Ranching that is regenerative, profitable, and climate-smart

Grasslands Alliance

An Emerging Standard for Beef Cattle and Bison Ranching

Chefs, consumers, and retailers increasingly want to know if our beef came from well-managed ranches and farms. Meanwhile, ranchers and farmers want more information on how to produce more “sustainable” beef, and how to prove that they have done so. Yet there has been no way to recognize such beef in the marketplace and no standard that covers the diverse concerns of buyers who want to support “sustainable” rangeland and pasture management. Until now.

The Grasslands Alliance developed the first certification standard for beef cattle and bison ranching and farming in North America that is comprehensive, supporting all three pillars of sustainability: People, Planet, and Prosperity. The standard guides continuous improvement on ranches and farms. Certification recognizes grazing operations that protect our environment and public health; maintain high animal welfare; and treat ranchers, farmers, and workers fairly.

The Grasslands Alliance is a NGO-managed nonprofit, multi-stakeholder initiative rooted in collaboration. We develop partnerships with producers, commercial buyers, conservationists, and advocacy organizations. We are linking ranchers and farmers who are using exemplary stewardship practices with the retailers, chefs and consumers who want to purchase more sustainable beef.

Livestock graze half of the land in the continental United States. That’s an area six times the size of Texas. If all cattle ranches and farms were sustainably managed, the benefits would be vast and wide-reaching. The Grasslands Alliance envisions cattle ranching that is regenerative, adaptive, profitable, and climate-smart. Implementing the Grasslands Alliance standard will:

  • conserve ecosystems, biodiversity, soil health and water;

  • curtail pollution;

  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions;

  • maintain high animal welfare;

  • help protect public health;

  • support rural communities;

  • produce traceable, high-quality beef; and

  • empower businesses and consumers to recognize and reward producers of beef from certified well-managed ranches and farms.

Download the Grasslands Alliance Standard

The Standard

This standard is being developed through an ongoing inclusive, transparent, multi-stakeholder process following the ISEAL code of good practice in setting standards. Multiple ranchers have contributed their wisdom, while scientists and technical experts spanning the ecological, economic, and land management fields have rigorously reviewed drafts. Final decisions about the Grasslands Alliance standard and certification process will be made by the Grasslands Alliance Board of Directors, guaranteeing that the standard is objective, credible, market-smart, and science-driven. As part of the Grasslands Alliance’s certification process, experienced, trained inspectors will use clear protocols proven by the Food Alliance and the Rainforest Alliance to conduct audits of ranches and farms. The certification process will also mirror those systems.

Pilot Testing and Public Consultation

In fall 2015, the Grasslands Alliance piloted the standard on three ranches totaling more than 1 million acres across different U.S. regions. In response to what we learned, we adjusted the standard’s criteria and indicators. Ranchers also provided feedback about what they value and think needs improvement in the standard, as well as about the types of support programs, guidance resources, and knowledge-sharing tools that enable producers to continuously improve their operations toward and beyond certification.

The Grasslands Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN): A Partnership for International Beef Supply Chains

The Grasslands Alliance and Sustainable Agriculture Network standards are aligned. Thus, wherever a supply chain sources beef—from the tropics to the United States and Canada—the operations meet similar criteria, adapted to local climate, environmental, economic, and social conditions. This alignment enables commercial buyers, chefs, and consumers to purchase certified beef from domestic and/or international sources with full sustainability assurance.

 
 

Contact us with questions about certification and what a partnership could entail.

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Learn more about Grasslands Alliance

  • The Grasslands Alliance’s mission is to conserve grasslands and their biodiversity; sustain productive, resilient grazing lands; enable North American ranchers and farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change; and protect public health. We achieve this by synthesizing traditional ranching wisdom with modern science; sparking management innovation; encouraging continuous improvement; and aligning the values of beef producers, buyers, and consumers.

  • The Grasslands Alliance envisions cattle ranching that is regenerative, adaptive, profitable, and climate-smart. More sustainable ranching generates benefits that include:

    • conserving ecosystems, biodiversity, soil health, and water;

    • preventing pollution;

    • reducing greenhouse gas emissions;

    • maintaining high animal welfare;

    • protecting public health;

    • supporting rural communities; and

    • producing traceable, high-quality beef.

    Through the transparency created by the Grasslands Alliance’s programs, businesses and consumers are empowered to recognize and reward producers of beef from certified well-managed ranches and farms.

  • The Grasslands Alliance is a multi-stakeholder initiative. We are eager to learn, hear different perspectives, and incorporate new ideas. We are working with current and potential partners and other stakeholders to determine a long-term structure for the organization’s governance.

    The Grasslands Alliance was founded by the Food Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Rainforest Alliance with support from other nonprofit organizations, ranchers and farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders. The Grasslands Alliance is currently managed by the Food Alliance.

    We also wish to recognize the contributions of the Sustainable Agriculture Network.

  • The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) first defined sustainable agriculture in the tropics in the early 1990s. Its rigorous and comprehensive standard is used on more than 2 million farms in 45 countries. In fact, the Rainforest Alliance certification is based on this standard. The Food Alliance developed a similar standard for ranching and farming in the United States, certifying hundreds of operations covering more 5 million acres of agricultural lands. In addition, there are standards that focus on specific issues, such as grass-fed, organic, and animal welfare.

    In 2012, NRDC began researching standards for more sustainable livestock production in the United States. NRDC first reviewed the best science to identify the most important impacts of poor management, and better management practices (BMPs) that can remedy each impact. In the process, NRDC consulted with dozens of stakeholders—from ranchers and extension specialists to corporate beef buyers and nonprofit advocates—to understand the economic and social barriers to improving ranch and farm management.

    NRDC then evaluated existing ranch and farm certification programs and found that most standards address only a small subset of supply chain impacts. Food Alliance emerged as the most comprehensive standard for U.S. crops and livestock, but showed limited market uptake. The SAN standard used by Rainforest Alliance was comprehensive and is growing quickly, but only covers ranches and farms in tropical regions outside the United States and Canada.

    In response, NRDC teamed up with both the Food Alliance and the Rainforest Alliance to form the Grasslands Alliance. This new program accounts for the health of grassland ecosystems and wildlife, how ranchers and farmers grow grass and feed crops, and whether cattle are treated humanely and workers are treated fairly. In addition, it incentivizes ranchers and farmers to adopt cutting-edge, climate-smart strategies.

  • Grasslands Alliance Certification: Grazing operations can be certified when they meet the Grasslands Alliance standard’s critical criteria, score high enough overall on remaining criteria, and commit to additional improvements before the next audit in the three-year cycle. Ranches and farms that earn the certification can market their beef products with the Grasslands Alliance’s seal of approval so that buyers and consumers can recognize them. Restaurants, retailers, and other beef buyers can employ the seal to convey their sustainability commitment to other businesses, stakeholders, and customers. The Grasslands Alliance’s certification mark is currently under development.

    Enabling Producers to Achieve Stepwise Continuous Improvement Goals: Sustainability is the goal, and earning certification is a milestone to celebrate. The Grasslands Alliance understands that many operations will need time and support to achieve certification. Producers should benefit at every step along the way. Those who do not yet qualify for certification and corporate buyers who seek to improve their supply chains can partner with the Grasslands Alliance to achieve step-wise continuous improvement goals. For example, completing the Grasslands Alliance application helps ranchers and farmers assess the current status of their natural resource base, identify improvement opportunities, and develop a better ranch or farm management plan to implement the improvements. Entry into the program brings producers to the attention of commercial buyers who are planning their beef supply chain sustainability and procurement strategies. The standard will serve as a guide to continuous improvement, and the Grasslands Alliance will provide assistance, information, and peer support during each step of the journey toward sustainability.

    Enabling Buyers to Achieve Beef Supply Chain Sustainability Goals: The Grasslands Alliance can help commercial buyers and brands manage risks and opportunities in their beef supply chains, benchmark their own sustainable sourcing guidelines against the standard, and develop accurate and transparent claims about more sustainable beef. The program will underwrite marketing claims with independent, third-party, sustainability certification.

  • Ranchers and farmers can use the Grasslands Alliance’s programs to improve their operations’ productivity, climate resilience, and efficiencies of input use, and to differentiate their products in the marketplace. The standard serves as a comprehensive “one-stop shop” that enables producers to address key environmental, public health, animal welfare, and social issues in one audit. The Grasslands Alliance’s programs provide a platform to access new markets; gain valuable technical assistance; and build relationships with leading retail and restaurant buyers, like-minded producers, conservation groups, and government agencies.

    Brands and institutional buyers can use the Grasslands Alliance’s programs as a ready-made solution to their customer assurance and supply chain management needs; to benchmark and improve their procurement policies; and to boost brand reputation, sales, and customer loyalty by accurately and transparently conveying their sustainability commitment to consumers. The standard provides buyers with a structured comprehensive framework for working with producers in their supply chains to implement locally appropriate better practices. It serves as an across-the-board solution that enables buyers to address the environmental, public health, animal welfare, and social risks in their beef supply chains via one trusted program.

    Consumers can reward more sustainably produced beef—and, by extension, better land and livestock management—by looking for the Grasslands Alliance certification mark, which ensures that the beef they are about to enjoy was produced on ranch or farm grazing operations that meet rigorous standards covering broad environmental, public health, animal welfare, and social issues of concern. The certification mark enables them to cut through the confusing array of sustainable beef marketing claims and make purchasing decisions based on one label they can trust.

    Conservationists can use the Grasslands Alliance’s programs to recognize and reward their ranching partners via the beef marketplace, and to help design and manage initiatives to conserve our grassland natural heritage and the valuable benefits that it provides to society. The program can incentivize climate-smart ranching strategies, regenerate rangelands and pastures, and promote improvements in public policy. The standard and guidance materials synthesize generations-worth of ranching experience with the latest and best science, ensuring that conservationists are recommending the most advanced and locally appropriate better management systems and practices. Certification will bring an array of benefits to producers, incentivizing them to be partners in conservation.

Our mission is to conserve grasslands and their biodiversity