CNB News
Country Natural Beef: Sustainability built on science and ongoing research
A project done in cooperation with Oregon State University
Read the articles from Oregon State University’s Terra magazine The Range Keepers or Trading on Trust.
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Country Natural Beef is not only a community of people based on trust‚ sustainability and producing healthy food from healthy lands. We’re also focused on working with scientists and researchers to ensure our production and marketing practices improve relationships between people–and make the land a better place at the same time.
Since our beginning in the 1980s‚ we’ve worked with others to help us gain a deeper understanding of the land‚ the impact of our practices‚ and the way we market our product.
Our belief is that our community and the management of our lands are underpinned by sound decision-making underpinned by scientifically based information.
For instance‚ after more than a decade of data collection and evaluating the impacts of juniper (a non-native species introduced by Europeans in the 1800s) on rangeland health and streamflows‚ scientists advised the cutting down of these trees and the placement of the branches on slopes to slow runoff.
“The results‚” writes Lee Sherman of OSU, “have stunned everyone. Four years after the cutting‚ streams that were ephemeral (flowing only after a storm) are now intermittent (flowing in tandem with recharged groundwater). Springs are gushing where once they were just gurgling. Erosion‚ as indicated by the depth of gullies and sediments‚ has slowed. And‚ judging by increased numbers of seed heads per clump of grass and reinvigorated species of native perennials‚ the improved water dynamic is translating to healthier forage. That‚ in turn‚ means more robust habitat for birds‚ deer‚elk and other wildlife.”
Researchers at OSU have also studied CNB’s unique‚ trust-based business model to gain a greater understanding of how and why it works–and in what ways it provides a blueprint for rural America’s economic sustainability.
“Country Natural Beef is an example of a trust-based model where relationships are driven by shared values‚” says Oregon State University business professor Zhaohui Wu‚ who specializes in sustainable supply chain and supply networks research.
“Notions like ‘trust’ and ‘values’ may sound a bit warm and fuzzy to the ears of a financier. But a growing body of research suggests they can effectively cut transaction costs and boost profits. Basing business dealings on close and “voice-based” relationships (that is‚ talking things over) rather than on written contracts is the alternative to the typical American “arms-length” transaction in a fragmented supply chain‚” says Wu.
Wu’s research concluded that “values–based approaches can be the salvation for struggling mid-sized and family-owned operations. In the late 1980s when Country Natural Beef was launched as Oregon Country Beef‚ family ranches were endangered. Many small ranchers were in dire straits under a combination of factors: mounting pressures from dieticians to eat less red meat‚ a popular perception of the abuse of public land by over-grazing‚ rising interest rates and wildly fluctuating commodity beef prices.”
In the two decades since the co–op formed‚ however‚ CNB has “evolved into a key player in the natural beef industry‚” Wu says. “Country Natural Beef has the power to sustain not only the landowners but also the land for generations to come.”
