Ranching benefits people, landscapes, and ecology

Sometimes it’s hard to cut through the noise around ranching and beef production.

At Allied Beef, we aim for an objective perspective…

When viewed through a balanced lens, it’s clear Colorado ranchers and consumers can benefit from one another in many ways.

Carbon Storage

Healthy rangelands are imperative for carbon storage. Native grasses have deep, extensive roots systems that soak up carbon from the atmosphere. If rangelands are turned into croplands, those carbon benefits disappear. Cash crops have shallow root systems, and a limited ability to store carbon in the soil. Essentially, healthy, balanced ecosystems store more carbon.

Spacious Views

Ranches are integral parts of some of the most iconic views in Colorado. Without ranches some of our most beautiful scenery would disappear beneath housing developments. Ranches preserve the open spaces that make our state so gorgeous!

American Made

Buying from Land Steward Beef ensures you are supporting beef produced in ecosystems well suited for cattle. In fact, Colorado has some of the best landscapes for cattle-rearing in the world. Unfortunately, in the US, we import beef increasingly from countries deforesting tropical rainforests for beef production. Buying Allied Beef is a great way to ensure your dollars are supporting American ranchers utilizing ecosystems tailormade for grazing animals.

Water Quality and Flood Control

Native vegetation on ranches helps prevent erosion. The deep roots of native plants hold soil in place and soak up precipitation like a sponge during our rain events. The deep roots of our native plants also open space deep in the soil for water to seep in and recharge our aquifers. Conversely, conventional croplands are more susceptible to erosion and run-off due to the shallow root systems of cash crops.

Biodiversity

Ranches preserve natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Instead of plowing up native vegetation to plant crops, or developing that land for homes, ranches preserve natural landscapes. By leaving native vegetation in the ground, ranchers preserve sources of food and shelter our native species rely on.

Utilizing Marginal Land

Ranchland landscapes are largely constituted of poorly suited climate and ecosystems for raising crops. There is simply not enough water to grow cash crops in many areas of the country. So, what do we do with those lands? Well, ranches can transform grass into food. Cows are ready made tools to turn Colorado’s otherwise unusable natural vegetation into protein for human consumption. Pretty cool. Bottom line, without cattle, a large portion of Colorado would be unproductive agricultural land.

Wildfire Control

As grazers, cattle tend to decrease the number of shrubs and increase the number of grasses present on a landscape. This is important because shrubs are a ladder fuel for forest fires. A shrubland fire can easily jump into the tree canopy whereas a grassland fire is typically lower intensity and more accurately reflects historic fires on many Colorado landscapes.

Rangeland Health

Grazers are a natural and essential part of many landscapes in Colorado. While bison traditionally filled that niche, cattle are a great stand-in. When deployed correctly, grazing animals like cattle help cycle nutrients in rangelands. As forage moves through a cow’s digestive system, it’s broken down into a beneficial form, fertilizing plants and adding needed nutrients to the soil.