View this newsletter in your browser
 

April 2020

Introduction: Proven Benefits of Regenerative Ranching

Wendy Millet

Regenerative ranching provides multiple benefits to human communities, wildlife, ecosystems, and even the climate. However, in a time of such extreme uncertainty when the resilience of our social, economic, political, and food systems is being tested, it is important to highlight the fact that many of the benefits of regenerative practices are well-defined, widely supported, and worth investing in now.

Regenerative ranching helps ranchers manage invasive plants while supporting beneficial populations of native plants, songbirds, pollinators, and other wildlife¹. It helps cost-effectively reduce vegetative fuel loads and manage fire risk². It can help slow, or even reverse, topsoil loss, build soil organic matter, reduce soil compaction³, and improve land fertility. It can improve healthy water cycle functioning as even a 1% increase in soil organic matter in the top 6 inches of soil can hold up to 27,000 gallons per acre⁴.

Regenerative ranching also can contribute to a more stable climate. Thanks to the power of photosynthesis, progressive grazing practices can help to transform and sequester Carbon in the form of atmospheric carbon dioxide into productive carbon in the soil. Improved management on grazing lands can offset between 7-15% of current annual global CO2 emissions⁵. Many practices used in regenerative ranching are recognized by Project Drawdown on their list of the 100 most effective solutions to climate change. Silvopasture⁶ and Managed Grazing⁷, for instance, come in as numbers 9 and 11 respectively, with the collective potential to sequester 47.53 gigatons of CO2 equivalents by 2050 if practiced at scale.

Lastly and so importantly, ranchers around the world who are using regenerative practices report improved livestock health, operational profits, and personal well-being⁸.

There is increasing recognition around the world that regeneratively managing rangelands can improve productivity and resilience of working lands while providing multiple benefits to ecosystems and the planet as a whole. We may always be at the mercy of uncertainty, but we can control how we choose to manage our lands, and if we choose to grow a resilient and productive regenerative food system.

1. Gennet et al. 2017; Marty 2005; Henneman et al. 2014; Bartolome et al. 2014; Stahlheber and D’Antonio 2013; DiTomaso et al. 2007
2. Strand et al., 2014; Reinhardt et al., 2008
3. Byrnes et al. 2018; Conant et al. 2017; Pilon et al. 2017; Teague et al. 2011
4. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1082147.pdf
5. Mayer et al. 2018; Paustian et al. 2018
6. https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/silvopasture
7. https://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/managed-grazing
8. Ogilvy, S. et al 2018

Picture of the Month

Elk Glade Ranch demonstrates that there are myriad ways to benefit from the diverse co-benefits of regenerative management.

As part of our Profiles in Land and Management series, this month we are thrilled to share our profile of Elk Glade Ranch near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Elk Glade Ranch employes a distinct variety of regenerative enterprises that have helped sustain it economically and protect its surrounding human and wild communities.  The ranch sits at 8,500’+ and is a combination of soaring pink granite cliffs, aspen and pine forests, and valley meadows.  This dramatic topography makes the ranch particularly challenging to manage.  However, with creativity and hard work, Elk Glade Ranch has increased the productivity and value of the land and managed to uphold its long heritage as a working ranch even as development has encroached around it.

Resilience & Regenerative Agriculture in the Time of COVID-19

Marianna Zavala

At TomKat Ranch, we have the immense privilege of operating as an educational ranch and non-profit organization focused on building healthy and resilient soils, communities, and food systems through regenerative land management practices. In the past six weeks, we have seen and experienced cracks in the food system that have grown into canyons, stretching it to its limits. These struggles have fortified our resolve in responding to this crisis, and we are grateful that through collaboration with local organizations, farmers, and ranchers we are doing what we can to provide immediate relief and resources to those who need it most.  As an organization both deeply embedded in the food system and deeply invested in helping to create a better one, we also recognize the opportunity that exists at this moment to try and shape a more resilient and regenerative food system. 

Much of what has been exposed in the food system in the past two months is consistent with the predictions of many in our field. For many the virus has revealed the daily injustices that take place in the food system - from the disparity in access to resources largely faced by black and brown communities, to the hypocrisy of labeling farmworkers - one of the most exploited and vulnerable populations in the United States - as essential workers,...

For many practitioners, regenerative agriculture is a hands-in-the-dirt sort of affair. They study soil conditions by picking it up in their hands and smelling it for biological activity, or pulling off a blade of grass and chewing it to gauge sugar content. They decide critical factors like stocking rates, rest time for plant recovery, or paddock size relative to potential forage based on time-tested ‘guesstimates.’ And, if they’re doing it right, they grow a productive and resilient relationship with their land built on personal and intuitive interplay that’s as genuine as any ever-evolving love affair.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no place for in-depth and rigorous science in this intimate relationship. Even the most experienced rancher will admit there are plenty of mysteries lurking in the depths of their pastures and are always open to support in finding direction. That’s why we’re happy to team up with other science organizations and institutions that support the kind of research that can bring answers and guidance to land/manager partnerships.

Calling all California farmers and ranchers! Healthy Soils Grant Program applications are now being accepted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. This is a phenomenal opportunity to apply and receive support for the implementation of regenerative practices that help build soil health and resiliency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and sequester carbon in soils on farms and ranches. Technical assistance is also available through organizations in multiple regions to assist with applying and implementing these practices. Here is what we learned attending a healthy soils workshop with other farmers and ranchers in February, as well as some additional resources. 

What is the Healthy Soils Program?

The Healthy Soils Program is part of a wider California Healthy Soils Initiative, which works with multiple state agencies and departments to support farmers and ranchers to implement soil-building practices on their land.