Grass-Fed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World

Ridge Shinn is the founding CEO of Grazier LLC, a.k.a. Big Picture Beef, a 100% grass-fed beef company partnering with farmers throughout the northeastern United States. Early in his career he became interested in heritage breeds of livestock and cofounded the group now known as The Livestock Conservancy. He was also the founding director of the New England Livestock Alliance, which helped farmers find markets for their meat. In addition to managing his Devon herd in central Massachusetts, Ridge has consulted all over North America, in New Zealand, England, Uruguay, and Argentina, and for the Lakota of the Cheyenne River Reservation. His work has been recognized in Smithsonian, the Atlantic, the New York Times, and TIME magazine, which dubbed him a “carbon cowboy.” Lynne Pledger is a writer and environmental advocate. She has worked with Ridge Shinn since the early 1980s to preserve heritage livestock breeds and increase regenerative grazing in the northeastern United States. She has also worked in affiliation with NPOs—including Clean Water Action, Sierra Club, and Upstream—on public policy issues such as waste reduction, climate change, and energy. She has been a guest lecturer on sustainability issues at UMass Amherst, Smith College, Leslie University, and the Harvard School of Public Health. In addition, she homeschooled her two children and one grandchild. Now living in western Massachusetts, she is writing a book of poetry. Gabe Brown is a pioneer of the soil-health movement and has been named one of the twenty-five most influential agricultural leaders in the United States. Brown, his wife, Shelly, and son, Paul, own Brown’s Ranch, a holistic, diversified 5,000-acre farm and ranch near Bismarck, North Dakota. The Browns integrate their grazing and no-till cropping systems, which include cash crops and multi-species cover crops along with all-natural, grass-finished beef and lamb, pastured pork, and laying hens. The Brown family has received a Growing Green Award from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the USA Zero-Till Farmer of the Year Award.