How to Build a Sustainable Cattle Operation and Why You Should Do It

Steve Wooten joins the show from Colorado to share his family’s story about making improvements on their ranch to make it more sustainable. Steve and his wife Joy are the fourth generation on their operation and are in the cow-calf business with their Red Angus-based herd. Steve shares what a sustainable ranch looks like from a workload and financial perspective along with different management practices that also improve the environment.

Business Sustainability

Steve shares his story of coming back to the ranch and realizing that he would be the first generation that would not be able to live solely off the cattle income with multiple generations on the ranch. They live remotely and having one person work in town is not very feasible or the lifestyle they wanted to live. So, Wootens have developed several income streams through hosting vacations, having artists come to teach on the land and selling landscaping stones.

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is a topic that consumers care about along with many cattle producers. Steve breaks sustainability down into the social side, financial and environmental sides. His definition of sustainability is “Sustainability is telling the story of what multiple generations have been doing on the ground, that involves the land, the vegetation, the water, the air, and the wildlife as well as the livestock that we care for, and we raise on a daily basis.”

Wooten urges fellow cattle producers to think about how we can share our own unique stories in a 30-second elevator pitch because we do more than just raise cattle. We are raising cattle all across the United States in diverse ecosystems and improving the environment while we do it.

The Future of Cattle Production

Building a sustainable operation will look different for each person. Wooten says it is important to bring in people with an outside perspective who can deep-dive your business structure and offer input on what changes can be made. He is also excited about how genomic testing of commercial cattle will allow cattle producers to select for more efficient cattle that meet the goals of their operations. Sustainability is not something to be scared of. It is something we need to embrace and use as a tool to connect with the consumer and share the truth about the beef story.