The Growing GRASS project aims to get farmers, ranchers, and herders of regeneratively raised beef and bison a higher value and more use out of their livestock. We’ll do this by establishing reliable, resilient, high-value supply chains for meat processing byproducts like hides and organs, providing more climate-friendly materials for leather, ingredient, and pet food markets. 

For anyone raising cattle and bison, this project will make it easier to enter certified regenerative markets, creating a sustainable income stream.

At the center of our project is the Generalized Regenerative Agriculture Sourcing Specification tool, or GRASS. GRASS is a verification and traceability system created to allow farmers, herders, and ranchers to use existing and diverse inspections (such as the American Grassfed Association, Audubon, and Regenerative Organic Certified) to minimize costs and be eligible for multiple value-added markets. 

Using GRASS, our project team seeks to enable more livestock producers and processors to collect, process, and sell hides and byproducts with credible “regenerative” claims, increasing profits and market pathways.

Not yet certified or using regenerative grazing practices? We still want to hear from you! 

Growing GRASS is looking for producers who… 

• Have or rent land and are able to make long-term decisions about which practices to deploy. 

• Are helping lead community or tribal-owned or -operated regenerative grazing operations.

• Are interested in or are already utilizing regenerative grazing practices and systems.

• Are interested in getting their operation’s regenerative practices verified or certified,  or have already done so. 

• Have or are willing to get their operation registered under USDA. (This is not required for participation in GRASS markets, but would be necessary to receive USDA grant funding support). 

• Do not operate a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO).

At least 25% of our grant funding is designated to benefit producers who have been historically underserved by USDA, with a special focus on Indigenous farmers, ranchers, and herders.

There are a couple ways you can benefit from the Growing GRASS project. 

#1: Compensation for Grant Project Partners: Once you’ve filled out the initial, short screening survey, you may be invited to partner with our project team and share information confidentially with our researchers over the phone or online. 

In exchange, you may receive some or all of the following support over the life of the grant: 

• Direct payments of $500 per year for taking the time to respond to questions and share information confidentially with our research team

• Reduction in cost to get your operation verified under GRASS

• Technical assistance for regenerative grazing systems

• Subsidy payments tied to byproduct values

#2: Access to Markets: If our project isn’t the right fit for your operation, you can still benefit by staying in touch with Growing GRASS. As we build out logistics, streamline supply chains, and identify buyers for the processing byproducts of beef and bison, we will pass that information along to all the producers in our network.

Farmers, herders, and ranchers are increasingly adopting regenerative livestock grazing systems in order to attain a wide array of benefits for their operations, including:

• Improved soil health.

• Improved water infiltration and holding capacity.

• Increased grass and forage production.

• Soil carbon sequestration.

• Reduced off-farm inputs.

And when meat and other products from animals raised under these systems are verified,  consumers have shown they are willing to pay more, which can contribute to even greater profitability for the producer.

Growing GRASS is a USDA “Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities” (PCSC) project; all support for producers comes from our USDA grant.

Our project approach is farmer, rancher, and herder-centric and beneficial, market- and community-driven, and adaptive, emergent, and responsive.

Stewardship: We believe the work of this project will encourage more producers to adopt and verify regenerative practices, which are not only good for the climate and producer profitability, but also increase fertility, soil water holding capacity, and overall resiliency in the face of increasing risk of drought and floods. 

Equity: We honor the Indigenous origins of regenerative agriculture, and also also acknowledge that unequal access to land, credit, and other resources have led to vast disparities across our systems of food production. At least 25% of our grant funding is designated to benefit producers who have been historically underserved by USDA, with a special focus on Indigenous farmers, ranchers and herders,

Collaboration: We can achieve the most meaningful and long-lasting change when we work together. The success of this project will be measured by the success of the large and diverse regenerative farmer and rancher community, and their meat company and value chain partners.