The Wallace Center is committed to regional transformation of Midwest agriculture and, to achieve this, is evolving its long-standing work to support regenerative grazing in the region through the Pasture Project. This evolution focuses on supporting place-based work, in collaboration with local and state partners, to develop grass-fed beef, dairy, and small ruminant value chains in key geographies across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Basin.
These projects focus on whole production systems, striving to create benefit for small-to-medium sized farms while also supporting the small-to-medium value chains (including the food chain workers) that bring regenerative meat and products to market. Beyond providing tangible support for farmers and value chain business, projects also strives to provide organizational support to placed-based partners so they can lead regenerative grazing work to a greater degree after the Pasture Project’s funded work in their area comes to an end.
The “Scaling a Watershed-Level Regenerative Livestock Meat System to Drive Agriculture Transitions in Southern Indiana” project represents a continuation of prior work to identify watersheds in Illinois and Indiana that had high grazing potential through a watershed level analysis and then conduct an assessment of grass-fed value chains in the Blue River.
Through this project, we will work closely with partners in the Blue River watershed to develop grazing technical service provider trainings, create a framework for farmer and landowner outreach, education, and technical assistance provision tied to a cost-share program for on-farm infrastructure, and share success of the Blue River grazing work with state, regional, and national networks to drive collaboration and expansion of grazing work.
Years Active: 2023-2025