FOR MARKET PARTNERS
Source Your Regenerative Materials & Ingredients with Growing GRASS & OHP
Join other leading brands in the pet food, apparel, and ingredients industries in partnership with Growing GRASS and OHP.
We can offer…
Access to high-quality raw materials backed by claims that the market supports.
Marketing funds and data to help communicate the benefits of regenerative grazing.
Tell us a little bit about your company and needs and we’ll be in touch to discuss the possibilities ahead!
What is the Growing GRASS project?
Growing GRASS is a research and sourcing initiative focused on traceable meat processing byproducts from regeneratively raised cattle and bison.
Even as consumer demand grows for ethically and sustainably produced goods, it can be a challenge to find regenerative-verified and traceable materials. To help companies meet this demand, Growing GRASS works with Other Half Processing (OHP), a sourcing partner for the byproducts of regeneratively raised livestock.
What are the benefits of partnering with Growing GRASS?
We seek to help market partners increase sourcing and amplify demand for higher-value, regenerative materials and ingredients.
A USDA grant funds much of our work with livestock producers, slaughterhouses, and processors to increase the supply of verified materials like hides, bones, and organs.
The grant also supports our efforts to quantify and communicate the impacts and benefits of regenerative livestock production systems.
We support our market partners in these key areas:
Procurement
As Growing GRASS streamlines regenerative verification for more producers and helps processors expand byproduct collection, access to high-quality raw materials will improve for companies in the pet food, ingredients, and apparel industries.
Sustainability Reporting
Companies and producers in our network can join efforts to gather and share information about the environmental and social impacts of regenerative grazing systems. This will include data on estimated GHG emissions and removal, as well as animal welfare, biodiversity, and producer benefits.
Marketing
With funding available to communicate the benefits of regenerative materials, Growing GRASS can help companies tell engaging, substantiated stories about the origins and environmental impacts of their regeneratively sourced products. Working with you to fulfil your marketing needs will maximize the positive impact that Growing GRASS has on the supply chain.
Ready to take the first step?
Tell us a little bit about yourself and we’ll be in touch soon to discuss your unique needs and opportunities.
Who is OHP?
Connecting Producers, Slaughterhouses, Processors, and Market Partners
Jim Kleinschmit, OHP CEO & Growing GRASS Project Administrator
Mark Kleinschmit, OHP COO & CFO
Other Half Processing (OHP) was founded by Jim & Mark Kleinschmit, brothers raised on a farm in Nebraska by early sustainable and regenerative family farm leaders.
OHP specializes in sourcing identity-preserved, high-attribute byproducts from regenerative, organic, and sustainably raised livestock.
As part of the Growing GRASS project, OHP is leading efforts across the country to increase byproduct collection from regenerative beef and bison. OHP works directly with producers, slaughterhouses, and processors to identify opportunities to build collection, traceability, and verification capacity. Companies searching for verified and traceable materials can purchase through OHP’s sourcing networks with confidence in the integrity of these products.
As a Minnesota Specific Benefit Corporation (SBC), it is OHP’s mission to promote the growth of regenerative agriculture and supply chains, operating in a way that respects animals and benefits the people who raise them.
FAQs: More About the Growing GRASS project
Building beef & bison byproduct supply chains
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Growing GRASS project seeks to establish reliable, resilient, high-value supply chains for the meat processing byproducts of regeneratively raised beef and bison, providing more climate-friendly materials for textile, pet food, and ingredients markets.
Visit our “About” page for more.
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The American Sustainable Business Institute / Network is the lead grantee and lends the project economic and policy expertise.
Through Other Half Processing, our team has proven experience in supply chain development and deep connections with key slaughterhouses, processors, producers, and market partners.
As a Minnesota Specific Benefit Corporation (SBC), it is OHP’s mission to promote the growth of regenerative agriculture and supply chains, operating in a way that respects animals and benefits the people who raise them.
Visit our “Who We Are” page for more.
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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.
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Growing GRASS is a USDA “Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities” (PCSC) project; all support for producers comes from our USDA grant.
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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.