Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

How To Make Carbon Work For You STORY BY BURT RUTHERFORD PHOTOS BY MELANIE ELZINGA

The road to carbon sequestration began with the want of a good steak

G

lenn Elzinga’s path to the carbon world began with a ribeye steak. Or more accurately, the lack of a good one. “We couldn’t afford to keep any of our own cat

tle,” Elzinga remembers about the early years he and his wife, Caryl, spent on Alderspring Ranch near May, Idaho. However, the area is rich in elk and deer and the Elzingas dined on veni son. A lot of venison. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says. “I like venison. But I don’t really want to do a pan of elk backstrap night after night.” They had started a grass-fed, direct to-consumer beef business and Elzinga knew, if they were to be suc cessful, things would have to change on the ranch. “I told my wife, ‘We’ve got to do something about these cattle we’re raising. There’s no reason why grass-fed beef has to be lean. They’re cattle; they’re not wild game.’” Grass-fed beef had a different pal ette than grain-fed beef back in the 90s when they launched their grass-fed business. “It’s leaner and chewier. And that’s exactly what I don’t want to sell to people.” Like just about everybody, Elzinga likes a nicely marbled steak.

Glenn Elzinga testing Brix on Alderspring Ranch.

So he set about learning about how to get a marbled ribeye from a grass fed steer. And that’s what led him to learn about both sides of the world of carbon sequestration and markets. SEQUESTRATION Back in the ‘90s, he says hardly any body was doing a grass-fed program. There wasn’t a lot of information available. However, he read a book by Jim Gerrish, “And it struck a tone with

78 I SUMMER 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.