Help Colorado Ranchers Help Colorado Ecosystems.
Why?
Allied Beef was founded to bridge the gap between Colorado’s urban and rural populations through one delicious common interest - beef.
As native Coloradans, the need for a solution became stark with the passage of Proposition 114 to reintroduce wolves to the Colorado landscape. How do we balance these two ideals?
Restoring, protecting and maintaining ecological integrity & open space for Colorado’s wildlife
Protecting the livelihoods and economic viability of ranchers so that they can continue to be a part of Colorado’s landscape in perpetuity
Answer: Colorado Allied Beef!
How?
Colorado Allied Beef is the mechanism by which beef producers, retailers and consumers can vote with their dollars to support our local ranchers, wildlife, and environment. Our product is affordable and ubiquitous for the average consumer; flexible and innovative for our ranchers.
For only ~$0.25 per lb of beef purchased, we can support our ranchers and encourage environmental stewardship practices on ranches across the country.
Ranchers can participate in the label program through a menu of stewardship options that earn credits under the label. Ranchers choose which options are right for their operation and are paid out according to how beneficial their suite of stewardship practices are for ecosystems and wildlife. Many ranches are already implementing a variety of tremendous stewardship practices. Allied Beef incentivizes the continuity and sustained improvement of these beneficial practices.
Advantages
Practicality - Other beef labels (think organic, grass-finished, etc.) have inflexible standards for producers. At times these standards are counterproductive - adding unnecessary costs to production and counterintuitively contributing to environmental degradation via a one-size-fits-all approach.
Affordability - Our credit system bypasses traditional boutique beef label practices so that all consumers have the ability to support great ranching techniques. Traditional beef labels have to pay everyone down the beef supply chain - ranchers, feedlots, quality assurance companies, slaughterhouses, meat-packers etc. Thus consumers are shelling out large sums for stewardship but ranchers, the ones who actually implement on-ground solutions, are only seeing a small portion of the overall increased value of their beef.
Accessibility - If we want the best possible outcomes for conservation, ranchers, and all Coloradans, compensation for better ranching needs to be accessible to more ranchers. The upfront costs to convert an operation to other “sustainable” labeling systems is prohibitive to many ranchers. Allied Beef leaves it to ranchers to choose which stewardship practices are cost effective for them and incentivizes improvement over time. The better stewardship ranchers practice, the more they are compensated. We do not sacrifice improvement for perfection.
Simplicity - The crux of our business is the simplification of compensating ranchers. Instead of tracking a cow from birth to slaughter which requires expensive tracking, slaughterhouse reservations, and custom supply chain solutions, we go to our ranchers directly for their livestock bills of sale. The bills of sale tell us exactly how many pounds were gained by our rancher’s cattle. Allied Beef then coordinates with our grocer partners to sell the corresponding amount of beef under our label. Thus, when you buy Allied Beef from one of our grocery partners, the small premium goes straight into the hands of our ranchers instead of expensive supply chain middlemen.