Today, Sustainable Northwest announced the award of $6.9 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance their regenerative ranching program, the largest in the West, and reward ranchers for implementing a suite of regenerative ranching practices that measurably improve rangeland health.
“Through the support of this program, we’ve seen increased adoption of regenerative practices,” said Dallas Hall Defrees, Sustainable Northwest’s regenerative ranching director and a nationwide expert on regenerative ranching practices and benefits. “This is good for the land and good for the cows. The soil is healthier, moister, and less compacted. There are more native plants. And the cows are healthier. We’re excited that USDA is continuing to invest in efforts by Sustainable Northwest and Country Natural Beef to support and scale regenerative ranching practices.”
Under USDA’s “Advancing Markets for Producers” program, Sustainable Northwest is partnering with members of the Country Natural Beef cooperative to implement and measure regenerative ranching methods such as rotational grazing, planting of native perennial plants, and cover cropping. The program gathers hard data on the benefits to the land, water, and air.
The Sustainable Northwest regenerative ranching program is the largest in the West, spanning 90 ranches across 4.5 million acres of public and private rangelands. Through our program and with support from USDA, Sustainable Northwest is working with these ranchers to:
- Develop long-term grazing management plans, which are reviewed and updated annually based on data.
- Measure key data before, during, and after several years of implementing the grazing management plan, such as microbial content in soil, soil compaction levels, native plant cover and composition, carbon content of soil, and more.
- Develop rancher-to-rancher networks with quarterly meetings where small groups of ranchers learn from each other, support one another, and share resources.
“Ranching can be isolating,” Defrees said. “So the rancher-to-rancher networks have actually been one of the most rewarding parts of the program. Ranchers trust what other ranchers tell them is working or is not working, and the networks are creating a culture that is normalizing regenerative ranching.”
“We’re grateful to partner with Sustainable Northwest and invest in the work ranchers have been doing for generations: caring for the land, raising animals responsibly and strengthening rural communities,” said DelRae Ferguson, ranching program manager at Country Natural Beef. “This funding helps recognize and support regenerative practices already happening across Country Natural Beef ranches, while also creating new opportunities for producers to build on that stewardship for the future. As we continue expanding market access for responsibly raised beef, retailers gain meaningful sustainability data and transparency they can stand behind, helping create long-term demand that rewards ranchers for doing right by the land every single day.”
