.

(Trust In Beef )

Preserving the Legacy

But the land that the Buell Family loves is a fickle mistress. The Nebraska Sandhills are the most intact temperate grassland left in the entire world. Its fragile ecosystem is tough to preserve and under constant threat.

Buell knows the key, though.

“If you treat it right, it can be very productive and produce grass,” he says. “That’s really the only use for the Sandhills – just native grasses grazed by some type of livestock.”

And grazing he does. It’s what the family has always done.

“I’ve always been a cow-calf guy,” he says. “We ran yearling cattle and then took them to grass and would sell steers, but Chad wanted to sell the cows last winter and now we buy calves and will background them through the winter, taking to grass in the summer and then sell them off there.”

“This year, we’ve got about 1,600 yearlings and we weren’t quite full, so we took in a few cows from a neighbor.”

It’s far from enough, though, that Shovel Dot’s cattle are grazing the land. In order to keep the grassland intact, foster native grasses and provide enough forage for his herd, Buell employs a fairly simple principle that he learned over time.

“When I was out in the pasture, I was often looking up at the cattle,” he says. “But, I realized that it’s more important that I look down and see what’s on the ground. You learn a lot by looking down, so that’s really changed the way I manage the ranch.”

Looking down now, Buell can see varieties of native grasses that help to keep the sandy soil in place. He says there are eight to 10 primary varieties of grasses, but his ranch has an innumerable number of species present in its soil, including a mixture of cool season and warm season grasses that keep his forage thriving year-round.

It’s incumbent upon his stewardship to keep those grasses there. Buell was an early adopter of farm management systems, which he uses now to collect data on his grazing patterns.

“We create a grazing plan so we know where the cattle are going to be pretty much all year and then we adjust based on rainfall,” he says. “We use the program to track how we are affecting the land over time.”

Finely honed rotational grazing strategies for Shovel Dot include moving cattle early in the summer and keeping them on the move throughout, not letting cattle stay on a particular pasture for more than five days in the early summer. Pasture rest is integral.

“We never take everything,” he says. “We have rest built into our system to give those plants, even in the dry times, time to regenerate.”

“That’s extremely important to the health of the grass.”

A Legacy Under Threat

“Over time, we’ve seen a woody encroachment problem spread from the Southern Great Plains here into Nebraska and up to South Dakota,” says Dirac Twidwell, professor of range and forage sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “It introduces a new challenge with woody invasions coming into grassland.”

Woody trees like the Eastern Red Cedar were often introduced by ranchers looking for windbreak barriers, but Twidwell says they are are damaging the productivity and profitability of the Sandhills ecosystem and leading to water resource issues, insect-based disease vectors and other issues.

“All these parts of our ecosystem are becoming increasingly threatened due to the Eastern Red Cedar spreading into bigger, native and intact ecosystems,” he says.

When faced with a threat to his family’s land, Buell took action. He sought counsel from UNL and from the Sandhills Task Force on how to rid his land of the invasive species.

From the Sandhills Task Force , Buell learned how the cedar spreads and got to work removing a cedar windbreak and conducting prescribed burns to prevent seed spread.

“Homer was an early adopter of both of those practices in his area, which have helped him and his family keep future cedar infestations at bay,” Executive Director Shelly Kelly says.

His continued work in the Task Force means that he is now advocating for neighboring ranchers to control their cedar infestations.

“His leadership has helped shape the programs and outreach efforts that positively impact land stewardship throughout the Nebraska Sandhills,” Kelly adds.

The 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour brought ranchers and agri-business leaders from across the Sandhills to Shovel Dot Ranch in July.

(Trust In Beef)

A Holistic Legacy

Buell’s mark on Shovel Dot Ranch’s sprawling Sandhills legacy may very well be summed up by words from famed conservationist Aldo Leopold, who proposed expanding the definition of community to include not only humans, but all parts of the earth together with soils, water, plants, animals and land.

Awarded for their work in enhancing their “community”, Shovel Dot Ranch was a Leopold Conservation Award recipient in 2012. The sign celebrating the honor still hangs proudly on the ranch gate, greeting all who come.

It’s this perspective that Buell is fighting to stamp as his mark on the Shovel Dot legacy. The foundation of past generations firmly roots it, but he’s already planning on being a mid-point in that legacy.

“I’m fourth generation on the ranch,” he says. “My son’s back now with the fifth and sixth. Hopefully it keeps going on.”

Read more coverage from the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour:

Measuring Sustainable Success On This Generational Oklahoma Ranch

Managing the Financial Risks of Conservation

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Selling Sustainable Beef

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

You can learn more about the Tour by visiting www.trustinbeef.com .

Leveraging Beef Genetics as a Climate-Smart Sustainability Practice

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 15:59:50 GMT

Since 1975, the industry has increased beef production while cow inventory has reduced. Acknowledging and appreciating the sustainability improvements the beef industry has already made is how Dr. Robert Williams, Trust in Food Sustainable Livestock Technical Manager, kicked off his presentation during the Advancements in Efficiency and Adaptability breakout session. The session part of the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium June 11, 2024, in Knoxville, Tenn.

Williams stated that increased efficiency is attributed to factors such as implementation of genetic evaluations and EPDs (expected progeny differences), alongside improved management, nutrition and marketing. He cited literature indicating that improving performance indicators (growth rate, feed efficiency) will reduce resource inputs (feed, water) and greenhouse gas emissions (per kg of meat).

USDA partnerships for climate-smart commodities

The USDA has invested more than $3 billion in 141 grants through Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Trust in Food, A Farm Journal initiative, received one of these grants, amounting to $40 million, for the Connected Ag Climate-Smart Commodities Pilot Project. During the next few years, they plan to enroll approximately 500 producers across 19 states in this project. The grant covers several focus areas including virtual fencing, temporary livestock fencing, grazing and rangeland management, wetlands restoration, prairie restoration, feed management and livestock genetic improvement. Williams is focused on the livestock genetic improvement aspect of this grant.

Partnering with American Breeders Service (ABS), this component of the grant involves genetic interventions for terminal beef production. The goal is to use mating plans with both terminal and maternal genetics administered through AI to produce both replacement heifers and feeder animals from the same calf crop. By following these animals through the supply chain from birth to harvest, a lifecycle assessment will estimate greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved through climate-smart genetics per unit of carcass weight.

Dr. Robert Williams, Trust in Food Sustainable Livestock Technical Manager

(BIF)

Williams said, “We have the technology and genetics to make great advancements in beef cattle production; the trick is getting more buy-in from a larger share of producers.”

He noted that through this project there is an “opportunity to receive financial assistance to implement climate-smart projects into practice.”

Trust in Food is currently enrolling producers in these climate smart projects and encourages interested producers to visit trustinbeef.com for more information.

To watch the Williams’ presentation, visit

For more information about this year’s Symposium and the Beef Improvement Federation, including additional presentations and award winners, visit BIFSymposium.com .

Managing the Financial Risks of Conservation

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 19:58:58 GMT

Any operational change to a farm or ranch carries with it some level of risk. For conservation practice implementation, the risk may be variable, but it’s never zero.

The decision to add to the already increased level of risk that a farm or ranch is carrying is often the culmination of hours of intense planning, research and partnership. Even after that process, the final decision most often hinges upon profitability.

At the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour event held at Jorgensen Land & Cattle in South Dakota, CEO Nick Jorgensen joined with his lending partners at Farm Credit Services of America to share how he balances the financial risks associated with conservation on their ranch.

During the discussion, Jorgensen and David Karnopp, Farm Credit Services of America vice president commercial lender – cattle, shared insights for creating an operational environment that is ripe for conservation investments.

Diversify
From an economic standpoint, Karnopp recommends building in diversity where possible.

“The Jorgensen family works within their crop production system and also in their cow-calf operation as well, so the diversity helps,” he told the crowd.

Save for the Future
Even in this challenging market, there are bright spots of economic return, and one of those is beef prices. Karnopp says that diversified operations, like Jorgensen Land & Cattle, can use these bumper years to shore up working capital for future conservation improvements.

“We’ve seen depressed prices in corn, wheat and soybeans right now, but cattle have continued to be strong,” Karnopp says. “We’re at the probably the end of the ten-year cycle, but the Jorgensens have been able to build up their operations, retain some cash and build up their working capital.”

Be Patient and Creative
Jorgensen and Karnopp agrees that conservation investments require an increased amount of patience, and often creativity.

“As a lender, if an operation is wanting to invest in sustainability, we know that return on investment is not going to happen immediately,” Karnopp says. “We might have to put together special loan packages, refer them to government programs or bring in third-party assistance.”

At the farm or ranch gate, Jorgensen knows that conservation investments also need vision.

“Whether you’re talking about virtual fencing or genomic testing or an extremely rigorous embryo transfer program, all those things require that you’re taking on a certain amount of risk,” Jorgensen says. “We try to take smaller, measured risks on smaller portions of our operation. In doing that, I think it creates trust that we’re not coming out there, putting the boat at risk, so to speak.”

Choose the Right Partner
Farmers and ranchers rely on trusted advisors in nearly every aspect of their operation. Karnopp says that financial relationships are just as critical as traditional ag retailers such as seed, equipment or inputs dealers.

“Many producers across America look at their lending institution as a partner,” he says. “When you have a good partner, you talk all the time. you see trends and you watch together how things are performing.”

It is a partnership that Jorgensen says is providing benefit to his operation.

“What we do in agriculture is very capital intense, specifically with the amount of animals we carry on inventory,” he says. “If we didn’t have a good partner this business would look immensely different.”

At the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour, Trust In Beef’s Jimmy Emmons joined with host rancher Nick Jorgensen and David Karnopp from Farm Credit Services of America to discuss funding for conservation at the ranch-gate.

(Trust In Beef/Joelle Orem)

Measure
While the procedures for on-farm accounting systems are different from operation to operation, Karnopp says that having a diligent system in place helps when seeking conservation funding.

“The best operations that we work with have budgets in place,” he says. “Working with a good accounting firm is a huge plus as well.”

Jorgensen says he spends hours with his accounting system, making the operational analysis needed long before his conservation funding request ever gets to his lender.

“A good accounting system where I truly know costs and a good inventory and data tracking system means I’m not running analysis off of shoddy data,” he says. “You have got to have your records right, otherwise your analysis will be an exercise of futility because you’re basing it off bad assumptions.”

Ensure Tech Fits into the Long Game
Jorgensen warns against getting caught up in technology and conservation investments as a “shiny new thing.”

“It’s really easy to look at them and think they are cool and want to try them, but there’s got to be a sound business case for it,” he says.

Here are some questions that he routinely asks himself when considering investments:

- What kind of business impact will this have for our ranch?
- What kind of people impact will this have for our ranch?
- What financial impact will this have for our ranch?

Plan for the Future
At its heart, Jorgensen Land & Cattle is a family business. According to Jorgensen, investment decisions on the ranch are done with an eye toward continuing the legacy the family has built on the land.

“When we set goals for new technology, we examine the conservation case for it and the business case for it,” he says. “But, ultimately, you’ve got to check against whether it supports the long-term vision for the family and for us that’s maintaining family ownership.”

Part of keeping that legacy secure, Jorgensen says, is in ensuring that generational transfer plans are in place.

“That is a huge underlying factor for long term sustainability,” he says. “If your business isn’t set up right to transition to the next generation or your family isn’t on the same page about that how that’s going to go, you can run the best business in the world, but when it comes time to transition, odds are it’s going to fall apart.”

Because the Jorgensens are sitting on a solid plan for the future of their operation, Karnopp says that lending decisions are easier.

“With customers that don’t have succession in place, if something happens to the leadership, that puts the lending institution at risk,” he says. “It just comes down to key communication between all family members and making sure the right plans are in place.”

While Karnopp and his colleagues at Farm Credit Services of America know every lending decision is unique, and at the end of the day, he says they come down to one factor.

“Going forward, are we doing the right thing for agriculture?” he asks.

Read more coverage from the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour:

Measuring Success on this Generational Oklahoma Ranch

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

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Selling Sustainable Beef

G Bar C Ranch Takes Texas Ranchers Behind the Farm Gate

You can join the Tour for future stops by visiting www.trustinbeef.com .

Data Collection and Analysis Keeps Oklahoma Ranch Profitable

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 18:05:10 GMT

If you take a right at the shiny, new athletic fields and facilities where Oklahoma State University Cowboys shed blood, sweat and tears in front of cheering crowds, as the pavement fades into green, you’ll soon hit the pastures and fields that make up Burtrum Cattle, LLC.

Geographically bumping up against a public land-grant university can prove challenging for a ranch family that is trying to run a 400-500 head cow-calf stocker operation.

“Our home ranch is here in Stillwater,” says Clay Burtrum, co-owner of Burtum Cattle and second-generation on the ranch alongside his father, Mike Burtrum. “But, we work in three counties—here in Stillwater, about 30 miles northeast in Glencoe and in Pawnee.”

Along with 650 acres of wheat production, Burtrum Cattle operates between 5,000 and 6,000 acres of grass for their herd.

“You know, we’re not like the Osage northeast of here with vast land masses,” Clay says. “Most of our parcels are 160 acres here, 300 acres here, 80-acre pasture here, so our cows are broken up in groups of 25 to 30 head. Our largest group of cows is about 120 head.”

The Role of Rotational Grazing
For the Burtrums, the ranch spread requires a rotational grazing matrix that’s consistently under the microscope.

“We run those 25 to 30-head on native pastures through the winter where we have stockpiled grass through the summer,” Clay says. “In the first part of June, we’re working those cow-calf pairs and we’re moving them to the wheat ground areas that have been grazed.”

That time of rest all summer lets those native pastures regrow.

“On the Bermuda grass pastures, most of them are broken up where we can rotationally graze those cattle about every two weeks,” he says. “By rotationally grazing or letting these pasture areas rest, we’ve done better to regenerate the land.”

Clay may be seeing restoration of the land as a result of his rotational grazing strategy, but he’s also seeing the benefit in his herd as well.

“This rotational grazing has done right by our cow herd by maintaining those body condition scores and not having to use a lot of feed,” he says. “Even in the wintertime, we are not having to feed a lot of hay because we have that stockpiled forage to go to.”

Successful management of the matrix means that Clay can also battle the land encroachment forces that are always knocking at his door, namely urban sprawl and the rising costs of land leases.

“We’ve lost leases because we weren’t able to pay the high prices in this area, but we’ve been able to maintain our cow herd population,” he says.

In June, Burtrum Cattle opened its ranch gates, welcoming neighboring ranchers, local agribusiness officials and even Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur for the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour . During the tour, the common thread that wove through each session was data.

(Rachel Slathar - Trust In Beef )

The Role of Data
It’s not entirely because for the past 43 years the Burtrums have also run Farm Data Services, a farm management accounting provider analyzing data for clients across the region, but Clay is constantly collecting data, and giving it to Mike for analysis.

The father-son duo says that partnership is the key to both operational success and profitability.

“We measure every single thing,” Clay says. “Pounds per acre, dollars per acre, input per acre, output per acre—if I can get the number for it, I give it to Mike and he measures it.”

For Mike, it’s not just about crunching numbers.

“The first leg of sustainability has got to be bottom-line profits,” Mike says. “Without profits, there is no sustainability, so the data comes in and we analyze it, whether it’s fertilization of particular farms or analyzing the projected weather.

“The weakness I see in agriculture is implementing information from the data and using that to make the change,” he adds. “It’s really easy to think that it’s the way you’ve always done it, but that is the worst way you can look at it.”

Mike says if you’ve spent the time collecting the data, analyze it to reach conclusions and implement programs based on that data.

“Don’t just let it sit there in the box,” he adds.

The Role of Technology
Collecting data on “everything” is no easy task, which is why the Burtrums are always looking for tools that make the process more efficient. Time and time again, this leads them to technology, which Clay Burtrum says has changed a lot in his time on the ranch.

“Twenty years ago, when I moved home, the cell phone was just coming out and we had a bag phone in the truck that we weren’t allowed to use unless it was an emergency,” he says. “Now we don’t go anywhere without our cell phone with us.”

Using his ever-present cell phone, Clay is able to monitor his cattle’s location and even shift their grazing pattern using Vence virtual fencing technology.

“We know where our cattle are at all times,” he says. “Every single one of my ranch hands knows where those cattle are at all times. We can move them, we can track them. That is technology to make us more efficient so that we’re not wasting money.”

Jimmy Emmons, senior vp of climate-smart programs for Trust In Food, the implementer of Trust In Beef, has seen this technology popping up on ranches across the nation. In planning for the Oklahoma stop in the Sustainable Ranchers Tour, it was an integral part of the education that Emmons wanted to feature for rancher attendees.

“Virtual fencing is giving ranchers a level of control over their cattle that we’ve never had before,” he says. “Now, not only can they keep track of their herd, but they can adaptively graze based on changing conditions and they can use the data to make better operational decisions.”

“This technology is helping ranchers look out for not only the environment and resources, but their bottom lines as well.”

The Role of Sustainability
Two decades ago, when Clay came back to the family ranch and was using the single bag cell phone, he had much different perspectives on success than he does today.

“I wanted to be the biggest in the country,” he says. “I wanted to have the most cows. I wanted to lease up every piece of land that I could because, to me, biggest was best.”

“Today, we aren’t the biggest. We don’t have the most cows anymore. We are focusing on what we do best with a smaller cow herd and fewer acres to produce a better, sustainable product that we can sell to our customers,” he says.

Battling time has solidified Clay’s perspectives and now, as he sees the end of his ranching career flickering in the future, his thoughts are turning to sustaining the land and opportunity for future Burtrum Cattle generations.

“Life goes pretty fast,” he says. “And I would like to slow down. Dad is in his 70s, and he wants to slow down as well.”

Burtrum is looking to the future.

“With all this work and with the great people working by my side, hopefully I can pass this on to my girls or even maybe my grandkids someday,” he says.

Read more coverage from the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour:
Playing the Long Game: What Works at G Bar C Ranch
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Selling Sustainable Beef
G Bar C Ranch Takes Texas Ranchers Behind the Farm Gate

You can join the Tour for future stops by visiting www.trustinbeef.com .

Working to Reduce Obstacles for Red Meat Exports to Canada

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 18:23:52 GMT

Canada is a top five destination for both U.S. beef and pork exports, but shipments are sometimes slowed by regulatory issues. The recent transition to the Public Health Information System (PHIS) Export Module was intended to reduce paperwork and simplify the export process. But as Courtney Heller, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) director of export services, explains, some documentation obstacles persist for U.S. exporters.

“Canada is one of our largest trading partners for both beef and pork,” she says. “We value our relationship with that market extensively. Over the last couple of years, we’ve started to incorporate the PHIS export component, and the purpose was to improve and really shorten some of those interactions at the border to clear product more quickly in both directions. So PHIS was intended to reduce paperwork and human error. And when a system goes online, all of the paperwork like letterhead, certificates or testing requirements, go into that PHIS system, which allows the inspectors both on the USDA side and in Canada to see, sign and process more quickly. We’re finding that our electronic system is requiring paperwork and that was not the intention. So we’re working with Canada to streamline the documentation process.”

Heller adds that because the food safety and inspection systems in the U.S. and Canada are so similar, red meat trade between the two countries could be further streamlined. USMEF is working with industry partners such as the Meat Institute to develop recommendations that could simplify regulatory processes and help bolster U.S. exports to Canada.

Last year U.S. pork exports to Canada totaled nearly 220,000 metric tons (mt), making Canada the fourth largest market for U.S. pork, with export value topping $875 million. Through May of this year, pork exports are slightly below last year’s pace in volume (85,500 mt) and steady in value ($338 million). U.S. beef exports to Canada totaled 103,500 metric tons in 2023, ranking fifth among U.S. export markets, with export value also totaling about $875 million. Through May of this year, beef exports are up 8% in value ($353 million) despite a 5% decline in volume (just under 40,000 metric tons).

Sustainability is not Going Away. What are You Going to do With It?

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 23:51:22 GMT

Rhonda Brooks is editor of Bovine Veterinarian.

Amarillo By Morning, a big hit by mega star George Strait back in the day, has been playing in my head all week. You probably know the song. If you don’t, it’s worth a listen on YouTube.

I was in Amarillo for a couple of days this past week to attend a sustainability media program hosted by Merck Animal Health. The company has its sights firmly locked in on sustainability and how to help its customers, both veterinarians and producers, adopt sustainable practices.

I would be remiss if I did not add that most other animal health companies — many of which advertise with Bovine Veterinarian, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Elanco, Phibro, U.S. Vet, Virbac and Zoetis, along with others — are also focused on sustainability and what it means to their customers.

“Not A Fad”

I believe Ben Weinheimer, president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, shared an important fact at the meeting when he said, “We’ve been at this topic long enough to know now it’s not a fad.”

(Farm Journal)

That resonated with me. Why? Because so often I’ve held out on adopting various practices in my business because I thought they would go away.

That’s not the case with sustainability. I’m on board with the concept, because I believe it’s a good thing for animals and our customers, U.S. consumers, and for those of us working in the livestock industry, as well.

Instead, the challenge for me is what do I do with the concept of sustainability? How do I implement it? It’s the old but real issue of “the devil’s in the details.”

Please know I am not throwing shade or pointing any fingers at anyone regarding this topic, especially veterinarians.

I can truly say every bovine veterinarian I have worked with has demonstrated, in word and deed, that they are working diligently to use practices that take animal health and well-being into consideration, first and foremost.

Self-Assessment Can Help

I’m simply wrestling with the sustainability concept. Working out the details is a messy undertaking at times (i.e. For instance, I took three flights to and from Amarillo this week.).

Perhaps you have similar struggles?

If so, take a few minutes to check out the resources offered by the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef on its website. In particular, please check out the self-assessment tool available here: https://nobleapps.noble.org/usrsbassessment

There are five options for consideration, including one for cow-calf producers and feedyard operators.

The idea is for producers to assess and measure their business/operation against the U.S. Beef Industry Sustainability Framework to find opportunities for improvement – many of which you and your clients are likely already doing. Consider trying out one of the options with a handful of clients to see what you think.

In my opinion, we all need to be laser focused on the topic of sustainability if we want to achieve continued success and longevity in the livestock industry — whether that’s beef, dairy, pork or poultry.

Like the song says, “Amarillo by mornin’, Amarillo’s where I’ll be.” Sustainability is a daily pursuit. It takes effort to travel there, but it’s a destination worth trying to reach.

North Platte Approves Support for Sustainable Beef Plant

Panhandle Ranch, Environmental Technology Co. Plan New ‘Sustainable’ Feedlot

Hereford and CSU Begin Sustainable Genetics Research

A Sustainable Approach to Sustainability

U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Launches New Industry Sustainability Goals

U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef joins Trust In Beef

VIDEO: Meet Trust In Beef Industry Partner U.S. Roundtable For Sustainable Beef

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 17:50:31 GMT

This article was written by Nate Birt, Vice President of Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative. Learn more at www.trustinfood.com

Across the U.S., beef producers are taking the next step on their sustainability journey. To highlight the voice of those making a difference, Trust In Beef™ proudly introduces a video series spotlighting the collaborative value chain program’s partners.

In this video, Trust In Beef™ features rancher and U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) 2021/22 Chair Steve Wooten of Kim, Colo.

“USRSB set goals for the entire beef supply chain because we’re all in it together – from pasture to plate – and made stronger by common efforts,” says Samantha Werth, Ph.D., executive director of USRSB. “These goals were set for the industry by the industry, including start-to-finish involvement of cattle producers.”

Learn more at USRSB.org/Goals.

VIDEO: Meet Trust In Beef Partner U.S. Roundtable For Sustainable Beef

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 00:59:15 GMT

This article was written by Nate Birt, Vice President of Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative. Learn more at www.trustinfood.com

Across the U.S., beef producers are taking the next step on their sustainability journey. To highlight the voice of those making a difference, Trust In Beef™ proudly introduces a video series spotlighting the collaborative value chain program’s partners. In this video, watch as Dr. Justin Welsh, executive director of U.S. livestock technical services from Merck Animal Health, shares how the company is helping producers along the way.

“Trust In Beef™ is a platform that allows us to partner with our cattle producers in their sustainability journey and help bring their stories to life,” says Tom Schad, director of communications North America, Merck Animal Health. “We’re excited to be a foundational partner of Trust In Beef™. The program allows us to advocate for our customers on their sustainability journey and highlight their love of animals and the land.”

Watch the video to learn more about Trust In Beef™ and about how Merck Animal Health helps to support beef producers succeed with their sustainability investments.

U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Launches New Industry Sustainability Goals

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:20:15 GMT

The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) today announced new sustainability goals for the entire U.S. beef supply chain.

The goals, available at USRSB.org , include metrics and targets for all sectors of the industry to encourage and support continuous improvement from farm to fork. These goals and targets aim to identify and supplement sustainability practices and support the collection of benchmarking data for current industry sustainability efforts. They also set new objectives to help producers and industry bring the most sustainable beef products to market.

“Producers, auction markets, feedyards, packers and processors, and retail and foodservice organizations have worked within their own sectors for decades to make U.S. beef a more sustainable product,” said Colorado cow-calf producer Steve Wooten, who is the 2021/2022 USRSB chair and USRSB goals committee co-chair. “As an industry, it’s time to not only recognize that hard work, but also establish new ways stakeholders across the supply chain can work together to contribute to the overall sustainability of U.S. beef.”

The goals are set around USRSB’s six high-priority indicators of sustainability: water resources, land resources, air and greenhouse gas emission, efficiency and yield, animal health and wellbeing, and employee safety and wellbeing. These key indicators build upon the primary pillars of sustainability — environmental, social and economic — helping to ensure true sustainability at each stage of the beef supply chain.

“The goals and their corresponding sector targets provide a sound foundation on which each segment of the beef supply chain can continue to build their unique sustainability efforts,” said Sara Place, Ph.D., USRSB goals committee co-chair and chief sustainability officer for Elanco.

“To help ensure stakeholders have everything they need to succeed, USRSB will continue to add to our suite of science-based tools and resources which will enable all segments of the industry to continue advancing their sustainability efforts with confidence.”

To help the industry work towards achieving these goals, USRSB will continue to create and build upon their existing free tools and resources. Current resources include sustainability modules and resource toolkits for producers, auction markets, feedyards, packers and processors, and retail and foodservice organizations as well as a sustainability self-assessment tool. These resources can be found at USRSB.org/Resources.

Merck Animal Health Joins Trust In Beef™ as Founding Member

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 18:06:24 GMT

Lenexa, Kan., (Feb. 2, 2022) – Merck Animal Health, a global leader in animal health solutions, joins the Trust In Beef^TM program as a founding partner to further its commitment to sustainability and providing real solutions and information to the beef industry. Trust In Beef is a new effort of Trust In Food™ and designed to empower beef producers and the trusted experts they rely on, such as veterinarians and nutritionists, to advance in their continuous improvement journey. The effort will also help connect consumers to the continuously improving sustainability performance of American beef production.

Merck Animal Health joins the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef as a founding partner to Trust In Beef. The effort is led by Farm Journal ‘s social purpose division, Trust In Food, and its industry-leading beef brand, Drovers .

“Technological innovations allow America’s beef producers to operate at levels of efficiency never before imagined, all while providing excellent animal care and minimizing environmental impacts,” says Amy Skoczlas Cole, executive vice president of Trust In Food. “Their technical expertise, network of trusted advisers and experience in consumer marketing will allow Trust In Beef to go farther, faster in its mission to advance sustainability across U.S. beef production.”

Trust In Beef launched in Fall 2021 and is supporting 200,000 beef producers in accelerating continuous improvement in performance across sustainability pillars while ensuring that consumers see and hear real-life examples of producer stewardship.

“Trust in Beef will give our industry a platform to showcase the caring and sustainable practices already being used by beef producers and help dispel many myths and false claims associated with beef production,” said Kevin Mobley, executive director, U.S. Cattle Business, Merck Animal Health. “Through our biopharma and animal intelligence portfolio, combined with the expertise of our veterinarians and nutritionists, Merck Animal Health is in a unique position to provide leadership and innovation in the area of environmental sustainability.”

For more information about Trust In Beef, go to www.trustinbeef.com .

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.

About Merck Animal Health

or over 130 years, Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. Merck Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®, Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an extensive suite of connected technology that includes identification, traceability and monitoring products. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals and the people who care for them. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.merck-animal-health.com and connect with us on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

Free Resource Guide: Sorting A Sustainable Future

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 19:15:49 GMT

These days it seems like term “sustainability” is on everyone’s mind, in all the headlines, and is front and center in consumer marketing efforts.

But what really is sustainability as it relates to beef production? And what does it mean to U.S. beef producers?

This free download is your guide to understanding sustainability and what it means to your operation. Just fill in your information below and click the submit button and you will be automatically redirected to the free PDF.

Driven to Sustainability

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:12:12 GMT

Daniel Humm’s restaurant, like so many others during the pandemic, had to lay off all its employees and was facing the prospect of bankruptcy. As businesses began to reopen earlier this year, Humm decided to gamble with a trendy, yet risky concept. In May he announced Eleven Madison Park, his three-Michelin-star restaurant in New York, would go completely plant-based.

By going meatless, Humm knew his customer base would shrink to a smaller niche of diners. Dinner remained $335 per person without the meat and before the wine.

Humm and many of his patrons believe the U.S. food system requires less meat consumption to be sustainable long-term. That belief is shared by an increasing number of consumers.

Evidence of growing consumer consciousness of sustainability is found in the Hartman Group’s report, “Sustainability 2021: Environment and Society in Focus,” which revealed 72% of consumers are willing to pay more to support companies that share their values.

Such support is not just for everyday products such as food. Credit Suisse, the Swiss global investment bank with $1.5 trillion under investment management, finds 75% of millennials believe their investments can influence climate change, and 84% believe their investments can help lift people out of poverty.
“That’s why we saw companies invest more than $30 billion in sustainability initiatives last year,” says Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, director of AgNext at Colorado State University.

That observation was confirmed by Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein who told CNBC the coronavirus pandemic had “substantially accelerated the trend toward ESG and sustainability” and sought to highlight the investment opportunity within the overall space. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, and investors are increasingly applying those non-financial factors as part of their analysis.

“The demand that we see, both from our private clients but also institutional clients, for ESG compatible products is ever increasing,” Gottstein explains. “It’s clearly seen as, also, an opportunity to improve returns.”

The “S” Word

U.S. cattle producers have embraced changing consumer demands before. Over the past 30 years they’ve dramatically improved their products, using genetics to trim waste fat and management to improve cattle health and well-being. This year nearly 82% of carcasses will grade Choice or Prime, up from 54% just 15 years ago, a 35% increase. Carcasses grading Prime, just 2.6% of production in 2006, reached 10.2% in 2020.

With genetic and management improvement, the U.S. produces the same amount of beef today as it did in 1975 with one-third fewer cows. Producers can rightly ask: Isn’t that sustainable ranching?

The answer, says Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality specialist in cooperative Extension in the department of animal science at the University of California, Davis, is to accept consumer desires.

“Twenty years ago I overheard two cattlemen talking after I had just given a presentation,” Mitloehner says. “One said, ‘I like (Mitloehner), but I wish he wouldn’t use the S-word all the time.’”

Those two cattle producers were industry leaders in Texas, Mitloehner says, and over the years they have organized sustainability conferences in Texas. Why the change? They told Mitloehner that even if they didn’t agree with everything about sustainability, “it’s not as important as it is for us to listen to out customers demands.”

Mitloehner says the five pillars of sustainability are: environment, animal welfare, food safety, people/labor and financial viability.

“Those five areas are covered in what we call stewardship,” he says. “What rancher wouldn’t say that they are the best steward they can be of the land, the animals and the products they produce?”

Sustainability is just the word used by our customers, and ranchers should embrace that.

“Being a good steward means to work sustainably,” Mitloehner says. “And that’s what ranchers should be proud of. You should not be afraid of (sustainability), you should own this term.”

Early Adopters

Three years ago, Tyson Fresh Meats announced a partnership with Progressive Beef, a cattle management and sustainability program for feedlot operators based in Manhattan, Kan. Progressive Beef maintains accountability and transparency through a verification system that involves USDA-approved auditors. The feedyards certified in the program focus their efforts in three areas: cattle care, food safety and environmental sustainability, and are verified twice per year.

Today, more than one million head of cattle are cared for annually through the program at certified feedyards, helping Tyson meet consumer demand for beef that “creates a higher confidence level for consumers.”

Sustainability initiatives are also important for programs such as Certified Angus Beef (CAB). Now in its 44th year, CAB recorded sales of 1.25 billion pounds in 2019 thanks to an unyielding focus on product quality and programs designed to assist its retail and food service customers — the front line for sales and consumer satisfaction.

Last year CAB launched an award specifically for producers who have embraced the concept. The Bradley 3 Ranch (B3R) near Memphis, Tex., earned the 2021 award that recognized 60 years of investment and management that has produced amazing results in a harsh environment.

Minnie Lou Bradley, her daughter, Mary Lou, and her husband, James Henderson, developed a plan for B3R to help conserve the 18" of annual rainfall and promote the grass while managing a quality-forward seedstock business. Those efforts have helped the B3R cowherd double in size.

Now, sustainability at B3R is as much about the efficiency and quality of the cattle as it is about land and water. They’ve built indexes around the performances of their cattle, and they focus on cows that can raise a calf, breed back, do it on minimal resources and maintain their flesh.

Corporate Investment

Nearly every major U.S. food processing company is already heavily invested in sustainability. JBS, for instance, announced in March a commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040. The commitment spans the company’s global operations, including its diverse value chain of agricultural producer partners, suppliers and customers in their efforts to reduce emissions across the value chain.

In June, Tyson Foods announced its ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its global operations and supply chain by 2050.

Cargill has committed to reduce GHG emissions by 10% by 2025 and reduce GHG emissions in its supply chain by 30% per ton of product sold by 2030. Further, Cargill has committed to improving the livelihood of 10 million farmers by 2030 through training in sustainable agricultural practices.

In April, Cargill and Sysco, the world’s largest broadline food distributor, announced a major partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) that will help ranchers across Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas tackle the impacts of climate change as well as improve grasslands and wildlife habitat by creating one of the largest sustainable beef cattle grazing efforts in the nation.

With hundreds of millions of dollars invested, those companies are showing consumers their commitments to sustainability and efforts to mitigate climate change, but the stakes are far higher than the beef supply chain.

The $30 billion invested in sustainability by companies is an investment driven by consumers and investors who are focused on the climate.

“Bloomberg reports there is $35 trillion invested in publicly traded companies under that environmental, social and governance (ESG) umbrella,” Stackhouse-Lawson explains. “And that’s up 15% from the start of 2018, and it represents 36% of all professionally managed funds.”

Those are the financial stakes and the pressure that are coming at publicly traded companies to focus on sustainability.

“This new ESG pressure will continue to shift capital toward sustainable products,” Stackhouse-Lawson says. “Now we have stronger, more connected supply chains that are not just driven by profits, they’re also rewarded for their social, environmental and governance metrics.”

While cattle producers might already have a great sustainability story, it is also paramount that they recognize the need for effective communication.

“It is important to acknowledge when talking about sustainability that emotion and science are on equal footing,” Stackhouse-Lawson explains. “If you put them in a head-to-head race, emotion wins in the sustainability space nearly every time.”