3 Ways We Support Small, Regenerative, Family Bison Ranchers in the USA

Long before we had any property or acreage ourselves, we aspired to support American regenerative ranching.  Before we could afford or even consider having any land of our own, we aimed to ingratiate ourselves with the regenerative ranching community by tying our own business interests in with those of other regenerative ranches.  Read more below to see how!

1) Intentional & Unparalleled Sourcing

Our sourcing is everything to us.  We truly believe that of all the liver and organ supplement companies that exist today, that ours is truly the most intentionally designed and produced available.  We work directly with ranchers, and require that all ranches we source from are 100% grass-fed and finished, that the bison are allowed to fully express their bison-ness, and that the ranchers utilize some regenerative agricultural techniques.  These may include rotational grazing, holistic pasture management, ecological integration, field-harvesting, and other such techniques.  We also require that our ranches do not utilize glyphosate or atrazine in their pastures.  By keeping our sources close, small, and family-run, we can ensure integrity and that there's no funny business going on.  The smaller the ranch, the more accessible the ranchers, and more likely they are to have an honest conversation with us about exactly how their land and animals are stewarded.

2) Continuous Conversations

We work with the same ranches year after year, and continually discuss what they are doing on their properties, and how they might improve.  Given that we are so connected to our customers, we have a pulse on the market demand and what consumers want.  We know that you (and we) want 100% grass-fed and finished bison, from happy animals that live good lives.  We do not want bison that receive their grass in a warehouse on a conveyor belt!  We discuss regenerative ranching and other marketable techniques with the ranchers to encourage them to utilize long-term strategies to improve land health and productivity--which is directly tied to both animal and human health and productivity.  We truly believe that if we, as a society, want healthy and happy humans--it begins with the land and Earth that the humans are situated on.  So, we keep conversations going with our ranchers to ensure they are aware of the desires of consumers. This creates an integrated system with healthy land, happy animals, and healthy & happy consumers!

3) Incentivization

We do our best to incentivize best practices, by paying more for bison-based materials that come from higher-integrity ranches.  We do not purchase the cheapest liver with "100% grass-fed" on the label, but instead do our due diligence and research, and have paid as much as 2x for bison materials with higher levels of certifications.  Monetary incentivization is essentially a way to vote with our dollars.  When we buy bison for a premium because it has certain certifications and practices associated with it, we are sending a message to ranchers doing things the right way that "Yes, we want you to do more of this!  Even if it costs you and us more--we are willing to pay for things done the right way."  This is the message that we want to send to ranchers, and to the future generation.  We want our own children to do things the right way, not the quick and lucrative way.  Why would we hold our children and ranchers to different standards?

Key Takeaways & Conclusion

• We pride ourselves on sourcing the absolute highest quality bison around.  This also means the happiest bison, from the healthiest and best managed land in the country.  We support land stewards, not mere ranchers.

• We discuss our desires and wants, and those of our customers with our ranching partners.  We are the link in the chain between ranchers and consumers.  Being consumers ourselves, we know deeply what customers want, and communicate this to ranchers so that they can make changes in their own practices that are in alignment with happy Earth, happy bison, and happy people.

• We leverage monetary incentives to encourage ranchers to produce the highest quality and highest integrity product possible.  Healthy humans begin with healthy land, which is in turn produced by land stewards and small, family regenerative ranchers here in the USA.

• We want a better world for our children.  We encourage our children to do the right thing, even if it is less lucrative and it takes longer.  We should demand the same from our ranchers--however, we must also be willing to pay for it.  If we go buy the cheaper alternative that wasn't produced with integrity, what message do we send to ranchers?  What message do we send to future generations?  What message do we send to our own children?