Ranchers benefit from profitable regenerative ranching system
The ranchers belonging to the Country Natural Beef cooperative, making up of around 100 ranches in the Pacific Northwest.
The word sustainability has several definitions but most fall under three pillars: the environment, animals and people. There is intrinsic value in achieving continuous improvement in each of the pillars, but sustainability efforts must also be economically feasible in order to sustain the business.
A group of ranchers in the northwestern U.S. is embracing sustainable practices through regenerative ranching and has developed a way to make it profitable. The full-circle program improves the soil and land, emphasizes animal care and repays ranchers when they get a premium price for the quality beef they put on the market.
The ranchers belonging to the Country Natural Beef cooperative, making up of around 100 ranches in the Pacific Northwest. Each ranch aligns with the cooperative’s environmental goals that guide management of grazing lands and pastures. Ranchers are required to have written grazing plans that focus on things like soil health, water infiltration, and biodiversity.
The grazing plans are part of the Grazewell system, a validated, holistic approach to ranch management that treats rangeland as part of the natural ecosystem. The system prioritizes soil health by implementing cattle grazing practices that mimic natural patterns.
“For me, regenerative ranching is watching the natural systems and figuring out how I can use livestock to enhance it, work with it, and work through issues,” says Mary Schadler, whose family manages Schadler Ranch in Southeast Oregon. “It’s a full-circle system, and we try to get the most out of it that we can while taking care of it, so each cycle of the system is better than the last.”
Ranchers retain ownership of cattle as they move through the regenerative ranching process. Cattle are pasture-raised their entire lives, even in finishing where ranchers supplement their diet with grain to add marbling and an ideal flavor profile. The cooperative has established a marketing program for beef that goes through the system, and the end product captures a premium price at retail.
“I like the fact that we can get a premium for the cattle that we produce,” says Schadler. “It’s a bonus. We’re doing things the way we think they should be done, and we appreciate that the consumer is willing to pay us for it.”
A majority of the beef is sold through Whole Foods, meeting the retailer’s stringent Global Animal Partnership (GAP)-Step 4 certification standards. The cooperative also sells beef to other retailers, restaurants and distributors. All profits from the meat company go back to ranchers who are members of the co-op.
“We started with Country Natural Beef about four or five years ago because of the stability the co-op offers,” says Jared Brackett, a fifth-generation Idaho rancher. “CNB has a really good marketing plan that’s stable. In uncertain times, the stability is pretty nice.”
The regenerative ranching process isn’t easy, but it improves the rancher’s bottom line and makes the full-circle system sustainable, by any definition.
View our interviewSustainable vs. regenerative agriculture: What’s in it for animal agricultureSustainable agriculture and regenerative agriculture. Are they just buzzwords of the day or are they important considerations for animal agriculture? Do they offer economic benefits for producers? Where are consumers in their understanding and demand for both? Dr. Steve Lerner, Senior Scientific and Business Advisor, Planetary Health BioSolutions with Novonesis, joins us to discuss.
