About Beneficial:

The Beneficial Farm and Ranch Collaborative is a trade association made up of family farmers and ranchers, retail stores, and consumers in Colorado and New Mexico. The Collaborative formed in the wake of frustration with the National Organic Standards program and the desire to define, practice and brand a uniquely western form of chemical-free agriculture with a strong emphasis on ecology nutrition and balancing.
Participating farms and ranches are located in the Arkansas, Rio Grande and Colorado River watersheds of New Mexico and Colorado, and tend to produce less than twenty acres of mixed vegetables, seed and livestock. Beneficial producers are licensed by the BFRC, and function as independent businesses. Licensure involves the submission and review of three documents: a farm improvement plan, customer assurance affidavit, and licensing agreement. Products are raised for select independent stores in Colorado Springs, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The partnering stores and producers each contribute to the administration of licensing and promotion through contributing a percentage of their sales to the BFRC licensing Board.

History of Beneficial Farm and Ranch Collaborative:

In 1994 a group of farmers and families interested in biodynamic agriculture came together in Santa Fe to form a CSA . The farm would be a brand new operation, situated on Rowe Mesa, a formation near Santa Fe noted for its cool nights, bright starry sky, and low quality, overgrazed soils, and general absence of water. The founders struggled in search of a name for this new farm. Recognizing that it is the task of human beings to give meaning through naming, we tried out various ideas. Descriptors like “Sustainable” and “Community farm” and “Environmental” were sampled and found wanting. We sought a name that captured the essential idea of biodynamic Agriculture (a set of agricultural ideals developed as a result of ideas shared by Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian born Scientist-Teacher of the early 20th century), that human “co-creation” with nature can enliven and bring health to the earth and all of its species and communities. We settled on the name “Beneficial Farm”, realizing that such a name actually described not a single place, but an approach or set of practices.

Already in 1994, we saw the increasing dilution of meaning of the word organic, as more farms sought the label as a marketing tool, rather than as a description of their practices. We anticipated that the success of organic agriculture would eventually result in a struggle over the use of the word, a struggle which we felt was sure to be won by agribusiness, now that USDA had become involved in defining and certifying organics, through the 1990 National Organic Program. With all due respect to the many organizations that strive to sustain the integrity of the organic label, and with a clear recognition that organic agriculture as it is now emerging is an enormous improvement over the highly chemical dependant forms of industrial agriculture and confinement livestock raising to which it is an alternative, we saw ourselves and other small scale, innovative Westerners as no longer being adequately described by the word organic.

As Western farmers and ranchers we face unique struggles to manage scarce resources in the pursuit of healthy food production and land stewardship. The disturbance of nature by shortsighted humans, generally operating with extractive thinking behind their ventures has damaged the rangelands and forests, drained the streams and springs, and reduced soil quality all over the west. The rapid expansion of urban areas, generally located in prime agricultural valleys, and the attendant rises in land prices threaten Western farms and ranches. The struggle over water rights, as urban politicians and developers abandon the idea of feeding ourselves regionally in favor of being “clients” of the global food system. Narrow minded definitions of environmentalism and ecology that attempts to exclude human stewardship and resource management of fragile landscapes. All of these trends work against Western farmers and ranchers. Meanwhile, the practice of agriculture in a semi arid landscape emphasizes human inventiveness, and tests the human will to a very extreme level. The result can be vitality in the seed and stock grown on our lands, and an amazing recovery of the soils and a vitality to the foods that many people believe is unsurpassed.

As the “sustainable agriculture” movements such as organic agriculture and grass fed livestock become institutionalized, homogenized, and made uniform, the need and opportunities, as well as the genius and inspiration of western farmers and ranchers is marginalized and excluded. We need our own set of better standards and practices, and our products needs to be clearly labeled so that increasing numbers of loyal customers who recognize the value of supporting local farms and ranches, can find us amidst the surge of “sustainable” products.

Through the last 10 years, Beneficial Farms has stood for innovation in the production and distribution of fresh vegetables and eggs in Northern New Mexico, especially the Santa Fe area. The Beneficial Egg Producers project has created a network of small farms who manage small egg-laying flocks. The association uses Beneficial Barred Rock hens, hatched in Northern New Mexico, currently 7 generations old as a self-selecting strain of hardy, high altitude, chickens. The BF Egg project is nationally recognized for its efforts to minimize reliance of industrially grown feeds such as corn and soybeans, and to replace them with indigenous feeds such as wheat and peas. The success of Beneficial Farms to establish a niche for stewardship based, innovative, ecologically friendly agriculture has inspired the founding of the Beneficial Farm and Ranch Collaborative as a way to offer the name to a growing number of farmers, ranchers, retailers, and consumers who share the vision of the special quality of Western agriculture, practiced with conscience. The need for a regional label, identifying producers who hail from our home lands, and distinguishing them from the onslaught of industrially produced, large scale, federally recognized Organic farms, has been discussed quietly for years. Now, in summer 2005, the Beneficial Farm and Ranch Collaborative will bring to the public a range of products, expanding the availability of Beneficial vegetables, eggs, and fruits by broadening the group of participating farmers. Prepared foods and meat will hopefully follow, not too far behind.

The Label will also provide a collaborative opportunity for independent retailers and cooperatives. These are the stores that have the clearest investment in the local community, and have the greatest commitment to find ways to keep local foods on their shelves. The industrialization and globalization of organic agriculture, coupled with the “least common denominator” nature of the organic label (it is illegal to identify degrees or “organicness”). The BFRC goal is that by emphasizing placement of Beneficial foods in locally owned, and direct marketed outlets, the greatest impact of these foods will be transferred through the multiplier effect of the local economy. Another big step made possible by this collaboration with local independent retailers is that rather than charging the farmers and ranchers to “join” the collaboration, a surcharge on sale of Beneficial foods, collected by the stores, can be used to develop capacities in the areas of technical assistance and agronomy… Currently, small farmers and ranchers have only sporadic access to advice that is properly geared to ecological stewardship principals, and the BFRC aims to expand on those resources, and develop greater availability of Technical Assistance for farmers and ranchers, so that our we remain at the leading edge of innovation and improvement of better practices for agriculture in fragile landscapes.