Ellett Valley Beef Company: A Soil for Water Case Study

Montgomery County, Virginia

In this video, Gil Yearwood of Ellett Valley Beef Company reflects on his time raising beef since 1975. Ellett Valley Beef Company is in Montgomery County in southwest Virginia and specializes in South Poll cattle because they are excellent for grass-based grazing systems and have relatively small frames, easy dispositions, and are tender.

Gil admits he has tried every variation of rotational grazing and has found that it is significantly better than continuous grazing. Gil took an interest in cattle and grazing as a teenager. He has been a mentor for many young and second-career cattle farmers.

Gil demonstrates that regenerative agriculture and grazing is a journey and an adaptive lifelong process. He openly shares his overarching goals, challenges, the lessons he has learned, and what gives him hope with soil health, water quality, and regenerative grazing adoption as he interacts with other farmers and visitors to his farm.

This project material is based upon work that is funded and supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) program under subaward number LS21-345. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.