Pete grew up on a small corn-fed beef farm central MN and moved to SD in 1992 where he attended SDSU and earned B.S.(s) in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Environmental Management and a Masters in Wildlife Sciences with an emphasis on Large Mammal Ecology. In 1998 Pete joined The Nature Conservancy’s Dakota’s/Minnesota program where he served as the general Program Manager for eastern SD and Western MN until 2012. In this role Pete established strong agency and private land outreach and partnership programs. Pete made a career switch to SDSU Extension in 2012 and now works to educate organizations and individuals on the value and opportunities associated with South Dakota’s grasslands. He works closely with the South Dakota Grassland Coalition and helps provide educational opportunity to those interested in grassland management, grass-based livestock operations, prescribed fire, and holistic management of ranch resources. Pete lives in Watertown, and along with his wife Bridget and four children they raise a few head of grassfed beef annual. Pete accepted a role on the GFE board after participating in the 2018 GFE Conference in Rapid City, SD.

Todd Churchill has an extensive background in family farm-style agriculture. He grew up on a farm south of Moline, IL. His family farm raised row crops, cattle, and horses. He graduated with a Speech-Communication degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and completed additional coursework in accounting at the University of Minnesota. After working in public accounting for several years, he formed his first company, called CFO Insights, LLC. That company provided part-time CFO (Chief Financial Officer) services on a contract basis to startups and small businesses. Over a period of 8 years, he functioned as the CFO and/or VP-Administration of more than 90 small companies, many in the agriculture industry. This provided an incredible real-world experience to blend with his education in marketing, sales, communications, strategic planning, finance and accounting, and organizational management. Todd started Thousand Hills Cattle Company (THCC) in early 2003, after reading an article in The New York Times magazine by Michael Pollan, titled “This Steer’s Life.” This article described in detail the difference between conventionally raised cattle, and 100% grass fed cattle. Todd realized that he (like many Americans) didn’t really eat beef anymore. This wasn’t a conscious decision, beef just didn’t taste the way he remembered it, and it didn’t digest well. Michael Pollan’s article got him thinking that maybe what he didn’t like was the impact the confinement feedlot diet and experience did to the flavor and quality of the beef. This led Todd to find some grass fed beef from very small producers in Minnesota, and the quality varied considerably. He eventually found a few farmer, ranchers and industry consultants that were raising consistent gourmet quality, healthful, great tasting grass fed beef. Todd felt that if it could be produced consistently throughout the year, this was a product that many consumers in the Twin Cities would like to purchase. To this end, Todd created the THCC protocol, which describes the production practices required to raise cattle for THCC. After only 8 years, Todd and his team at THCC built an incredibly diverse customer base of health food stores, premium grocers, restaurants, colleges, web merchants, and specialty butcher shops, primarily in the Twin Cities. In 2011, the growing interest in local and sustainable foods resulted in sales to more than 350 retail locations, restaurants, and over 30 public school districts in Minnesota. Todd sold Thousand Hills to his long-time business partner in 2015, and is currently CFO for 7 startup and fast-growth companies in the sustainable ag, local foods, and software industries, via his consulting practice, CFO Insights. In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Todd and his wife Dee raise 6 children, as well as assorted horses, ponies, chickens, dogs, cats, and of course cattle, on their farm near Cannon Falls, MN.

Jonathan Cobb is a fourth generation steward of his family’s land in the Blackland Prairie of central Texas. After five years row crop farming with his father, Jonathan nearly left the farm because he didn’t see a future under that model. Thankfully, God intervened. Jonathan listened to a podcast “Can Faith Be Green?” by Dr. Timothy Keller that helped change the lens through which he viewed creation. Also, through exposure to Holistic Management and soil health principles, he had hope for the first time that a different way was possible. He learned that it was possible to farm in accordance with his values as a Christian, that God had designed nature to work, and that they could grow the kind of nutrient-dense food his family had been looking for after going through their own health and nutrition journey. Jonathan and his wife, Kaylyn, both believe this is their calling and ministry, and they are passionate about being a part of regenerating creation and nourishing their community with the abundance of the land. Jonathan, his sister, and their spouses started Green Fields Farm in 2013 and currently provide grass-fed & finished beef and lamb, pastured pork, and pastured eggs from their family farm in central Texas. He also provides soil health consulting for other farmers and ranchers, and he works with Green Cover Seed to provide custom cover crop mixes as a tool to help others regenerate the life in their soils.

Russ was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, educated as a Mechanical Engineer at Iowa State University, then logged a 30 career in the oil and gas industry at Shell. In the first half of that career, he was a Petroleum Engineer specializing in measurement and analysis of the physical properties of the deep earth as part of the exploration and production of oil and gas around the world. Russ later became a founding leader of Shell Technology Ventures, and then led Shell’s “GameChanger” innovation program where he had the privilege of investing in pioneering entrepreneurs with ideas that could change the game of energy. Russ was a frequently invited speaker, panelist and writer at a wide array of fora regarding the future of energy and corporate innovation. Russ moved on from Shell to focus on the broader world of entrepreneurship at the intersection of food, water and energy. Along the way, he stumbled into the realization that these topics converge precisely in agriculture – the world’s oldest solar energy business that not only produces food, but also drives water cycles. Ironically, having spent 30 years taking carbon out of the ground, he came to see that the magic was in putting carbon back to work in soil – especially (but not only) in grasslands. Russ now believes that regenerative agriculture is the next big solar energy business. He has now co-founded a new business, Standard Soil, to put these ideas into real-world practice at scale. Russ and his wife Nancy now live in Fulshear, TX.

Maggie Gentert grew up in the ranching and farming community in southern Idaho. She graduated with a BS degree in Agriculture Science and Technology and a Spanish minor from the University of Idaho. She spent two years promoting food security for Peace Corp Guatemala. At some point, her brother recommended that she read "The Omnivores Dilemma.” This new awareness and a golden opportunity led to her involvement as a grassfed producer with the Winecup-Gamble Ranch in Nevada for over 6 years. She believes strongly in the hope that regenerative agriculture brings for getting more people back on the land. She is currently continuing the work for Standing Butte Ranch, part of Turner Enterprises, near Pierre, SD.

I am an all natural grassfed cow calf producer and finisher from Nebraska. 80% of the cattle that we sell into the grassfed market are born and raised on our ranch. It was in 1992 that I became interested in rotational grazing and Grass fed beef production This was the beginning of how I would think about the land and how I would try to take care of it for the rest of my life. We try to use Holistic management tools in the way we take care of the land we have been given to steward.

I have always believed the best system to use would be one where we would be able to take a product we raise or produce from conception to the dinner plate. However this makes it hard for one to be really good at every area that is needed to make this work. This is one of the reasons that I have a strong belief that I do not need to know all the answers. I just need to know people who do. I have always felt I need to keep learning and sharing what I have learned.

In 2009 while I was laying in a hospital bed with a broken neck I came up with the idea that there was a need for grassfed producers to be able to meet together and share what they were learning. I went to my mentor Terry Gompert and asked him if he would help me put together a conference where we brought grassfed producers from around the country together to share what they were learning. That was the beginning of the Grassfed Exchange of which I was chairmen for the first 8 conferences. I have been blessed with a great committee to help me continue to share new ideas with other grass fed producers from around the US, Canada and Mexico.

Kimberly Ratcliff is the manager of Caney Creek Ranch, a diversified ranching operation located in East Central Texas, started by her parents Wesley and Marie Ratcliff. Kimberly joined the ranch in 2007 after leaving her job with Bloomberg a New York City financial firm where she was a Branding Specialist.

Kimberly Ratcliff manages and helps operate the family business producing registered Charbray Cattle, from which bulls, replacement heifers, semen and embryos are sold national and international. The ranch also produces commercial cattle and livestock feed resource.

In 2016, Kimberly Ratcliff launched Farm to Freezer Meat Company LLC which purchases finished cattle from Caney Creek Ranch’s with the mission to provide the highest quality ranch-direct beef possible, in a simple, convenient, and responsible manner.

Kimberly is the founder and President of the 100 Ranchers Inc., a community-Based Organization (CBO) founded in 2008 with the goal of serving agricultural producers who are dedicated to work together to increase their bottom line and improve their livelihood by producing safe, clean, efficient, and marketable products.

Kimberly Ratcliff is Board Member of the following: Independent Cattlemen’s Association, Capital Farm Credit Advisory Committee, USDA Advisory Committee for Minority Farmers and Ranchers, USDA Trade Advisory Board, PVAMU department of Agriculture Advisory Committee and Socially Disadvantage Farmers Ranchers Policy.

Kimberly Ratcliff has a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University, Ranch Management Diploma from Texas Christian University and a graduate of Texas A&M’s, Texas Agriculture Lifetime Leadership Program. She has received numerous awards for her accomplishments by her peers in the agriculture community. These include Rancher of the Year by the following organizations: Landowners Association, Minority Landowners Magazine and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Cindy and her husband Jerry returned to his family farm in 1985 near the small town of Spalding, nestled at the foot of the Nebraska Sandhills where they both grew up. Their operation is 100% organic consisting of stock cows, a spring and fall calving herd and grass-finished beef. Irrigated crops consist of a rotation of white and yellow popcorn, soybeans or dry-edible beans and alfalfa, grasses and legumes as well as summer pastures for the cattle. When the couple began transitioning the operation to organic in 2006, their land had almost no organic matter at 0.3%. Now 15 years later, despite multiple annual tillings for row crops, they have increased the organic matter to nearly 3% and their soil health continually improves.
Cindy enjoys being involved in a variety of organizations in addition to the Grassfed Exchange. A graduate Fellow in the Nebraska Leadership/Education/Action/Development (LEAD) ProgramClass 25 gave her the opportunity to visit and learn about areas such as, agriculture, education, culture and social issues throughout the state, nation and world during the two-year program. The program included a national travel study to Kansas City, Washington D.C. and Chicago and an international travel study to New Zealand and Australia. She is also involved in parish ministries including the Homestead Program which seeks to bring new families to the community. In 1997, Cindy went to Honduras for the first time as part of APUFRAM Mission returned five times to Honduras and the Dominican Republic. She is a founding member of the re-organized organization created in 2010 and continues to serve on their board today.
Both Cindy and her husband enjoy learning and networking with others in their field of agriculture and acting as ambassadors for regenerative agriculture, opening their home to people from 16 countries and 22 states.
They have been rewarded with the experience of hosting high school exchange students from Ecuador and Mexico. Silvia emigrated from Ecuador in 2012 with her new husband, living with them for a time while going through the immigration process. They eventually settled in Tampa. Silvia’s daughter and son are their pride and joy. When precious time allows to get away from the farm, they enjoy travel, especially to Florida or hosting family and friends in their home.

Erin Kiley is a land manager and grazier with a passion for cultivating relationships between people, land and livelihoods. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Erin managed international health projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) working to strengthen local health systems and became interested in the connection between human health and the food system. She started working in regenerative grazing in North Carolina on a holistically managed grass fed beef farm while she earned her M.S. in Grassland Management from North Carolina State University. Erin then moved West where she worked for Grasslands LLC on a 53,000-acre ranch in Cohagen, Montana. She has experience working on ranches across the West and most recently acted as Livestock Manager in California and Oregon for sustainable farmland investment company, Farmland LP. Currently Erin works with PastureMap, a grazing and livestock management software startup, to work with ranchers on planned grazing, cattle management and ranch profitability. Erin helps coordinate the Women in Ranching program with Western Landowners Alliance and the Globetrotter Foundation.

Shane Hardy is the ecology director at Stone Barns Center. He is a team leader for regenerative agricultural land management on 350+ acres of grasslands and hundreds of acres of forest in partnership with Rockefeller State Park Preserve and Stone Barns Center livestock team. He and the amazing people he works with manage all ecological landscaping, gardens, compost and fertility cycles.
Shane founded the ecological monitoring program at Stone Barns surveying soils, plants, water, insects, and birds across the grasslands and forested areas managed through multi-species adaptive rotational grazing. Finding ways for people to meet our needs from the land while helping the regeneration of its ecosystems is his primary passion.

Tod Auman is Co-owner with his wife Chrissy of Dundore & Heister, a whole-animal butcher
shop located in Wyomissing, PA. Dundore & Heister, Pennsylvania’s Craft Butcher, produces craft, small-batch products that capture the rich, robust flavors of our region and the down-to- earth cooking style of our Pennsylvania home.

Ron is a professor at Chadron State College teaching Range Livestock Production courses within the Range Management Program. Many courses focused on grass based animal production and regenerative agriculture. He also is the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition coordinator. Aside from helping teach students and producers to be stewards of land and livestock, Ron also has been breeding on a grass based Black Angus cow herd for 44 years. Ron and Becky Bolze are parents of 6 children.

Born in 1962 and raised in the city of San Francisco, Joe is the fifth generation of his family to steward land and cattle in California. He attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and then the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1984.

In 1991, he and his wife, Julie, moved to San Juan Bautista to take on the family ranching business and re-start T.O. Cattle Company. They have been leaders in the ranching industry and use the Holistic Management® decision making framework to enhance the health of their community and land and produce a living from their work. They have two children, Sarah and Jack.

T.O. Cattle Company operates on leased ranches and markets Morris Grassfed Beef™ to eight hundred families throughout California. Its mission is to nurture peaceful relationships among people, land and animals.

Joe has guided hundreds of people across his ranches in the past thirty years, has spoken numerous times on the topics of Holistic Management®, stockmanship and ranching and is a founding member of the Central Coast Rangeland Coalition and the Rancher to Rancher network. He was awarded the Clarence Burch award for his leadership and stewardship by the Quivira Coalition in 2012.

Deborah Clark, along with her husband Emry Birdwell, operate the Birdwell and Clark Ranch outside of Henrietta, Texas. The focus of the ranching operation is on improving rangeland forage, soil health, and ecosystem processes using stocker cattle as the tool in a high density, short duration managed grazing plan. Deborah and Emry want to share what they continue to learn on the ranch through the principles of holistic and regenerative management. Deborah has a MPH from the University of Texas Medical Branch, is a certified educator with Holistic Management International, and is a member of the initial CREATE cohort of aspiring agroecologists created by Integrity Soils.

Chad Bitler is the Research Scientist at the Greenacres Foundation, where he develops unique, yet relevant research projects which examine the impacts of environmentally friendly agricultural methods on soil health and farm productivity. Such studies have tested cover cropping, pasture-based livestock, and livestock integration into cropping systems. The data collected from Chad’s research help land managers make decisions that can provide positive impacts on the farm, both environmentally and economically. His data have been shared with both beginning and experienced farmers, academics, and governmental agencies (such as NRCS and Soil and Water Conservation Districts) at both the state and national level.
Chad graduated from University of Cincinnati with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a M.S. in Nutritional Sciences. He has collaborated on research with notable land grant universities and sits on the advisory board for the Grassfed Exchange Conference. When not digging in the soil, Chad’s on the ball diamond coaching his 2 sons on the art of the “bat flip” and mentally preparing himself to be a “Dance Dad” for his 2-year old daughter.

Loren Poncia of Stemple Creek Ranch is a 4th generation Marin County organic, regenerative rancher who has redefined small-scale family ranching. Loren started Stemple Creek Ranch with the dream of raising quality, grass-finished beef and lamb to work with, not against, mother nature. His ranch had the first carbon farm plan in the U.S. and Loren is proud to be part of the Marin Carbon Project.

A graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a major in Dairy Science and Ag Business, Loren always dreamed of coming back to the ranch to pursue his passion in agriculture. He oversees the entire ranching operation, and spends countless hours carefully studying genetics with the goal of raising grass-fed and finished beef that is tender, well-marbled, and tastes just as good as, if not better than, grain finished meat. Stemple Creek Ranch sells its products to grocery stores, butcher shops, restaurants, and directly to consumers.

Servando Leal is a fifth-generation farmer and all five generations have worked in the cow/calf area of agriculture. The Leal's have owned and operated their ranches since 1874. With nearly 148 years in their history books, it's needless to say they have become knowledgeable and continue to learn about the cattle industry.

Servando, however, doesn't take that historical or institutional knowledge for granted. He still believes there's a lot to learn from cattle. So if you see him in the morning or evening hours just observing the cattle as they roam the field or graze throughout the acreage, he is reading a story- the cattle story. “I learn from them daily," he said. "I enjoy watching them throughout the day, primarily during the morning and evening hours when I am observing them. They are telling me a story about how and where they graze.

Leal said that he is fascinated by cattle, from the fact that they provide a basic need for food to the fact that they have environmental benefits that they give back to the land. "What fascinates me as well, is they are not only takers by grazing, but are givers by depositing back to the soil through their bodily functions.” Leal said, “A natural process that is often overlooked and undervalued.”

Each generation has obviously had its obstacles and challenges but they were able to fulfill their needs and desires that they were afforded for themselves. It has always been the goal of each generation to fill the previous generations’ shoes and their end goal has been to make the land their greatest benefactor.

Due to my understanding of holistic practices and management, since 2011, I no longer vaccinate my cattle and have completely become non-dependent on any hay or supplements. My ultimate goal is to be one with nature the way GOD intended.

Since 2020, we have been certified by the American Grass Fed Association. Our meat is USDA inspected and our meat label is TDA approved under the name Cross Country Meats, LLC.

Sam provides on-site technical assistance to farmers, landowners, and businesses that are interested in transitioning land to certified organic and regenerative production systems. He earned a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences from Cornell University and has over 12 years of practical farming experience in Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. Sam is a Certified Crop Adviser and is IOIA Certified in Crops and Livestock.

Dugan ranches with three daughters on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. He started Zuya Sica Ranch in 2007 with 22 cows and today runs a cow-calf operation of over 300 commercial Angus cows in the rolling breaks of the Moreau River. Zuya Sica Ranch is focused on profitability through sustainability: healthy land, healthy animals, healthy family.