The Grass is Greener on the Other Side – Developing Resilient Beef and Bison Commodities
Growing U.S. Beef and Bison Market Resiliency
Grazing beef cattle and bison are key to healthy grassland ecosystems and provide the most nutrient-dense source of protein available for human consumption. Grazing action promotes improved soil health and carbon storage. This project seeks to 1) engage beef and bison producers in regenerative land management practices by providing incentives and customized technical assistance; 2) conduct research to generate the data needed by beef and bison producers to position themselves for future market opportunities; and 3) develop partnerships across the beef and bison industries to enable long-term market strategies. This project directly engages producers and compensates them for implementing practices proven to benefit agriculture. Our overall goal is to help ensure the resiliency of U.S. agriculture and its producers.
This project is generously funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Goals
The long-term goal of this project is to develop market opportunities for live beef and bison commodities that are produced on operations using regenerative land management practices. The specific goals are:
- Quantify, monitor and verify carbon cycle benefits that come from employing various regenerative land management practices on beef and bison ranches.
- Guide and educate producers on the practices that are best suited to their operations.
- Manage data generated across ranches to inform management decisions and position producers to enter into new market opportunities.
- Initiate novel beef and bison commodity markets that will reward producers for implementing regenerative land management practices.
Producer Enrollment
Project Partners
The Cottonwood Field Station was established in 1907 by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at South Dakota State University. It initially consisted of 640 acres that the station headquarters are located today.
