Patagonia Develops New Buffalo Jerky Using Regenerative Methods

In a program developed by Patagonia, Wild Idea Buffalo, The Carbon Underground, and Applied Environmental Services preliminary research has been conducted on soil organic matter across bison country in the Great Plains of South Dakota.

Environmental leader Patagonia, and its new food division Patagonia Provisions, has staked out territory in the Great Plains of South Dakota to provide another example of how to create products while being responsive and responsible to the planet.

Realizing that changing how we produce food can help heal the climate, Patagonia made the decision to use one of their new products, Buffalo Jerky, to inspire production in a way that could help restore America’s Great Plains by drawing carbon back from the atmosphere and returning it to the soil as it was prior to industrial ranching techniques.

Working with Wild Idea Buffalo, whose herds of buffalo roam free on 2500 acres of rolling prairies outside Rapid City, South Dakota, Patagonia and The Carbon Underground brought in TCU partner Applied Environmental Sciences, and in August 2015 the research began.

Twelve separate named pastures were sampled and analyzed, as were additional areas using other grazing techniques. Baseline soil carbon levels were assessed via over a 100 core samples, down to one meter in depth on the grasslands now being grazed by the buffalo that are being used to produce the Patagonia Provisions Buffalo Jerky.

With baseline numbers having been established it’s now possible to measure carbon levels against industrial ranches, as well to see how much additional carbon is being drawn back down onto the more holistically managed land.

Stay tuned.