Hoeven: USDA Awards $1.5 Million For Grassland, Soil Stewardship In North Dakota

Jan 15, 2015

Senator John Hoeven today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding $1.5 million for two state-level conservation projects in support of North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers. The funds are made available through the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a conferee on the 2014 farm bill conference committee, Hoeven worked with colleagues in the Senate and House to create the RCPP, which combines four existing programs into streamlined, efficient support for rural water management, conservation, agricultural research, rural development and energy programs.

“Our farmers and ranchers know their land well and have long been good stewards,” Hoeven said. “We have worked to provide them with the tools, research and partnerships they need to develop new approaches to caring for and making the best use of their land. These funds will support innovative activities to ensure the quality of our natural resources for farmers and ranchers now and in the future.”

Details for the two awards are as follows:

Medora Grazing Association – $800,000 – This award supports the association’s North Billings Prairie Grasslands Conservation Project, which uses a collaborative approach with ranchers to implement new conservation practices and grazing strategies on the National Grasslands under the management of the U.S. Forest Service.
Northern Plains Resource Conservation & Development – $700,000 – This award supports a partnership of agriculture producers with soil conservation districts, NRCS and North Dakota State University personnel to evaluate new techniques of adopting cover crops to improve soil health.

Source:senate.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.