2004 Winners

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) presented Frank "Sonny" W. Williamson Jr. and Frank "Wes" Williamson III, owners of Williamson Cattle Company, Okeechobee, Florida, as the national winners of the 14th Annual Environmental Stewardship Award.

Co-sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program recognizes cattle producers whose stewardship practices are inventive, cost-effective and contribute to environmental conservation. The regional and national recipients of this top U.S. Beef industry environmental award are selected by a committee of representatives from university faculty, federal and state government agencies, and conservation and environmental organizations.

View the videos of the winners

Here are this year’s national and regional winners:

Williamson Cattle Company - Okeechobee, Florida
McElhaney Stock Farm - Hookstown, Pennsylvania
White Family Farms - Estherville, Iowa
Chain Land & Cattle Co. - Canton, Oklahoma
Barthelmess Ranch Corporation - Malta, Montana
DC Cattle Company - Globe, Arizona
Roise Ranch - Powers Lake, North Dakota

Previous Winners

Williamson Cattle Company - Okeechobee, Florida

Frank "Sonny" W. Williamson, Jr. Frank "Wes" Williamson III

Since the 1940s, the 8,700-acre Florida ranch of Williamson Cattle Company has been a place to find the state's increasingly rare, native flora and fauna. It's also home to 2,300 commercial Brangus cows. Through tours, outreach and interaction with agencies and environmental groups, the family helps Floridians see cattle ranching as a way to preserve the environment.

Water quality is a concern in South Florida; high phosphorous levels in Lake Okeechobee have been attributed to agriculture. To hold and filter runoff, the Williamsons re-established wetlands and added water-control structures. Water leaving the ranch has the least phosphorous of any tributary in the basin.

Wes developed and shared a "phosphorous budget" spreadsheet, which logs all phosphorous imported and exported from the ranch. It documents that ranches can export more phosphorous through cattle and other products than they bring in. Beef production can be part of the solution to the phosphorous problem.

McElhaney Stock Farm - Hookstown, Pennsylvania

Richard McElhaney family

Dick McElhaney bought what became McElhaney Stock Farm in 1971, and converted the shallow, highly erodible soils from crops to forage. Today, the family sells Shorthorn breeding stock, club calves and locker beef from its 235 acres. They've adopted intensive rotational grazing, stabilized stream banks, established forested riparian buffers, and developed water sources.

When gravel and salt from a state road affected water quality of a stream through the farm, McElhaney built a berm with structures to control the runoff. Sown to grass, it provides a protective barrier and filter to allow road runoff to soak into the soil before reaching the stream.

White Family Farms - Estherville, Iowa

Craig and Margaret White, Brad and Jill White, Lance White

While building a business, four generations of Whites have invested themselves in soil conservation, improving water quality and enhancing wildlife habitat. Today, White Family Farms includes row crops, pasture, hay, a cow herd and feedlots on nearly 3,000 acres.

Along with the conversion of marginal cropland to pasture and hay, the family has held the soil with no-till contour farming, grassed waterways, ponds, windbreaks and rotational grazing. Buffer strips, fenced riparian areas, and feedlot settling basins and filters protect water quality. The Whites developed water sources, planted food plots for wildlife, and established vegetation for habitat. The family shares access with local hunters, fishermen and canoers on the Des Moines River.

Chain Land & Cattle Co. - Canton, Oklahoma

Ralph Chain family

From 160 acres in 1893, Chain Land & Cattle Co. has grown to include a cow herd, stockers, quarter horses and crops on 60,000 acres in Oklahoma and Kansas. But 60 years ago, the home ranch was nearly devoid of wildlife. Ralph Chain changed that. After the state released deer and turkey in the late 1950s, the family managed farming, grazing and brush control to allow for habitat.

The Chains built ponds for waterfowl, planted food plots, and spot-burned to promote quail. They reseeded cropland to native grasses. Wildlife flourishes today and diversifies ranch income. The ranch attracts hunters for deer, turkey, dove, quail, wild hogs and waterfowl. The Chains donate hunts to charities, and have welcomed visitors for other recreational and educational experiences, even providing the setting for an outdoor TV show.

Barthelmess Ranch Corporation - Malta, Montana

Leo Barthelmess, Sr. family

Halfway through their first 40 years on the ranch, the Barthelmess family decided their business was forage, not just cattle. That led them to new ways to manage their 24,000- acre ranch.

By integrating rotationally grazed livestock and native seed harvest, the family captures greater value while improving the resource. Fencing of riparian areas allows brief, intense grazing to promote native vegetation to the water's edge, minimize erosion and favor wildlife. Working with the state and Ducks Unlimited, the family built reservoirs for livestock water and waterfowl habitat.

While benefiting wildlife, the Barthelmesses have extended their grazing season, reduced the need for hay, and increased beef production by 29 percent in 12 years.

DC Cattle Company - Globe, Arizona

David L. Cook family

David Cook's core business is managing the Diamante Ranch owned by Phelps Dodge Miami, Inc., nearly 35,000 acres of private land, mining claims and federal grazing leases. Cook uses cattle to reclaim mining sites that support no vegetation. He spreads soil over mine tailings, then feeds cattle there to add manure to build the soil. That reduces air and water pollution from the fine tailings, and creates new land to support plants, cattle and wildlife.

Cook started rotational grazing on the ranch, renovated watering systems and developed new ones that have benefited wildlife as much as cattle.

He initiated a join monitoring system with the Forest Service and the University of Arizona to provide better data on livestock use of forage. He's taught the system at workshops for fellow ranchers and employees of the Forest Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The Forest Service says the data provide a factual basis for future management and for informing the public of resource conditions.

Roise Ranch - Powers Lake, North Dakota

Gerald Roise family

Gerald Roise's grandfather came to North Dakota from Norway in the 1920s. On highly erodible, sandy loam soils, the family today manages a cow herd, feed crops and commercial alfalfa production on 1,800 owned and 3,200 lease acres.

Since 1993, the family has cooperated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to seed cropland to grass, establish rotational grazing systems, develop watering systems, and restore and create wetlands to benefit wildlife, especially waterfowl. Roise was one of the first in North Dakota to enter into a grassland easement to ensure bird habitat. He's welcomed researchers to study the benefits of his grazing management on birds, and hosted a tour organized by FWS with representatives of Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society and the North Dakota Natural Resource Trust.

Previous Winners

2003 Winners
2002 Winners
2001 Winners
2000 Winners
1999 Winners
1998 Winners

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