In today’s Beef Buzz, senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays continues his conversation with Dr. Richard Watson, senior soil health and grazing specialist with American Farmland Trust. In Part One yesterday, Watson outlined the goals of the new Beef Producer Economic Resilience Initiative. Today, he explains how the Beef Grazing Network will rely on experienced producers mentoring others while creating new marketing opportunities that can continue long after the project officially ends.
Building a Producer-to-Producer Learning Network
Watson said the network is designed around the idea that producers often learn best from one another. “We want to try to build a producer network with a mentor system and mentee system,” Watson said.
The project plans to engage approximately 700 producers across participating regions, with roughly a 10-to-1 ratio of students to mentors. Watson said organizers are looking for about 60 to 70 experienced cattle producers representing a variety of production systems. “These mentors would be beef cattle operators… covering the different production types,” Watson explained. “Some for cow-calf, stocker, some that are doing direct marketing and various other things.”
Those mentors will work with producers who are just beginning to implement grazing management practices. “The idea here is that producers work best learning off other producers,” Watson said. “There’s an implicit trust there that producers gain from seeing it in action, seeing other producers in their area, in their region, doing things that they’re asking them to do, and making it work.”
He believes that peer-to-peer learning creates opportunities for both experienced and beginning producers. “That way of structuring this project in a peer-to-peer learning network creates a massive learning opportunity in the exchange of ideas and information.”
Looking Beyond Grazing to Better Marketing
While improving grazing management is a primary objective, Watson said the network could also strengthen producers’ marketing opportunities. “The network itself is also very valuable from a marketing standpoint,” Watson said. “Aggregation powers supply.”
By working together, producers may be able to improve consistency in genetics, animal type and marketing schedules, making cattle more attractive to buyers. “That cooperation and that cooperative structure can be used to find better value and work with the existing livestock markets, whether they be live animal or direct marketing of beef products,” he said.
Watson also believes the network could eventually help producers capture additional value from consumers interested in sustainably raised beef. “If we’re improving soil health, if we’re improving biodiversity… are there premiums to be had there?” Watson asked. “Are there different markets that can be developed around those claims and those traits for a more sustainable product on the supermarket shelf?”
Success Means the Network Lasts
Watson said the initiative is funded as a three- to four-year project, but success will ultimately be measured by whether the network continues after that funding ends. “Ultimately, we want something that’s robust enough to survive beyond that three or four years,” Watson said.
He emphasized that producers must see real value from participating. “The network and the project have to have value to the producer,” he said. “Whether it be improving their soils, whether improving their forage systems and biodiversity, whether it be improving their productivity and output, whether it be improving the markets and the prices they’re receiving for their animals.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR above for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
