Turtle Brand Renewable Resources

Sustainable food is very important in the world today.  For many years a major emphasis has been placed upon ramping up production.  This has left us with a fast paced and ever changing production model.  Many scientific discoveries have increased our ability to produce food efficiently.  However, through this process, our pastures and fields have become depleted in many nutrients.  My husband and I have been studying the idea of regenerative grazing for several years.  This idea goes back to the healthy ecosystem, derived from the migration of buffalo as they grazed throughout North America.   They ate in one area for a few days, then moved on and in the process, played a very crucial role in the ecosystem.  Our solution would use solar power for water and electric fence to mimic the early ecosystem and if widely adapted could change livestock production methods in all Indigenous communities.

As a young Native American woman, I have always felt a deep connection to the land, animals, and nature itself.  Because of the lack of job opportunities around the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, my family had left our native homelands in search of work.  Growing up I had been immersed in the practices of modern cattle ranching, but I always wanted to return to my homeland.  Shortly after graduating high school I found myself wanting to move closer to my roots.  I relocated to Gordon Nebraska, just a few miles from Pine Ridge.  Here I met and married my husband and we began building a small herd of cattle and horses.  We are both passionate about taking care of our land and preserving natural resources.  The problem;  How can we  produce a healthy food product, while creating enough profit to feed our family and regenerate and care for the land we love?  How can we create a positive economic impact in an area where young folks can't even afford to own land? 

One day my husband brought up the term regenerative grazing. We both began to study the subject intensely.  The concept revolves around the healthy grasslands of long ago and how the wildlife fit into the ecosystem.  Years ago the buffalo would graze an area a little while and then move on, not returning for a year or maybe more.  This short time period grazing action would remove a small amount of vegetation and their hooves would trample some of the remaining grass and plants into the ground to fertilize and feed the soil.  This went on for many years and in essence the ecosystem in North America was sustainable and renewable.  Now we have animals confined to pastures where they graze the same area year around. They eat a little more every day and never let this land rest and regenerate. Our concept involves using solar powered, portable electric fence to give the animals a small area to roam and graze for a few days. Then we move them off that area and onto another for a short time period. Repeat. Repeat.  We also would like to incorporate solar water to minimize electricity consumption.

Our operation is located just inside the boundaries of Nebraska.  The small town of Gordon is just South of us.  This town's existence is based upon serving the needs of local agricultural producers and members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The per capita income of our home county is just $27,000.  Just north of us lies the Oglala Sioux Tribe.  Here the per capita income is around $10,000 and unemployment hovers around 54%.  These numbers are before Covid-19 and likely are much worse as of today.  Our solution would help us be able to afford to replenish and build the soil on our land.  Thereby making it possible to live and hopefully flourish in an area that drastically needs to attract economic development.  When our solution is implemented and becomes successful, we hope to be able to expand and create jobs for others.  We also would like to provide a template to other area Indigenous and non Native American ranchers.  If we can show success in creating an economic advantage, all while practicing sustainable production, and providing healthy food, this will attract others into the industry.  Hopefully this concept will catch on and grow and others will want to join the movement, creating a snowball effect and providing jobs and careers to many unemployed individuals.

I am a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.  Our operation is located just a 6 miles from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.  Our workforce is mainly comprised of members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.  Our solution seeks to use renewable solar power to facilitate a renewing and the sustainability of our most precious natural resource, the land.  Our solution seeks to supply healthy food.  The idea that regenerative grazing can grow healthy food all while replenishing nutrients to the soil is amazing!  At first glance it seems like such a new and novel idea!  Really it's an age old concept.

Much emphasis is placed upon the unemployment and poverty that plagues our geographic area and our people.  My solution is innovative because it takes things one step further and addresses the fact that there are very few Native American business owners...especially female business owners.  It is not enough for me to just be employed.  I want to own a thriving business.  Through hard work my husband and I are dedicated to this goal.  Obtaining this grant would put us in the driver's seat.

Solar power!!!  Solar power is portable.  It is clean. It is renewable.  It leaves no carbon foot print.  It is the present.  It is the future.  We are committed to embracing solar power and want to use it as an affordable, convenient and clean way to bring water to our cattle.  We can move solar panels around to existing water wells to pump water.  This allows for quick and easy setups when moving our cattle often in an effort to feed the soil and take good care of the land.  Solar powered electric fences serve the same purpose.  An environmentally friendly way to generate needed power for our operation.  By grazing our cows in a good way and taking care of the soil, we hope to cut back on the amount of mechanically harvested feed we need for livestock.  Think less tractors burning fuel, less tires, less oil, less pollution as our cattle begin to graze year around instead of being fed hay.   This is a longer term part of our goal and will be evaluated and implemented as we gain knowledge and understanding.

Solar power is everywhere.  It powers homes and businesses all around the world.  It powers farms and ranches also.  It is portable and adaptable.  Solar power is rapidly replacing many older forms of generating electricity.

Many cattle pastures are poorly managed.  Many farm fields are in desperate need of rich nutrients.  Many Indigenous people are out of work and suffer from poverty.  Many people are in need of healthy food to eat.  My solution can, will, and already has begun to make a difference.  I envision a day when things here will be different.  Change does not happen over night.  But I like to think one day the Oglala People will be on the front lines of raising food for the world.  We already have the land base to grow many cattle and crops.  We have the workforce, many of whom would jump at the chance for meaningful employment.  Imagine if every family could fence out a chunk of land with solar fencing and pump water with solar power.  Feel the change start to take place.  Imagine if this little project could chart a way to battle  poverty.  A way to feed the world while using less power off the power grid.  A way to feed the soil and manage the vast grazing and farming lands of America.  We are on the brink of changing so many things for the better.  One positive change leads to another as people come together, others will have new ideas regarding this goal and solution.  There is no telling how big of an impact this project could have in changing the world.  We want to lead by example;  Show it can be done;  Highlight the challenges and advantages and provide a road map others can follow to negate the  challenges and capitalize on the advantages.

This is a very hard question.  There is no telling how many people eat the beef raised on our ranch.  However there are two of us actively working on our operation now.  In the future we would like to expand and hire a few more people (2-3).  This will be determined by how well our business can succeed.  We do hire some part time help at this time and hope to continue.  This solution could serve many many people in the future and basically affect everyone.  If other folks could see our success, they would begin to follow the same path.  Having a positive economic affect on an huge amount of Native Americans and others.  The same goes for the environmental benefits of this solution. There is no way to measure how many people world wide that affected by a plan that has a positive effect on the environment. 

This project has started small.  It is a dream I have always held, but didn't always know just how to pursue it.  But as I have mentioned before, if this project gets up and running, it could change the whole way we raise and grow food.  In one year I would like to be up and running with solar wells.  We have already purchased some solar fencing materials (wire,posts, and a portable solar electric fence charger).  In five years we hope to have the bugs worked out of our system and to have expanded our operation as opportunity presents.  The true impact of this solution will not be measured in how many folks we can hire.  It will be measured in how much healthy food we can grow, how much we can reduce our carbon footprint, and what we can accomplish in feeding the soil with regenerative grazing.  This in turn affects all living creatures...the soil, plants, animals, and the millions of people living on the this earth.  This project also looks to provide a roadmap to get local Indigenous people out of poverty.

The odds are against Native American business owners.  Our biggest hurdle is marketing our cattle.  Cattle prices were very low even before Covid-19 arrived.  In the last 5 years, many times the price received for cattle wasn't enough to cover the cost of production. Since Covid-19, it has gotten much worse.  Many of the transportation and processing facilities have been operating at greatly reduced capacity or shut down completely.  It is a very real possibility that this fall when we go to sell cattle, there will not be a market for them.  This is the one thing that really scares me about our business.  We are often adversely affected by volatile markets, drought, and corporate greed trying to manipulate prices of the inputs we need to take care of our cattle and land.

For years the Oglala People have struggled in the business world.  I plan to just address this head on as a business owner.  I am going to charge ahead and learn from successful agriculture operations around me.  Markets.  Often there is not much we as producers can do to change the market.  One thing we must do is wage a war on our production costs.  This allows us to stay in business through times of depressed cattle prices.   Marketing tools such as contracts,futures contracts, and forward pricing are also used when advantageous in locking in a decent price.  I also believe in diversification.  That is why we have a small horse herd and try to supply the buying public with riding horses for their work and pleasure.  I would like to note that we have started to raise Appaloosa horses on our operation.  This came about because of my strong love for the spotted horses, and realizing no one is raising them anymore.  I always felt as a Native American horsewoman, I would like to raise some traditional type horses.  This is a side dream,hobby, and business venture that I am passionate about.  But it feels very good to "return to tradition" so to speak and I hope to soon have breeding stock for sale for others that want to travel the same road.

2 full time.

4 to 5 part time

We work with many industry professionals and use them as consultants

Our team consists of my husband and I.  We both have a passion for raising livestock and taking care of the land in an environmentally friendly way.  We both have spent our lives studying these concepts and applying what we have learned to our operation.  Our strong skills include animal husbandry, fencing systems, water systems, feeding the soil through organic matter with grazing, etc.  We already have an adequate land base which we can operate on.  We already have a herd of cattle.  This puts us in the driver seat to get busy on our goal of producing healthy food while we build the soil.  The old phrase " kill two birds with one stone comes to mind".  However this system addresses far more than just two problems.  It addresses so many challenges facing the world today.  Talk about efficient!!!!!!!!!!

We are basically on our own as of now.  We are members of both the American Quarter Horse Association and the Appaloosa Horse Club.  We have partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the past, but these contracts are usually for a 5 year period and that period has passed.

We are fairly self sufficient now.  The current revenue derived from the sale of the products we grow and market usually cover our operating expenses and provide a modest living (supplemented by working other jobs).  We continue to hope to grow our revenue through more product and good marketing.  We would like to obtain this grant instead of going into debt to purchase our main solar power unit.

We are applying to Solve with the hope of obtaining some help financially and support in other areas.   It is imperative that Native Americans try to expand their presence in the business world.  We seek support in how to become mentors in this area.  We have a good business started and would like to take the next step in our goal of regenerative grazing.  The uncertain market conditions that exist in our industry make us leery of going out and taking on debt.  Pre Covid-19 the prices paid for the cattle we sell were depressed. Post Covid-19 we are not certain how the markets will function.  We feel like going ahead and putting our plan in motion will allow us to save money in the long run and give us a better chance of surviving and thriving in our industry.  We thank MIT Solve for allowing us to apply.

We would like to work with anyone that is interested in fostering a healthy connection between growing healthy food, feeding the soil, and creating a sustainable agricultural business.  We also want to identify ways and join any who would like to see rural America, Indigenous people,  and women come together to thrive, prosper and fight poverty.

We would work with anyone with common goals.