The recipients, who were honored during the 2016 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting, span the country and were nominated for their outstanding efforts to protect land, air and water resources on their individual farming and ranching operations. The regional winners will now compete for the national ESAP award, which will be announced in February 2017.

The awards, now in their 26th year, were developed to recognize beef producers for their implementation of practices that improve the environmental sustainability of their operations. The ESAP award is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation.

The 2016 regional winners are: Huntingdon Farm, John and Kathryn Dawes, Alexandria, Pennsylvania; Stoney Creek Farm, Grant, Dawn and Karlie Breikreutz, Redwood Falls, Minnesota; Turkey Track Ranch, Dale Smith and Jay O’Brien, Amarillo, Texas; Cherry Creek Ranch, Lon and Vicki Reukauf, Terry, Montana; Smith Creek Ranch LTD, Samuel Lossing, Duane Coombs, Ray Hendrix, Austin, Nevada; Black Leg Ranch, Jerry and Renae Doan, Jeremy and Ashlee Doan, Jay and Kari Doan, Jayce Doan, Shanda and Don Morgan, McKenzie, North Dakota.

“These cattlemen and women exemplify the commitment of our industry to leave the land better than we found it. Every day, beef producers are taking steps to better the resources entrusted to us, and these recipients truly reflect that tradition,” said NCBA president Tracy Brunner. “The ESAP award serves as a showcase for the practices used by farmers and ranchers to improve the land, which in turn, benefits fish and wildlife habitat, and ultimately our communities throughout the nation.”

This year’s national award winner will be announced in Nashville, Tennessee, during the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention.

For more information on the award program and to find information on past recipients, visit the Environmental Stewardship website.  

—From National Cattlemen's Beef Association news release