Putting Conservation Values Into Action

Scott Stone and his family have been running their cattle ranch, Yolo Land and Cattle Company, in the hills of western Yolo County for 26 years. They have put their conservation values into action, utilizing conservation practices to raise a valuable herd of natural grass-fed beef.

From Banking to Ranching
Interestingly, neither Scott nor his father, Henry Stone, started off in ranching. Originally, Henry was an agricultural banker, while Scott had been an agricultural manager and a pest control advisor. The Stones have been in agriculture full-time since buying their ranch in the mid-70’s.

Scott attributes a great deal of the many conservation practices they have implemented on their ranch to his father being “very progressive . . . and real open-minded.” This forward thinking gave the Stones a running start when consumers and producers began, about 7 years ago, to understand the ethical and economic value of treating land well. The Stones were well-positioned to sell their quality grass-fed beef for a good price in select markets and to serve as a model for like-minded landowners.

Scott and his family learned about conservation from other landowners and by reading trade journals. Scott reports that joining the Yolo County Resource Conservation District’s Board of Directors was a real turning point for him, and that his continued service on the Board has kept him up-to-date on pertinent conservation practices.

“Little Oases All Around the Ranch”
One of the conservation techniques the Stones have implemented on their land is the fencing off of riparian corridors to minimize the direct impact their cattle have on streams. While many ranchers use ponds as direct water sources (which leads to trampled ground, foul water, little vegetation, and even less wildlife), the Stones have fenced off some of their numerous ponds and use solar-powered pumps to move water from ponds into storage tanks, where the water gravity flows out to the livestock troughs. Consequently, the cattle drink better water and the remaining pond water is more palatable to wildlife.

Working with the Yolo County RCD, the NRCS, Audubon California, and SLEWS (Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship), the Stones have overseen planting of native shrubs, grasses, and trees around the ponds, creating valuable wildlife habitat which Scott sees as “little oases all around the ranch.” Rotational grazing is also an important tool at Yolo Land and Cattle, which reduces the impact of cattle on any given plot of land.

As with the ponds, Scott is particularly excited about prescribed burning, which he views as a “tremendous way to put nature back into the cycle.” Scott recognizes, “Fire is a very important tool in weed and brush control. It’s the way things evolved.” Because it is so effective, Scott anticipates increasing prescribed burning on his land.

“Time and Money Well-Spent”
According to Scott, governmental, environmental, and zoning regulations make California the hardest place to do business in the U.S.  Scott reports that for farmers and ranchers, the situation is particularly difficult because:
in agriculture . . . [y]ou produce a crop and you take whatever price they give you at the end of the year, good or bad, if you want to get the crop sold. . . . It should be like any other industry where you produce a product that people want to buy. Here’s what it costs you to produce it, you add on what you want to make for profit and that’s what you sell it for.

These hurdles haven’t kept the Stones from treating their land the way they believe is right. Scott’s goal as a rancher is to produce excellent beef cattle and to “make [this ranch] a better place.” The trick is in balancing the two; How do you make a living as a rancher and not degrade the land? For the Stones, part of the answer lies in selling to consumers educated about food and its production.

Most beef cattle in the U.S. live in pens or feed lots, are corn-fed, and therefore require large amounts of antibiotics. Corn-fed beef have more marbling, which Americans have historically prized. Now, however, there are a growing number of consumers, who want leaner beef and are willing to pay more for grass-fed beef raised in an ecologically-sensitive manner. To capitalize on this trend, Yolo Land and Cattle Company beef is marketed through the Western Grassland grass-fed beef program, and is sold primarily in the Bay Area. Scott notes that although the price for quality grass-fed beef is higher than average, customers are willing to pay for the higher quality and the knowledge of how their beef is produced.

Public education about operations like Yolo Land and Cattle is integral to the Stones’ continued success. Toward this end, Scott was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the California Rangeland Trust and he is expanding his sales with Western Grasslands Beef, which is “marketing the whole program: grass-fed beef raised in an ecologically friendly manner, in a great setting. . . . the best possible scenario for the ranch and the cattle, the wildlife, the whole thing.”

Asked if implementing conservation practices has taken a financial toll, Scott replied that the conservation “has taken a lot of time and money away from other projects, but we’re trying to leave this place better than how we found it, and over the long run [the stewardship] increases the value of the ranch and makes it a nicer place for the cattle, the wildlife, and the people. I think it’s time and money well spent.”

Any Advice?
Scott suggests that anyone interested in implementing similar conservation measures should “talk to a neighbor who’s done this and go talk to the experts at the NRCS and the RCD. It doesn’t cost you anything to have them come out and [assess] your situation.” Scott also points out that the NRCS EQIP program provides cost-sharing of up to 75%, allowing landowners to do projects that would otherwise be financially impossible.

It’s Your Choice
According to Scott, both consumers and landowners make choices that affect the land and the manner in which food is produced. Some people chose a product based on the cost. “That’s fine,” says Scott, “our product is not for them.” On the other hand, producers must decide what type of operation they want to run. “I don’t want to produce a product I don’t want to eat . . . We want to do the best job we can and do it the best way. I want to produce a product I feel good about producing and eating.”
With a gleam in his eye, Scott adds “We just went to a barbeque and had grass-fed steaks that were so good . . . That grass-fed’s just got such a good flavor, and it’s better for you.”

Article by Kate Laddish for the Yolo County RCD "Conservation Quarterly", Volume 7, Issue 1, Winter 2003.