Pasture-Forage

Why Did McDonald’s USA Invest $200 Million in Regenerative Agriculture?

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:03:00 GMT

In September, McDonald’s USA unveiled its largest investment in regenerative agriculture to date with the launch of the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative . This public-private partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and key McDonald’s U.S. suppliers aims to scale regenerative grazing and conservation efforts across the U.S.

This initiative will invest more than $200 million over the next seven years to help promote and accelerate regenerative grazing practices, habitat restoration, water and wildlife conservation on cattle ranches spanning 4 million acres in up to 38 states.

“We know the natural resources that are required for the food system to thrive are under a lot of pressure, and so our desire to make our supply chain more resilient is really a business decision,” explains Audrey Leduc, McDonald’s U.S. sustainability director.

During the 2026 Top Producer Conference, Leduc shared McDonald’s has 13,000 U.S. restaurants that annually serve 90% of Americans. In 2024, McDonald’s bought 671 million pounds of beef in the U.S.

(McDonalds)

What Are the Core Objectives?

“There’s really two things that you need to think about when you’re thinking about a resilient supply chain,” Leduc says. “The first one is, you need to understand where are your vulnerabilities, and second, you need to understand where you’re having the most impact.”

The initiative is designed to bolster U.S. supply chain resilience while providing ranchers with the tools needed to:

Improve grazing management. Enhancing land productivity and soil health
Restore ecosystems. Protecting grasslands and wildlife habitats
Conserve water. Implementing practices that safeguard water resources
Upgrade infrastructure. Providing financial support for ranch improvements

Promoting and accelerating these practices benefits both the environment and ranchers and shows how large brands can help drive meaningful change in the food system.

“The benefits of grassland conservation are far-reaching,” says Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO. “When cattle are managed to optimize multiple ecological and economic values, the land holds more water, grows better grass and supports more wildlife. Conservation practices voluntarily adopted by ranchers can improve the productivity of grasslands, increase ranching profitability and strengthen the vitality of rural communities across the United States.”

What Are the Economic Incentives for Ranchers?

“We understand that the financial burden to move towards regenerative agriculture is often carried by the producer,” Leduc says. “And so how does big companies like McDonald’s get involved? Well, it’s with things like the grassland initiative.”

The initiative will help boost its U.S. supply chain resilience, including by providing participating ranchers economic returns such as incentive payments.

Participating ranchers will receive:

Incentive payments. Direct economic returns for adopting sustainable practices
Technical assistance. Access to resources for voluntary conservation efforts
Performance monitoring. Independent soil health quantification provided by Kateri and Carbon Yield

“We want to be good stewards of the land, and we’re putting money directly where our mouth is,” Leduc adds. “It’s a business decision to protect the beef supply chain, and we want to be accelerating and working alongside the producers.”

McDonald’s USA suppliers, including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Foods, OSI and The Coca-Cola Company, will provide funds to NFWF alongside McDonald’s USA.

Audrey Leduc, U.S. sustainability director for McDonald’s, shares the stage at the 2026 Top Producer Summit with Angie Denton, Drovers editorial leader, to talk about McDonald’s commitment to working with beef producers to source responsible beef and prioritize natural resource stewardship.

(Farm Journal)

What is the Timeline?

NFWF will manage and invest conservation funding to advance ranchers in their voluntary conservation efforts. NFWF is collaborating with its conservation partners across America’s grasslands to identify impactful landscape-scale projects that will generate the greatest possible benefits to both wildlife populations and the productivity of vital U.S. ranch lands.

NFWF will independently award competitive grants to organizations that will assist participating ranchers in adopting practices that advance wildlife conservation and regenerative agriculture. The first round of competitive grant-making will culminate in the announcement of awards, which is expected soon.

“As a brand that serves more than 90% of Americans every year, we recognize the responsibility we have to help safeguard our food systems for long-term vitality,” says Cesar Piña, McDonald’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, North America. “Through our support of this initiative, McDonald’s USA is demonstrating the power of partnership between the public and private sectors and that feeding the population and stewarding our natural resources can coexist.”

For additional information about the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, visit the NFWF website .

How Do Alternative Proteins Fit Into McDonald’s Plans?

“At McDonald’s, we are not pursuing alternative protein,” Leduc says. “That’s not our sustainability strategy. Our sustainability strategy is a resilient beef supply chain in the U.S.”

Normal La Niña Pattern to Return By Thanksgiving

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:47:22 GMT

What are the primary weather events being watched by the leading ag meteorologists right now? Here’s a round-up.

A Bit of an Oddball La Niña

“We need to be really careful about making big assumptions about this La Niña. It is not a classic La Niña,” says Drew Lerner, World Weather, Inc. He points to two large rain events in the southern U.S. Plains this past week.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey adds southern California has also received a lot of precipitation. He says it’s the timing and strength of the La Niña bringing a different pattern than could be expected.

“The big thing we’re watching is the fact that we’re in a La Niña during the month of September for the fifth time in six years,” Rippey says. “And with that, November’s been a little bit strange so far. We haven’t fully kicked into what you would expect to see with a La Niña regime.”

More Precipitation on Its Way

“We also have a lot of warm ocean water between Hawaii and California, so watch for more heavy rain, like we saw this week coming into California a little later in the winter,” Lerner says.

Rippey says people across the Great Plains can expect more storms through this week.

“Given the fact that we are heading into a La Niña winter, we need the moisture across the southern Plains now,” Rippey says. “It looks like more of a La Niña regime setting in for the latter part of November and certainly by Thanksgiving. By that I mean stormier, colder weather across the north, and some of that warm and dry weather should become more established across the South. It’ll be a while until we get there.”

The week of Thanksgiving is showing some increased chance for winter storms and perhaps travel-impactful weather events.

Droughty Conditions Bring Concerns

Dry weather persists in key grazing areas, which Matt Makens from Makens Weather says is his biggest concern for the rest of this year and early into 2026.

Lerner adds: “The northern Plains and neighboring areas of Canada’s prairies won’t see much precipitation. There’s still a big, bad drought up there, and they’re hoping for better moisture. But in the meantime, our wheat that’s in the soft wheat that’s in the lower Midwest bowl will get a nice drink of water.”

Pacific Storm Season Brought More Action Than the Atlantic

Reflecting on the ongoing hurricane season, Rippey says while it was indicated we could have an active season, there have been only 13 named storms and only five hurricanes.

Without any major storms making landfall in the U.S., Rippey points to a few factors:

“We had the African feeder storms, the thunderstorms that come off the African coast, came off a little further north than they normally would. And that put some of those thunderstorm complexes into a more hostile environment as they developed or tried to develop,” he says.
“We had a protective jet stream across the eastern United States, a little dip along the East Coast of the United States that really forced any developing storms to recurve before they ever reach the United States,” he says.

“A lot of that moisture ended up in the western United States eventually, remnant tropical moisture, and that certainly has helped to chip away at the drought across the western United States, courtesy of the active eastern Pacific season with 18 overall named storms,” Rippey adds.

Planting Season Outlook

While planting season is about five months away for many, the weather trends are tipping the scales to a slow start.

“I still have some confidence in saying that some of the northern areas of the country — northern plains, upper Midwest — could face a spring with a delayed warm-up,” Rippey says. “We could see some snowy cold conditions lingering into the early to mid-spring across some of those northern production areas. Typically coming out of La Niña, we do see a later planting season in the north, and we will have to watch drought in the south.”

La Niña Will Flip to El Niño

As for what’s ahead in the new year, Maken says while we might start with a La Niña, toward the end of the year, we’ll flip into an El Niño.

“And when you do this flip, it depends on how quickly it flips, because it can mean a lot of rainfall for a lot of folks,” he says. “And not that La Niña and El Niño are the end-all, be-alls, but they’re the major players in the room. Some really like hearing El Niño. Others really do not like the person saying that.”

From Corn to Cattle: Farmers Pivot to Create Profit

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:03:47 GMT

With commodity prices under pressure and input costs on the rise, many row-crop farmers are evaluating their options and looking for new revenue opportunities in the process.

For Troy and Stacy Hadrick, that required making a bold shift in their farming operation about four years ago. They started converting much of their South Dakota cropland to pasture and expanding their cowherd.

It’s a path no one would describe as easy. But as Troy puts it, “You’re going to do something hard if you’re in agriculture, so choose your hard.”

The Hadricks, based near Faulkton, say moving away from commodity corn, soybeans and wheat to a more direct, value-added beef production model is giving them more control over their product and their bottom line.

“We want to take ourselves out of the ebbs and flows of the commodity market, and we believe our beef business is viable long-term,” says Troy.

The Hadricks’ business includes selling beef direct to nine restaurants, a caterer, grocery store and even to a gas station that sells high-end meat. Learn more at hadrickranch.com/

Farmers Put Marginal Crop Ground Into Grass
As the Hadricks tried to decide whether to focus more on their beef business, and less on commodity grains, two things encouraged them to move forward with cattle: the marketplace and some of their land that’s prone to erosion.

“We started thinking about what could we do on some of this crop ground to be better stewards of that land – to think about it in a different purpose,” Troy recalls.

When the Hadricks learned about a Ducks Unlimited (DU) program that fit with their goals, they signed on to convert an additional 250 acres of cropland to pasture to feed cattle.

“They help cover the cost of that land while it’s sitting idle for a couple years, allowing the grass to establish,” Troy notes.

Bruce Toay, manager of DU conservation programs in South Dakota, says the organization is working with 58 farmers across the as part of its Working Grasslands Partnership.

DU provides annual payments to farmers for the first three years of their participation in the program, based on local CRP rates. After establishment, cooperators are able to utilize the forage by haying or grazing for the remainder of the 10-year commitment.

Payment rates reflect the land quality: in southeast South Dakota, where soils are more productive, rates can be $200 or more per acre. In the northwest part of the state, rates are usually $20 to $30 per acre.

“We can help install pipelines and tanks, and sometimes drill wells—whatever it takes to ensure a reliable water source,” Toay adds. “You can’t have a good grazing plan without water.”

Currently, South Dakota farmers have enrolled 12,000 acres with DU, which aims to expand the program to 25,000 acres. The program goes through 2029.

“We’re really pushing to find more interested cooperators and get more acres back into grass,” says Toay.

Beyond DU, other organizations investing in habitat restoration in regions of the U.S. include Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever .

More Short-Term Opportunities Wanted
While the Hadricks are finding success in a long-term strategy of moving to beef production, most U.S. farmers are exploring short-term revenue streams rather than a permanent exit from row crops.

Jay Parsons, an agricultural economist at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, says that for most farmers, converting cropland to permanent pasture rarely pencils out—unless the goal is to leave row-crop farming altogether and sell off equipment.

“Otherwise, it makes a lot more sense to go with annual forages, because it’s easier to switch back to crops when markets change,” he notes.

In some scenarios, farmers rent their ground in the fall for cattle to come in and graze cornstalks, adds Mary Drewnoski, UNL professor and beef systems Extension specialist. Another common practice is to charge beef producers a fee to graze cattle on cover crops.

“That’s probably the simplest thing for a farmer to do – have somebody else come in with cattle and graze the fields,” she says. “Basically, you give them access and get a paycheck.”

Grazing rates can vary significantly. Drewnoski says going rate in the eastern part of Nebraska is $10 to $15 an acre. In the western part of the state, farmers can charge in the neighborhood of $30 an acre.

“It’s a matter of supply and demand, and there’s more demand there,” Drewnoski explains.

She believes row-crop growers based in any area that also supports cattle production can likely find ways to add revenue from grazing cattle, either their own animals or through leasing ground to local beef producers.

The one thing she says is of utmost importance to do in the process is to develop a clear, written lease agreement spelling out the details that can keep everyone on the same page and relationships intact.

Key terms to define in a lease agreement include the rental rate, payment schedule, specific stocking rate, along with a clear outline of responsibilities for fencing, water, and general pasture maintenance. The agreement should also cover conditions for renewal or termination and any provisions for insurance, recommends Purdue University Extension.

When executed well, Drewnoski says partnerships between row-crop growers and livestock producers can be mutually rewarding. “There can be real beauty in this if you’re a crop farmer and you find the right cattleman to partner with,” she says. “It can open up doors for you both to benefit.”

Your next read: Breeding for New Markets: How University of Minnesota is Working to Boost the Oil Content in Soybeans

Federal Court Rules on Fate of Prairie-Chicken

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:08:29 GMT

A U.S. District judge on Aug. 12 ruled in favor of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, finding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service committed a “foundational error” when it declared the prairie-chicken endangered in 2022.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in a press release praised the ruling from U.S. District Judge David Counts of the Western District of Texas, who issued the order reversing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to list the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered and threatened.

“This is a big win for Texas, and one we fought hard to get,” Miller says. “From day one, I’ve pushed back against Biden’s federal overreach because it was wrong for our farmers, ranchers and rural communities. This court decision is more than just a legal victory. We stood our ground, and we won.”

PRESS RELEASE: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller praised a decisive ruling from U.S. District Judge David Counts of the Western District of Texas, who issued an order reversing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as… pic.twitter.com/UzP2FlkFE6
— Texas Agriculture (@TexasDeptofAg) August 18, 2025

Under the Trump administration, FWS determined that it previously failed to provide “adequate justification and analysis” to support identifying two designated population segments of lesser prairie-chicken.

Judge Counts granted the motion for vacatur and remand, finding that remand alone would not correct the agency’s fundamental error in listing the species as endangered and threatened. The court denied all motions to intervene.

About the Prairie Chicken

The lesser prairie-chicken is a bird historically found in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. The bird has faced both habitat loss and population decline since the 1960s and has found itself the subject of proposed Endangered Species Act protections.

According to Tiffany Lashmet, Texas A&M agricultural law Extension specialist, in 2014 FWS listed the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Numerous lawsuits were filed, and the listing was ultimately vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 2015.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an order last week vacating the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.https://t.co/BTobyZb9MF pic.twitter.com/CEV82UWJ8P
— TiffanyDowellLashmet (@TiffDowell) August 18, 2025

In 2016, another petition was filed with FWS to list the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. In 2022, the FWS finalized a rule listing the Northern Distinct Population Segment as threatened and the Southern Distinct Population Segment as endangered. In March 2023, the State of Texas and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association filed suit challenging the listing. Specifically, they claimed the listing violated both the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Lashmet says following the administration change in January 2025, the FWS reevaluated the listing and found it erred in passing the final rule listing the lesser prairie-chicken.

“FWS now believes it erred by failing to provide sufficient justification to have two population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken, which then affected the assessment of extinction risk to the species,” she says. “This, FWS believes, was a significant error justifying immediate vacatur of the listing decision. FWS moved for a voluntary vacatur and remand of the listing rule. Several groups sought to intervene in the lawsuit to defend the listing rule.”

The Decision

Lashmet explains the court addressed two separate issues: the proper remedy and the motions to intervene.

“This case is extremely important for landowners, agricultural producers, oil and gas companies, and others across the portions of the United States where the lesser prairie-chickens are located, including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas,” Lashmet says. “As of now, the lesser prairie-chicken is not listed under the Endangered Species Act, and there is no threat of liability under the Endangered Species Act for a ‘take’ of these animals.”

She says the story is not over.

“The FWS will now reconsider the 2016 application to have the lesser prairie-chicken listed,” she says. “It will determine how properly to view the distinction population segment, and then analyze the various factors required under the Endangered Species Act in making its listing decision. The FWS told the court it expected to have this completed by November 2026.”

Next Gen Spotlight: Missouri Farmer Diversifies to 'Roll With the Punches and Grow'

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:03 GMT

After graduating from the University of Missouri in 2011, Lance Dobson returned to his family farming operation in Lexington, Mo. Today the farm consists of a corn and soybean rotation, but they are looking at ways to diversify. Cattle have been added into the mix following the decision to plant a cereal rye cover crop ahead of soybeans to use as forage. Dobson also started a seed dealership for Beck’s Hybrid to diversify his own income.

Q: Why did you feel a need to diversify?

A: I think it’s important. As human beings, it’s much easier to focus on just one thing. Life has a rhythm, and you know what to expect during every part of the year. However, diversification allows you to roll with the punches and grow. As we get out of our comfort zone, it usually leads to good results. Whether it’s exercising or farming, hopefully diversification in our day will yield results that improve our longevity. I think we’re seeing the need for it right now given the direction our commodity prices are going. So, maybe we need a few more cash avenues or options on the farm.

Q: Why did you become a seed dealer?

A: When I first returned to the farm, I didn’t have a lot of ownership in the operation. I was mostly just an employee helping with the daily operations. After a few years, I really wanted to take on something of my own. I wanted something I could take hold of and build. I had an opportunity sent my way to start a seed dealership, and so I took it. At that time, we were also going through a downturn in the farm economy, and so it was another way to diversify my cash flow. Since then, it’s helped me build a lot of relationships with neighbors and given me the opportunity to figure out how we can all help each other grow our operations.

Lance Dobson introduced cattle and planted cereal rye cover crop ahead of soybeans to use as forage.

(Dobson Farms)

Q: What lessons have you learned from diversifying the operation?

A: Try something new just enough to get a good experiment going so you can see how it could play out on a larger scale, but don’t get in over your head. You don’t want the test to be so big that it’s a real disaster. Right now, it’s hard to try new things when financials are already constrained, but find a way to try. It’s one of the best ways to find new successes. Yes, there will always be failures, but just go learn from them. I think once you make that jump, you’ll be happy you did in the long run. There’s so much personal growth that happens when we can try new things.

Q: What else do you hope to accomplish in the next five to 10 years?

A: A goal for our farming operation is to be more self reliant and resilient. Today, a lot of the constraints we have are based on commodity prices, which we don’t have any control over, and our input prices, which we also don’t have any control over. So, if we can build our farm to where we don’t rely as much on herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers, I think we’ll be in a better place. Similarly, I’d like to build our operation so we don’t rely as much on straight commodity prices. Maybe that means we do more direct-marketed goods, or we sell our corn as value added, somehow differentiating what we’re growing from commodity yellow corn, I think we’d create a lot more resilient and sustainable business.

Your Next Read — Next-Gen Spotlight: Arkansas Farmer Always Willing to Try Something New

U.S. Cropland Cash Rents Hit All-Time High

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 19:49:07 GMT

For 2022, the national average for cash rents on cropland is $148 per acre. That’s up $7 from last year and eclipsed the previous high of 2015’s $144 per acre, according to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service .

The highest cropland per-acre cash rents include:

Arizona: $336
California: $331
Hawaii: $271
Iowa: $256
Illinois: $243
Washington: $217
Indiana: $212
Nebraska: $211
Idaho: $194
Minnesota: $185

Several states saw double-digit increases in cropland cash rents versus 2021. Those include:

West Virginia: up 12%
New York: up 12%
Vermont: up 11%
New Jersey: up 11%
Utah: up 11%
South Carolina: up 10%
Iowa: up 10%
Hawaii: up 10%

For pastureland, the national average is $14 per acre. That’s up $1 from 2021.

Negotiation Tips for Cash Rents

Are you in the process of negotiating cash rent levels for 2023? If thinking about negotiating cash rental rates makes you sweat — you’re not alone. This annual task can be unnerving, especially if you are asking for a rental reduction. The current cloudy profitability and policy picture adds even more pressure this year.

How can you confidently communicate your side of the discussion and secure a rental rate that will hopefully put you in the black?

Spend time preparing for these vital meetings and use negotiation best practices. You can’t take the easy way out, says Mark Faust, president of Echelon Management .

“Negotiations are the most valuable per-hour work you ever do in your life,” he says.

He suggests these key negotiation strategies:

1. Do your homework.

The best way to increase your personal confidence in negotiations is to be prepared. Block out time to prepare and think through each conversation.

“Most of the time we only think about ourselves in negotiations,” Faust says.

Instead, think through the agreement from your landlord’s perspective. What are the soft and hard costs if you change your lease terms or don’t come to an agreement? What questions will your landlord have? What are their goals and objectives for their land?

Through this process, you can create a list of options for each landlord, such as a change in the rental rate, a different lease type, less or more field maintenance, etc.

2. Plan on multiple meetings with each landlord.

“There’s a false belief that a negotiation must be completed before you leave,” Faust says. “It’s better to slow it down and space out the conversation to make sure it’s a win-win for both parties.”

For example, the first meeting with your landlord should be for you to present an overview of the previous year and your expectations for the upcoming year. Paint your profitability picture.

“Show a business case for how they are mitigating unprofitability and market volatility,” Faust says.
After that initial meeting, schedule another time to actually decide on the rental rate. “In two or three conversations, you can refine and zero in on what you want to agree to, without rushing it,” Faust says.

Also, never negotiate alone, Faust advises. Maximize your family or team’s talent to increase your odds of success.

3. Present multiple options—not “yes” or “no.”

Most people come into negotiations with undefined goals. Instead of a specific target, they just want to “move the needle” on a price. That’s not adequate, Faust says.

“Through your preparation, you can create your ideal agreement,” he says. “Write it down, so you can work backward from it.”

Share the multiple options you crafted in your preparation with your landlord.

“Negotiations are not a zero-sum game,” Faust says. “It’s not about splitting the pie, it’s about expanding the pie.”

Read more negotiation tips to employ with your landlord .

Seal the Lease Deal: Financial Focus, Transparency Help to Expand Rented Acres

From Cow Pasture to Baseball Birthplace – Travel the American Countryside

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 20:27:30 GMT

When people hear of Cooperstown, N.Y., they often think of baseball, and they aren’t wrong. But there’s an important part of this story about this town on Lake Otsego that should be covered first, which Andrew McCrea covers on this episode of American Countryside :

Cooperstown was founded in 1786 and was a tourism mecca throughout the 19th century, says Ellen Tillapaugh, mayor of Cooperstown. The town was named after founder Judge William Cooper, who was the father of the famous novelist, James Fenimore Cooper, author of “Last of the Mohicans.”

Today many know the town for the supposed invention of baseball by Abner Doubleday on an open parcel of land here. Constructed in 1919 on what used to be a cow pasture that belonged to local farmer Elihu Phinney, Doubleday Field is hallowed ground for baseball fans.

“They called it Phinney’s cow pasture, and it basically was the back lots of many of the houses,” Tillapaugh says.

Fast forward to today, and the historic field still gets plenty of use.

“We rent the field three times a day from April till Columbus Day,” Tillapaugh says.

While baseball was played on this pasture-turned-field from an early date, it was most likely not the place the game was founded. The folks at Cooperstown don’t dispute that fact, but these days it doesn’t really matter.

“We certainly weren’t the place it was founded, but we are America’s home for baseball,” Tillapaugh says.

In 1936, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in Cooperstown. It is filled with baseball-related exhibits and draws thousands of visitors each year, serving as a pilgrimage spot for many baseball fans.

Listen to more American Countryside .

“Not About The Cow, But The How” Carbon Program Pays Ranchers $200k

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 13:00:00 GMT

Grassroots Carbon has provided payment to 10 Texas ranchers for their adoption of reversative grazing pastures which have resulted in nature-based, measured, verified and certified carbon credits.

Lauren Miller, VP Carbon Footprint Solutions at Grassroots Carbon , says the goal was to provide their buyers with 36,000 tons of carbon, and in 2022 the goal is 200,000.

Grassroots Carbon is a public benefit LLC based in Texas. Its model is based on a profit-sharing structure , which covers the costs of the soil sampling and measurements. One-meter deep soil cores are taken at a pattern based on soil types and topography.

“The amount varies by ranch because of our profit-sharing model,” Miller says. “Depending on the measurement costs, the payment was either fairly low to up to six figure payments.”

So while the company’s first tranche of payments totaled $200,000 to those 10 ranchers, they expect the amounts to be greater in coming years due to the lower sampling expenses. The 2021 cohort had total acreage enrolled ranging from 750 acres to 26,000 acres.

Miller says all of the 2021 participants are re-enrolled for 2022, and Grassroots Carbon is looking to expand its footprint in Nebraska and Kansas.

“We are looking to sign up as many ranchers as we can,” she says.

Loy Sneary, a rancher who participated in 2021 program said, “For ranchers who are considering the type of regenerative grazing management we are doing, this payment could very well give them the impetus to move into this type of grazing management.”

Miller says the ranchers seeing the great carbon drawdown are using adaptive multi-paddock grazing.

Grassroots Carbon uses the bCarbon standard created by the Baker Institute at Rice University. The certification is based on increase in carbon storage. The team at Grassroots Carbon supports the enrolled acres with a team of soil samplers and testing procedures. A baseline measurement is taken in the first year, and then measurements are taken again in 5 years, on average.

“We have the demand for this, and we’ve proven this process works,” Miller says. “We are actively looking to sign up more ranchers. At the end of the day, everything we do is to help folks use more renewable practices,” Miller says.

Grassroots Carbon Targets Grazing and Pastureland

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:38:23 GMT

There are a few things that set apart Grassroots Carbon from other program opportunities in agriculture.

First, the company is based in Texas and is specifically targeting grazing and pasturelands throughout the Central US. There are no specific practices mandated with enrollment beyond working to maintain and improve soil health.
Which brings us to the second differentiator, Grassroots Carbon uses the bCarbon standard created by the Baker Institute at Rice University. The certification is based on increase in carbon storage. The team at Grassroots Carbon supports the enrolled acres with a team of soil samplers and testing procedures. A baseline measurement is taken in the first year, and then measurements are taken again in 5 years, on average.
The third point is how landowners are compensated for participation. Grassroots Carbon covers the cost of measurement and certification, meaning that they do not require landowners to pay anything out of pocket, and has a profit-sharing model that allows the payments to be adjusted along with the market price. Landowners are paid every year based on pre-assessments of their carbon storage.

“We like to say that the program isn’t about the cow, but the how,” says Lauren Miller, VP Carbon Footprint Solutions at Grassroots Carbon. “Our aim is to scale up the restoration of prairie grasslands and sequester massive amounts of carbon by using cattle and other grazing animals to restore soil health.”

Grassroots Carbon was formed when Soil Value Exchange merged with software company PastureMap in February 2021. Currently, PastureMap has over 4 million acres on its platform for grazing management. Participation in the carbon program requires data be loaded into PastureMap, and the data platform will be used for verification and to help producers transition to regenerative practices.

Initially, the program is enrolling landowners managing at least 2,000 acres, but pooling smaller similar parcels within a region is also possible, and the program looks forward to working with producers at all scales. Soil samples are collected to 3’ deep.
Miller shares that after initial soil measurements, the bCarbon standard rewards the verification of increased carbon storage, and doesn’t mandate any changes in practices.

The company onboarded its carbon credit buyers last fall, and is wrapping up its first measurement campaign with landowners in the coming months. The first round of payments for carbon credits will go to landowners in the next six months.

Learn more in the AgWeb Carbon Innovation Center

Grassroots Carbon FAQs

Eligible areas:

Anywhere in the continental U.S. Land is qualified based on land management practices and climate/soil type.
What practices earn credits? The program targets producers with grazing operations. Producers stay in control of their own management practices, so long as they do not disturb soil health. Instead of paying for practices, the program rewards outcomes in the form of increased soil carbon stocks. The amounts of stored carbon are verified with in-field tests.
Market Launch date: April 2021

Acreage Enrollment Minimum?

2,000 acres

Per-Acre Cash Payment to Farmers?

Profit-sharing model reflects the changing value of a carbon credit. Landowners receive 80% of the carbon profit. Landowners can estimate ½ to 1 ton per acre of sequestered carbon, but this amount may vary based on climate, soil type, and land management practices.

What Do Your Contracts Require Farmers To Do? What Are The Terms?

Data (field boundaries, etc) must be uploaded in PastureMap. Soil and ecological testing, measurement and verification conducted by Grassroots Carbon and an independent measurement team. Participating landowners must commit to maintaining and working to improve their soil health for ten years after every year that they sell carbon.

Learn more in the AgWeb Carbon Innovation Center

From Emergency Haying and Grazing to Increased Salinity on Stock Dams, Drought Brings Challenges for Ranchers

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:36:14 GMT

Drought conditions are opening up more land for emergency haying and grazing . USDA has authorized it on Conservation Reserve Program land in more than 1,000 counties.

Last month alone, emergency haying and grazing was authorized in 196 counties with 39 counties added in just one week. Counties can request the emergency status if there’s a 40% or greater loss of forage production and are designated as being in severe drought.

The drought is also causing problems when it comes to watersheds in some parts of South Dakota. A team of researchers and students at South Dakota Mines is tracking the salinity content in 70stock dams across 12 watersheds in two northwestern counties in the state.

Their study shows an alarming trend in increased salinity. In fact, in some cases they report the salt concentrations of the water are high enough to cause adverse health effects for livestock and wildlife, and in a handful of them, they say the salinity is high enough to be lethal.

Sampling was done in Butte and Harding counties. The results show low salt levels from 2018 to 2019, but in times of drought, like this year, many stock dams began drying up and the evaporation causes increased salinity.

Stock dams are used by livestock producers across the West to make sure their animals have access to water. In northwestern South Dakota alone, there are 77,000 stock dams.