Organic to Regenerative

When I was growing up my family's organic farm I dreaded the nearly inevitable weed infestation that happens when you don't use chemicals for weed control. Try as we might every year our weed problem got worse until we realized our land was trying to teach us. We finally realized weeds were growing because they were the most successful competitors in the field. It was up to us to find a crop more competitive than corn and soybean and more useful than weeds.

That solution turned out to this problem was pretty simple; what we needed was grass. This was that missing piece in our little agri-ecosystem. Every ecosystem needs diversity, and we had been lacking it. Bringing grass and other perennial forages into it, allowed the land to regenerate and build new soil so it can provide food for years to come.

A Wider Problem

While grazing is still practiced on a large scale on dry and infertile land, the richest soils are relentlessly cropped with fieldcrops like corn or soybeans. This wouldn't be possible without the use of agri-chemicals, and even with their help soils are slowly degrading. Why is this? Prennial forages have a unique ability to build soils. Forages cover soils, thereby protecting them inevitable erosion that wears away on tilled cropland. Meanwhile the grazing animals generously donate their manure which is readily incorporated into the soil by earthworms and an army of beneficial bugs.

This creates a system literally pulls CO2 and Nitrogen from the air and builds soils capable of sustaining people and animals for years to come. At the same time it can provide the most nutrient dense meat in the human diet - grassfed beef. So why isn't this approach more common? It requires a mindshift from the industrial input driven agriculture that is ubiquitous in North America. Fortunately there is a growing movement toward regenerative agriculture through the work of people like Gabe Brown, Joel Salatin, and Allan Savory. At St Isidore ranch we're blessed to be standing on the shoulders of giants as we do our little part in this great shift.

Be a Part of the Solution ( and eat like a king )

Sounds great, but why does it matter to you? As a consumer you can be a part of this shift by buying local, regeneratively raised meat. With St Isidore Ranch you can enjoy premium grassfed beef while knowing that you are choosing a better future at the same time.