How Grass-Fed, American Ranching Regenerates Land, Communities, and People

Carrie Balkcom grew up on a cow-calf ranching operation in rural Florida. Raising calves for sale, she said few people thought about whether their beef was grass-fed, but that was during a time when local American farms were still the bedrock of many communities.

Today, many of those farms have been lost to large, industrialized operations—or outcompeted by overseas production—and this change has had a ripple of consequences for American communities, consumers, and land.

“My great-great-grandfather came to the United States on a cattle boat from Spain,” Balkcom told IW Features. “My grandfather raised cattle… My great uncles were both dairymen, big dairymen.”

Balkcom has continued her family’s business and watched the world of farming change—and consumers’ preferences with it. Many people are now waking up to the importance of where their food comes from and how it’s raised, she said.

“The government… put out a ‘grass-fed’ label claim that said you could feed 20% grain, confine them…, give them antibiotics and hormones, and [still] say ‘grass-fed,’” Balkcom explained. “We went, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. That’s probably not what everybody thinks about when they’re thinking about grass-fed.’”