Author: Julia Andrus

By Lura Roti for AgSpire

Recognizing the positive role cattle play in advancing sustainability, companies and other agriculture stakeholders are increasingly investing in efficiency and resiliency at the ranch level. This gives new opportunities to ranchers to make improvements to their land and herds.

The world’s largest fast-food chain is one such company. McDonald’s wants to support cattle producers in their efforts to increase overall herd efficiencies, while at the same time enhancing soil and grassland health.

To accomplish this, McDonald’s teamed up with AgSpire to provide cattle producers with expert advice, resources and funding through the Ranching for the Future program, offered through AgSpire’s SustainAg Network.

“It’s so rewarding to walk alongside cattle producers in their quest for improvement,” explained food animal veterinarian, Dr. Kristina Porter.

Porter is among the team of SustainAg Technical Advisors at AgSpire who support producers by understanding the operations’ existing management practices and overall herd health to determine if there are any operational efficiencies that could be gained through enhanced genetics or implementation of other customized management practices, like interseeding rangeland or pastures with native or non-native perennial grasses.

“Cattle margins are pretty small, so to be able to suggest customized practices that a producer can try out with less risk because the costs are covered is pretty exciting,” Porter said.

Third-generation North Dakota rancher Karl Bartholomay agreed. For decades, Karl and his dad, Keith, have focused on implementing conservation practices on more than 4,000 acres of cropland, native range, river bottoms, and pastures that make up Bartholomay Kattle Kompany near Sheldon, North Dakota.

And their efforts have been rewarded. As their grassland and soil health have continued to improve, so have overall herd health and efficiency. And another bonus – today an abundance of wildlife now call their ranch home.

“As our rotational grazing intensified, we began to see more wildlife,” Karl said. “It is fun to see the cows interact with the pheasant, deer, turkeys, and grouse that wander through while they are grazing. It is nice to see that by implementing regenerative practices we are not only helping our own operation – the land and cattle – we are helping the whole ecosystem. Everything goes hand-in-hand.”

In 2023, the Bartholomay Kattle Kompany was recognized in North Dakota for their sustainability efforts with the national Leopold Conservation Award.

Karl said he and his dad will continue to do more as funding allows. But finding funds for conservation practices has been a challenge. “We discovered that most cost-share programs are for ranchers who were just getting into conservation. And then we connected with AgSpire and their SustainAg Network,” Karl said.

The Bartholomays recently enrolled in the Ranching for the Future program. After Porter and an agronomist visited the ranch, they determined that interseeding pastures with perennial legumes would further enhance the ranch’s grassland health.

“Interseeding is something we have wanted to do, because it could make a big jump in species diversity in a short timeframe. But the cost is something we need to consider because this ranch needs to support my family and my mom and dad,” explained Karl, who together with his wife, Becca, have two young daughters, Olivia, 4, and Elaine, 9 months.

Connecting conservation-minded agriculture producers, like the Bartholomays, with voluntary, incentive-based grant and private-market sustainability programs is the focus of AgSpire’s SustainAg Network.

“In agriculture, the greatest resources we have are our soil and our kids who we want to be able to return to the farm or ranch,” Porter said. She explained regenerative practices – like increasing grassland diversity – have a positive impact on soil health, while also improving the overall health of grazing cattle. “Cattle thrive on grass because every species of grass matures at a different time. By increasing species diversity, there will be quality forage for cattle throughout the grazing season,” Porter said.

Interseeding perennial grasses also improves an operation’s overall resiliency, explained Hector Menendez, Assistant Professor and SDSU Extension Livestock Grazing Specialist.

“Re-establishing grasslands on marginal agriculture acres or diversifying existing grasslands through perennial plantings and different grazing management practices ultimately helps build resilience to weather extremes like drought or extreme moisture on a ranch,” said Menendez, who works on the Grass is Greener program through a partnership between AgSpire and South Dakota State University.

The partnership began after SDSU received an $80 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant – The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Developing Climate Smart Beef & Bison Commodities.

Hector and a team of SDSU researchers are tasked with reviewing cattle producers’ diverse grassland management practices and measuring the actual output of methane by cattle, as well as grassland’s ability to sequester carbon. “Today’s livestock producers face increasing public scrutiny because animal agriculture is often cited as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. However, this negative perception does not take into account the carbon sequestration benefits of grazing livestock,” reads the grant explanation on the SDSU website.

SDSU partnered with AgSpire to help with this program in two ways. First, through its SustainAg Network, AgSpire connects with producers, helping them select and implement practices that align with their land and management goals. Then, AgSpire helps provide incentives and premiums to producers that implement regenerative practices through the program.

Producers like Minnesota cattleman, Mitch Pederson. Pederson is currently utilizing the Grass is Greener program to fund the transition of about 100 row crop acres on his farm to forage for his cow/calf herd. Starting the transition by seeding a forage cover crop mix to graze this fall, Pederson plans to follow the cover crops with a perennial forage seed mix.

Because his farm is located in the Prairie Pothole region, Pederson’s ultimate goal is to transition all his row crop acres to perennial grasses and use his cattle to harvest them. He is using the Grass is Greener and other SustainAg Netwok programs to help cover the costs. AgSpire offers short-term contracts – one to five years, depending on the practice – so that producers like Pederson can make management decisions based on how the program outcomes align with their overall goals.

“I love the perennial systems for resiliency – perennial grasses weather the extremes much better than row crops,” Pederson said. “With perennial grasses, I no longer need to fight against Mother Nature. When we get rains, the grasses will help with water infiltration and when we are faced with drought, the perennial roots will tap into water below the soil’s surface.”

Weathering extremes is important. He explained that in the first five years after purchasing the farm from his great uncle, the farm saw both the wettest and driest years on family record.

In addition to helping cover the costs associated with establishing the perennial forages, AgSpire connected him with one of their Technical Advisors to maximize success. And because Pederson is enrolled in the Grass is Greener program, he will also receive a per-head premium for cattle that graze on the pastures where he implemented the practice.

“Increasingly, we are seeing corporations who want to invest in the positive environmental outcomes that result when cattle are raised sustainably. It is an opportunity for conservation-minded cattle producers to receive a premium for their practices,” explained Ryan Eichler, director of producer programs at AgSpire and a Lake Preston, South Dakota cattle producer.

Grass is Greener and Ranching for the Future are two of six programs offered by AgSpire through the SustainAg Network. AgSpire continues to expand its program offerings to farmers and ranchers through new partnerships, like these with McDonald’s or SDSU.

Learn More:

• Ranching for the Future Program
• The Grass is Greener Program

Above: Luke Hiebert on his farm, where he is using sustainable practices to increase access to forage for his cow/calf herd.

by Lura Roti for AgSpire’s SustainAg Network

Fields of bright green rye stand out among the mostly brown early spring fieldscape on Luke Hiebert’s crop and livestock farm northeast of Huron, South Dakota.

“Traditionally, at this point in the season, nothing would be growing out in those fields. This is the reason I decided to plant rye,” said Hiebert, during an early April conversation. “It has been growing since last fall, and I like having a living root in the soil as long as possible. It helps with compaction, reduces erosion, increases water infiltration, builds organic matter and overall, improves soil health.”

There are additional benefits to this sustainable practice. Because Hiebert is enrolled in the Covering America Program through AgSpire’s SustainAg Network, he will receive a premium for the rye seed when he harvests it late summer.

The program will also cover the costs associated with the late season, multi-species cover crop he plans to plant on the same acres for his cattle and sheep to graze late fall. And, AgSpire connected him with one of their Technical Advisors to provide expert insights throughout the process.

“I and my wife, Briana are the third family trying to earn an income from this farm, so I need to look at value added opportunities because this farm is not large enough to support all of us,” explained the third-generation farmer who has been farming fulltime with his dad and uncle since he was 18.

For nearly a decade, Hiebert has been working to expand his cow/calf herd by increasing on-farm access to forage by implementing an intensive, daily grazing rotation. Extending the grazing season with a late season cover crop is yet another way for him to maximize the farm’s forage production.

For ag producers by ag producers

According to the recently released SustainAg Insights quarterly report, Hiebert is among 278 producers from across the U.S. who make up AgSpire’s newly formed SustainAg Network of farmers and ranchers interested in adopting sustainable land and livestock management practices through programs like Covering America. Since fully launching the Network in January 2024, AgSpire continues to expand its program offerings to farmers and ranchers, currently offering five programs, including a beef program in partnership with McDonald’s.

“AgSpire is focused on improving resiliency and sustainability across the entire agricultural supply chain,” explained Ryan Eichler, director of producer programs and a Lake Preston, South Dakota cattle producer. “Through The SustainAg Network, we connect producers with funding opportunities as well as resources to implement regenerative or sustainable practices.”

South Dakota crop and livestock producer Jared Knock came up with the idea for AgSpire after he observed a chronic disconnect between conservation-minded agriculture producers caring for land and livestock and funds allocated for regenerative agriculture practices by corporations and government entities.

“As a farmer who owns an ag retail business, I am closely connected to many farmers and ranchers trying to make changes on their land to increase soil health or livestock efficiency. At the same time, I was listening to what companies were saying about their desire to invest in farms and ranches in rural America for a positive environmental impact. But there was not a great way for the two groups to connect,” said Knock, who helped launch AgSpire in 2021.

“Our team has built an organization that connects sustainability-minded producers with those companies, developing and implementing programs around regenerative agricultural practices that benefit producers and improve our environment at the same time,” said Jared Knock, South Dakota Farmer and one of AgSpire’s founders.

Above: Jared Knock discusses regenerative agricultural practices with farmers in South Dakota, sharing how programs like Covering America can help them invest in their land and natural resources.

Regenerative agricultural practices like planting late-season cover crops.

Hiebert said knowing that there is financial and technical help planting a late season cover crop motivated him to join The SustainAg Network and enroll in the Covering America Program.

“I had been thinking about planting a late season cover crop, but I knew it would be more difficult to get it going and I was not ready to invest in the risk,” Hiebert said. “With SustainAg Network, I have financial assistance, and because I don’t have a lot of experience planting cover crops, I appreciate the fact I also have access to a Technical Advisor.”

The SustainAg Network offers voluntary, incentive-based grant and private-market sustainability programs, like the Covering America Program, that are designed with producers like Hiebert in mind, explained Eichler.

“We keep the agriculture producer at the forefront of everything we do because quite frankly, without producers, none of this can happen,” Eichler explained. “We use a highly customizable approach because each farm and ranch is very different. The last thing that we want to do is dictate practices or environmental programs if they don’t fit the producer’s land or livestock efficiency goals.”

Above: Ryan Eichler meets with a farmer in western Minnesota to discuss available programs in The SustainAg Network, and how they can benefit his land and business.

Eichler said The SustainAg Network’s team of advisors are essential to the process. “What sets us apart are our technical advisors,” Eichler said. “This team takes the time to meet with producers to understand their overall operation goals. And then they provide the support needed for a practice change to succeed.”

Once a producer selects and enrolls in a program, they connect with an advisor who helps them figure out the details and best practices for success in their growing conditions. Advisors also verify the practice and streamline incentive or premium payments.

“We are working on behalf of farmers and ranchers to help them increase revenue opportunities and overall resiliency,” Eichler said.

Learn More

• About the Covering America Program
• Sign up to join The SustainAg Network