Panel discussion features some of California’s most engaged women working on the front lines of animal agriculture
“What happens in the day-to-day operation of a ranch?”
“How do you protect your livestock and promote animal welfare?”
“What environmental and conservation practices are you doing on your ranch that are sustainable?”
“What are the benefits of raising cattle for beef and dairy products?”
When people have questions about how food actually gets to the table, where they get their answers is important. Each year, the California Beef Council (CBC) invites retail and foodservice professionals to get answers to their questions firsthand—from the people who actually raise cattle for beef and dairy products in California. These Pasture to Plate Beef Tours bring food industry professionals face-to-face with beef and dairy producers in multiple segments of the supply chain. Recently, the CBC hosted 18 members of the foodservice team for Southern California’s largest theme park.
“Tour attendees represent culinary, sourcing, and sustainability teams,” said Christie Van Egmond, CBC’s Director of Retail and Foodservice Marketing. “This tour provides an inside look at the beef supply chain and gives our tour guests a chance to learn more about wholesome, nutritious beef by interacting with the people who raise beef cattle and operate dairy farms in California.”
One of the most anticipated events at last week’s CBC Pasture to Plate tour was the FarmHER & RancHER panel, a lively discussion featuring some of California’s most engaged women working on the front lines of animal agriculture. Moderated by San Diego-area rancher and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s 2023 Advocate of the Year Alli Fender, the panel included Fulbright Scholar and award-winning Fresno County rancher and entrepreneur Rizpah Bellard, 4th generation Fresno County rancher and direct-to-consumer beef business owner Brooke Helsel, and 4th generation Modesto-area dairy farmer and tenured Dairy Science professor Nicole Morris.
As Fender noted, while the panelists are all in the cattle business, each has a very different background and unique operation, and so the discussion began there. Dairy farmer Nicole Morris noted that many of the attendees must be wondering why she is on a panel about beef. While her primary focus is producing milk every single day, “dairy-beef crosses contribute about 20% of the actual beef that’s produced here in California and the U.S., so we play a small part in beef production,” she said. In addition to dairy farming, Morris is a professor of dairy science and animal science at Modesto Junior College, and coach of the college’s national championship dairy cattle judging team.
“My brothers and I were raised in the industry up in Northern California outside of Davis,” said second generation rancher Rizpah Bellard. “We’re not like your typical cattle ranchers in California, and I think that adds to the flavor that I bring to the industry—to show that it’s for everybody.”
Day-to-day operations, while mundane to a rancher, were eye-opening to attendees, as was the fact that many ranchers also have additional jobs. “My mom is on the ranch 365—every single day,” said fourth generation rancher Brooke Helsel. Both Helsel and her husband have outside jobs–she is with an animal health firm, and he works on another ranch. “My husband and I and our two boys live on the ranch, but mom does 95% of what we do on the ranch day-to-day.” The big days, like branding and shipping cattle, involve the entire family, including the kids.
Morris noted that they are “milking cows 365 days a year, but that means we’re also having babies (baby calves) every single day.” Her day-to-day roles on the farm include herd health and working with veterinarians, weekly herd checks, and managing the breeding and reproduction program. “Genetics and reproduction are a big passion of mine. I organize all synchronization…handle all of the reproduction, and all of the herd health.”
Day-to-day operations can also mean flexing with logistical issues. “My dad graduated college in the 80s, and he came out trying to run ag, but he wasn’t able to secure a loan to buy land,” said Bellard, “so ever since I was a kid, we’ve been nomadic kind of ranchers. We lease land and try to get long-term leases to put our cattle on, and if that doesn’t work out, we have to move them.” Without access to secure land, she doesn’t have access to secure sales for beef. “So I work.” Her company, Nova Farming, focuses on educating and exposing people to American and global agriculture sectors and building a bridge to agriculture as a pathway to higher education and career opportunities. Her other venture, Blynd Essence, provides housing for adults experiencing homelessness. She also works as a consultant in the area of helping small farmers access larger markets.
In the area of sustainability, Fender asked the panelists what they each do on their different operations. “I think all of us up here as cattle producers have the best sustainability story anywhere,” said Helsel. “Cattle are the ultimate up-cyclers. They take an inedible (to humans) grass and turn it into beef…the best protein you can eat.” In addition, she noted that “first and foremost, we don’t over-graze. The land comes first. If you don’t have the land in good repair, you will not produce good beef.” She noted they also use solar for their water troughs, and that wildlife is abundant on their ranch. “I think ranchers provide a space for wildlife and a space to produce an amazing product that only benefits the land.”
Morris agrees. “With beef cattle grazing they’re returning nutrients back to the ground; it’s full circle.” She noted in the dairy industry they don’t have access to grazing. All of their sustainability measures come primarily from recycling, like water. “All the water used on our farm (will be) used four times before it makes its way out to the field. We’re going to wash the barn down with it…we’re going to chill the milk down with our water plate coolers…we’re going to use it in our flush system…and then it’s going to go into a waste management or nutrient pond, and then it’s going to be used for fertilizer.” In addition, she continued, there are a lot of great projects going on in California with methane digesters, where methane is captured and used for alternative energy sources.
What cattle are fed can be another part of the sustainability story, Fender noted. Her San Diego ranch has an arrangement with a craft brewery in Del Mar where the spent distiller’s grains that would just be a waste product are fed to her cattle on the ranch. Because cattle are ruminant animals, they can digest things humans can’t. “We’re able to upcycle that material into a higher protein product, and that brewer doesn’t have to go find a dump to go put it somewhere. It’s a great way to help each other out. The brewers call it ‘Brew to Moo’.” Cattle in California eat a number of agricultural by-products that would otherwise go to a landfill, such as almond hulls, citrus peels, and cotton seeds.
“Aside from running 1,000 milking cows and 1,000 heifers on our farm, we also farm 400 acres,” Morris said. “And so we really think of ourselves as being super regenerative and sustainable because we’re growing what we’re feeding to our cows and trying to be stewards of the land.”
Regarding animal welfare, Fender noted that there are a lot of misconceptions among the general public, and some people may not think ranchers are doing everything possible to make sure their herds are healthy. “I think one of the biggest practices that’s not understood is confinement,” Bellard said. “We confine when we’re weaning calves or taking calves off their mom. We confine them in smaller spaces to prevent them from bawling, walking the line, and not being able to eat right. At six to eight months we’re weaning them off their mom, we’re going to put them in a smaller space like four acres or five acres.” At this point, she notes, they learn to eat without mom.
Feedlots are also misunderstood. As Fender noted, people see the cattle bunched up together even when there is more space around them. “They’re herd animals, and that’s part of their instinct,” she said.
On the dairy side, Morris notes they utilize the National Dairy FARM program which evaluates all of their practices and protocols. On the beef side, the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program certifies ranchers and their employees in correct animal handling and ensuring proper treatment of cattle throughout all aspects of their lives. “I do not stand for animal abuse. And we work with a licensed veterinarian, we work with a nutritionist. We have a leadership team that oversees all of our animals to make sure they’re properly cared for and handled right, because if the animal is not happy, the farmer is not happy,” Morris said.
“Let’s just hit on BQA really quick,” Fender said, noting this is new for the audience. “It’s called Beef Quality Assurance, and its essentially a certification program that’s optional, but most ranchers do it for themselves and their employees. It’s a really valuable program, and you have to get renewed every two years. It’s a full class about animal welfare and how to take care of your cattle the best way that you can.”
Helsel noted that one thing they have found, as they work cattle in the corrals a couple of times a year, is that “slow is fast for us. The slower you go, the quieter you are, the easier you handle these cattle, the less yelling…everything seems to work better. Cattle handle better, they’re not as stressed…honestly, I think the meat tastes better.”
Panelists also discussed challenges in the industry, from drought and reliance on rainfall, to misperceptions about who they are and what they do as beef and dairy producers. But they also zeroed in on the positive side of more people being interested in buying from local ranchers and really getting to know where their food comes from. Bellard noted that if people want to buy from a local rancher, that rancher needs land to provide that food source. “We have land that’s being used for development…we have land being used for parks and recreation…we have people moving to the spaces not understanding what the cow poop smells like or what the flies are doing there…it’s a nuisance to them.” But these animals need room to roam, and that land is also a food source for animals other than cattle, she added.
“A lot of kids don’t know where their food comes from,” Bellard, who also teaches kindergarten through twelfth grade students about agriculture, said. “I want young people to learn more about the ag industry so they can join us up here—so they can become producers like me.”
In addition to the FarmHER and RancHER panel event, tour attendees visited a cow-calf ranch, dairy, calf ranch, feedyard, and beef processing facility. “Unlike other agricultural commodities, the beef supply chain is both complex and segmented,” Van Egmond said. “Tours like this allow the people who make foodservice purchasing decisions to see firsthand and better understand how all the segments of the beef supply chain work together in a way that supports the welfare of our cattle, provides open spaces and wildlife habitat, and focuses on continuously improving environmental sustainability, all while producing a delicious, nutritious protein choice.”
CBC Pasture to Plate Beef Tours are free for California’s retail and foodservice attendees, requiring they cover only the cost of their own travel to and from the host hotel. Space for these events is limited. For more information about the Pasture to Plate Beef Tour, contact Christie Van Egmond at christie@calbeef.org.
About the California Beef Council
The California Beef Council (CBC) was established in 1954 to serve as the promotion, research, and education arm of the California beef industry, and is mandated by the California Food and Agricultural Code. The CBC’s mission is to position the California beef industry for sustained beef demand growth through promotion, research and education. For more information, visit www.calbeef.org.
About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.