Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays is talking with Jared Knock, the Vice President of Business Development at Ag Spire, about how cattle producers can profit from sustainability plans.
While Knock is not working with Oklahoma producers just yet, he talks about what the future can look like for producers across the U.S. He said producers can learn about different sustainability programs by visiting https://thesustainagnetwork.com/ .
“One of those is a project where we are looking to enroll 300 ranches in South Dakota, North Dakota, and surrounding states over the next five years,” Knock said. “It involves an incentive premium for calves, it involves cost-share mechanisms and technical assistance for forage plantings, cover crop plantings, rangeland plantings, and prescribed grazings.”
Knock said there are several different opportunities provided by Ag Spire to add revenue and practices that are beneficial to cow-calf operations with built-in incentives.
“To qualify for a program that we are doing, you have to be a grazing rancher,” Knock said. “Your cattle have to be out grazing at least six months out of the year.”
These programs are designed for the ranchers who rely extensively on grazing, Knock said, and they must commit to about 200 acres per year of regenerative seedings such as forest planting, range planting or cover cropping.
“If you are a smaller operation, that can be reduced down to no more than about 10 percent of your total acres,” Knock said.
Ultimately, Knock said a diversified cow-calf operation is the epitome of what the consumer and a company will define as regenerative.
“We upcycle nutrients, we have diverse crop rotations and land uses, we maintain biodiversity and native vegetation better than any of their supply chain,” Knock said. “Ultimately, I know it has been a little bit rough for the beef sector in the sustainability arena, but as they are getting more refined and dialed into what they are looking to support, especially circular systems of cycling nutrients and maintaining biodiversity, I think cow-calf operations look like an ideal opportunity for them to get engaged in.”
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