We believe that the symbiosis between plant and animal will be the key to both the financial viability of our ranch as well as the perpetuation of a sustainable and healthy food source and an environmental cure for future generations.
Our Story:
Founder:
While a successful career in pharmacy with his wife Linda fulfilled his entrepreneurial spirit and provided for his family, Jerry Addison’s love for ranching was always waiting just beneath the surface. Raised on a ranch in New Mexico, Jerry remembered vividly and never forgot the joy and satisfaction of working with the land from his father, grandfather, and uncle. Following limited experiences with a hobby farm in Oklahoma and partnerships with his brother and parents on ranches in Missouri, his dreams were finally realized. In 1995, Jerry and Linda purchased the Running High ranch in Bowie, Texas and began their unique journey toward Regenerative Ranching.
Regenerative Ranching Pioneers:
Like many before him, this journey began with traditional cattle breeds feeding on nutrient starved land, sparsely populated with limited varieties of forage. Utilizing conventional grazing methods, he struggled to maintain his herds’ body condition on both his monocultural forage in Missouri and his nutrient poor forage in Texas. Very quickly, Jerry’s desires to both heal the land and increase the financial viability of his ranches led him to seek out and become a student of alternative grazing and management techniques. And over the next 30 years, Jerry developed a unique style of forward-thinking ranching practices gleaned from many of the worlds’ pioneers of Regenerative Ranching including: Alan Savory, Stan Parsons, Ian Mitchell-Innis, Johann Zietzman, Bud Williams, Dick Diven, and Elaine Ingham.
Community Building:
Understanding the learning benefits from information sharing and community building, Jerry co-created a grazing club of like-minded ranchers as a platform for discussing new ideas and observing shared challenges. This group met monthly for discussion and shared experiences by onsite group visitations to each member’s operation. Today’s OG Grazing operation continues to thrive and benefit from Jerry’s curiosity and learning mentality, utilizing further teachings from Regenerative Ranching pioneers around the world. Pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished on a minimal input, forage based, hybrid cattle operation in North Central Texas, the ranch now incorporates: Self selective “free – choice” mineral, seasonal fertility cycles, and financial monitoring/enterprise accounting.
High Intensity Rotational Grazing:
On the suggestion of a neighbor attempting to reduce costly feed inputs, Jerry began by splitting the ranch into (7) pastures for high intensity rotational grazing. This concept was then reinforced through classes with both the Noble foundation and Holistic Resource Management (HRM). Seeking to improve the cattle’s body condition and the quality of forage and inspired by the teachings of Ian Mitchell-Innis, Jerry pushed the concept further and by the end of the ranch’s fourth year, the ranch had (60) - 100 acre pastures, each with well-fed water lines and automated troughs. In this configuration with frequent moves and shorter pasture rest times, the ranch began to change more quickly and responded with tighter plant spacing, greater variety of plant species, increased soil biodiversity, and better cattle body condition. At this point his herd genetics included only traditional Angus and Brangus.
Selective Cross Breeding:
Approximately 20 years into his Regenerative Ranching journey Jerry became aware of selective crossbreeding and the African Boran. Appreciated for its smaller frame, resistance to drought and parasites, and high meat to bone ratio, he thought the Boran’s inherent qualities could help him improve the herd’s body condition while further reducing the need for inputs. Following a trip to South Africa, Jerry noted climate similarities between that of South Africa and North Central Texas and began to import the Boran genetic to mix with his domestic Angus. Similarly, connections with his cousin’s ranch in New Mexico led to further interest in another small framed, heat and parasite resistant African breed called Mashona. While also heat and parasite resistant, Mashona were known for high fertility, the ability to gain on forage, and a disposition for easy handling.
Our Core Beliefs:
At almost 30 years into Regenerative Ranching, there have been countless hours of classes, discussions with colleagues, grazing club meetings, practical experiences, and feedback loops. Throughout them all, the underlying principles are simple and remain the core belief system that propels us forward. Our grazing operation is patterned after nature, utilizing cattle as the original (“OG”) grazers who deliver nutrients back into the soil, creating a symbiotic balance of soil, forage, water, and animal. In the words of Jerry Addison, the ranch’s founder, “Cattle are our best chance to revitalize the soil with carbon. In turn, the nutrient rich soil will supply the cattle with the growth potential it needs to provide food for earth’s growing population. Utilizing the principles of regenerative grazing practices, we can increase our carrying capacity from 2 – 4 times, returning even more carbon into the soil making it more nutrient rich as grazing forage.” At OG Grazers, we believe that this symbiosis of plant and animal will be the key to both the financial viability of our ranch as well as the perpetuation of a sustainable and healthy food source and an environmental cure for future generations.