Good Soil: It's What's for Dinner. Sort of.

It's What's for Dinner. Sort of.

By Chris Bogart, Meat and Seafood Department

So it's official: I went to Thousand Hills Cattle Company and counted the hills. I don't think there are a thousand hills in Minnesota, so it's no surprise that they take their name from a biblical psalm: "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." According to Todd Churchill, owner and founder of Thousand Hills, this psalm was a call for positive stewardship of his land and animals. Of course, I didn't go to Cannon Falls to count hills; I went to see Churchill's process and concept in action.

Churchill has looked the part of a rancher since he was three, with his cowboy boots and wide-brimmed hat. He continued to dress like a cowpoke through college, where he earned a degree in speech and communication. He was always interested in farm life, and as he appraised methods of cattle husbandry he encountered things that didn't sit right with him. "The bane of a liberal arts degree is that you can't leave questions alone," he said. Through articles and books such as Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, he discovered that the average corn-fed cow was not only sick, but made people sick too. "The goal of a feedlot is to get (beef cattle) fat enough to kill before their diet does it for them," Churchill pointed out.

What Cannon Falls lacks in hills it makes up for in grass, which was one of the most interesting parts of the Thousand Hills tour and the foundation for the company's business model. This business model revolves around sustainability: one's product must sustain the producer, consumer, and environment in a mutually beneficial way. While it's well known that a strict grass diet for cattle benefits both the cows and consumers, you don't hear as much about the environmental effect of grazing versus feedlot methods.

Churchill claims that due to intensive farming, Minnesota has lost between 50-80% of its rich topsoil. Farmers often bring in artificial fertilizers to correct this deficit. "These days, all dirt does is hold up the plant while chemicals do the rest," quipped Churchill as we stood in one of his experimental fields. Thousand Hills quickly realized that they already have a ready supply of fertilizer, i.e. manure, and the more grass they grew the more fertilizer they could produce. Churchill sees himself not as a cow farmer but a grass farmer; the cows are just part of the system.

Through trial and error, Churchill found that the best tasting beef comes from nutrient-rich soil. "A good soil sample should have as many microorganisms as there are people in the world," he said. Not only does healthy soil produce good grass and, in turn, good beef, it also rebuilds valuable topsoil. Churchill discovered that cows have a tendency to return to a patch of grass they fed on a couple of days previously because the youngest plants are the sweetest. This results in cows and manure concentrated within a very small area. Churchill began moving cows throughout the week, creating barriers between the areas just grazed and those recently dormant. Not only did this model result in healthier soil and grass, the topsoil was regenerated at a rate of 1/2% per year, a rate that could repair 150 years of damaged topsoil in 15-20 years. "I use the environment to get what I need," states Churchill, and he in turn is helping the surrounding environment.

The Minnesota Environmental Partnership has found that grazing and continuous living groundcover not only restores valuable topsoil, but also keeps lakes and rivers cleaner by filtering water through mineral-rich soil. These restored prairies also help trap carbon, create wildlife habitats, and improve our state's biodiversity by sustaining a natural environment for birds and indigenous animals. Thousand Hills has been cited as one company supporting these processes.

These goals and concepts are not often considered when choosing a steak at the supermarket, but it shows how one company can make a great product through positive stewardship of land and animals. I learned a lot more while visiting Thousand Hills and will be posting stories online, so stay tuned.