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Photos from the Ranch This Week…

Spring is beginning to hit the ranch, and with it comes some wild weather and the beginnings of some green grass poking its way upward. There is not enough grass to graze yet, so we are still feeding a fresh round of green hay to the herd each day. Here, the mama cows are enjoying some of that daily feeding! You can see by the rounded shapes of these cows that they are nearing calving time–we will begin to calve in earnest at the beginning of May.

Though most of the mama cows won’t have their babies until May and even June, there were a few cows we purchased last fall that have calved this month! We normally prefer a later spring calving. Calving in the winter or even March can be risky due to the unpredictable weather. If a calf is born during a cold spell, there is a chance of labor difficulties or even that the calf will freeze to death before it can get up to get warm by nursing. It’s simply easier on both mom and baby to calve without the complications of weather. However, we were lucky with these few March-calving cows that we purchased! Each of those calves were born on a warm day and got up and nursing quickly! The few calves we have out there are all doing well and are very healthy!

Speaking of “calves,” that white-faced one in the foreground is a “calf” from last year. This calf is about 9 months old now. You can see that her body is evenly filled out with fat, she’s got a good thick fur cover, and she has no pot-belly. We’re very happy with how last spring’s calves look right now. They are looking robust and very healthy! We made some choices in how we raised these calves that are very outside of the conventional methods of the cattle industry. A lot of ranchers out there would call us crazy, but the proof is in the results: we’ve had almost no calves get any kind of sickness and they’re all bigger & fatter than average for their age. It makes us happy to see them doing so well!

We left the ranch for a couple days this past week to head to Sun Valley, Idaho, where the film Common Ground was showing. Alderspring is featured in a short segment of the film! Glenn spoke on a panel after the movie (in the photo above). The topics discussed included what the future of regenerative agriculture looks like (Glenn’s answer: it comes down to people, relationships between consumers and producers, and mentoring the next generation), the mechanics of how regenerative grazing works on the ground (simply put, it comes down to short duration grazing with plenty of time for pastures to fully recover), and how raising food correctly really does impact human health. It was great to see a packed theater!

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Dear Friends

We had a meeting this week with the government. There were Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Idaho Fish and Game representatives there along with most of the Alderspring crew. We all picked this lovely spring day to descend on the conference room in Salmon, Idaho.

We spent much of the meeting going through my “State of the Range” address. It was a 125 slide powerpoint that basically told the story of what is going on with the 70 square miles of grazing range we call Hat Creek. The government owns the land; we lease it and care-take it. 

It’s likely the largest contiguous block of Certified Organic land in the country, and probably the world. At last count, 1% of all acres certified in the US is on Alderspring private and lease ground. 

We meet with the agencies because they, like us, are very engaged about the resources up there. They team with us in the evaluation and management of critical habitats, and to help us ensure that we stay organic. They understand it is important to us…and our customers. 

As I left another successful partners meeting, I thought of the other agency who partners with us; it’s Idaho State Dept of Agriculture. Each year, they come with us on a 2 day tour, looking at our operation with intense scrutiny to ensure we are following the rules of Organic. In addition, we are Real Organic Project certified, an independent private label that ensures that our operation actually exceeds organic in areas where the National Organic Program has deviated from the original intent and spirit of the law.

The slippage of deviation happens. I know that sounds matter-of-fact, but political winds eventually erode nearly every policy or law. It’s just reality. Sure, we can caterwaul and scream about it, but I like to think it is what is; lobbyists in DC are incredibly powerful at hand-greasing, wine-and-dining, and back scatching to cause legistators to allow USDA weakening of some of the rules to the great benefit of corporate organic ag.

The privately-run Real Organic organization stepped in as a way to verify that organic practitioners are following the original 1980s intent of the rules. This includes practices such as increasing soil organic matter and keeping the food we produce 100% chemical free, while taking care of workers (fair wages) and broader ecosystems.

Both sets of these inspections (both USDA’s organic inspection and Real Organic’s) are real, all-encompassing, and sometimes stressful. It’s because there is so much ground to look at and practices to assess. It’s not like we would ever “cheat,” (we are not looking for shortcuts at Alderspring) but sometimes we’ll forget to document something that they want to see, like capturing a “before” picture of a swept and blown-clean truck bed that was used to haul our organic hay, or a photo of clean swather blades before it cut our hay. It’s a lot to think about. We’ve always got to have an “inspectable” mindset in all we do. 

It’s a lot, and toward people who dismiss organic as nonsense, I can get angry. It is expensive (last year certification costs were higher than ever) and intense (my organic systems plan was over 125 pages last year). The inspections look at everything from wildlife habitat to ensuring adequate no-spray buffers along my neighbor’s parcels. 

Why do we do it? That’s simple. I think it’s too much to ask of our partners (customers) to blindly trust us. Too often, we see competitors say that claim they are “beyond organic” when they really have no idea about what it takes to be organic in the first place. It is just plain ignorant of them to even use the word. So for those of you who have no reason to trust us, this 3rd party verification, along with the Real Organic inspection on top of it, says you can.

For a quick on-the-ground look at what inspection looks like, check out this short note I wrote about it at the link below.

Happy Trails

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And that’s it for this week!

Thanks again for partnering in what we do!

Glenn, Caryl, cowgirls and cowboys at Alderspring.

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We’ve been crafting our pastured protein here in Idaho’s Rocky Mountains for nearly 30 years and delivering it direct to our partners for nearly as long. This is wild wellness, delivered from our ranch to your door.

Your partnership with alderspring directly supports our mission to improve soil health, wildlife habitat, and animal and human wellness through regenerative ranching practices.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished with your help & support in just the last 12 years!