Regenerative Farming & The World’s Best Steak w/ First Light Farms CEO, Jason Ross

Show notes as a general guide below. Somewhat in order and not written in perfect grammar because we want you to actually listen to the show!

• Jason’s last oh shit moment
• Jason and First Light’s commitment to the ethical raising of cattle,  commitment to quality and regenerative farming practices. Was there a time for you in the past when the ethical raising of animals didn’t even cross your mind or has this been a thing for you since you were a young kid?
• Commodity grass-fed vs growing to order.
• American history on glyphosate.
• How do you see this situation in an analogous way when it comes to grain-fed animals and the way animals are raised for consumption in the US?
• Is this a cultural thing? Where did we go wrong in America? At what point does America start mass-producing food?
• Corn subsidies. Cheap and cheerful production.
• Re-emergence of grass-fed.
• Tell us about First Light Farms. What is it and why did you create it?
• In large cities, farmers are basically people that live in our imaginations, what are your family of farmers actually like? What is your relationship with them and how much do they care about your practices vs just making money?
• Equitable distribution of value in the chain.
• Wagyu Vs Kobe beef.
• What is the life cycle of cattle that is pasture-raised and grass-fed vs that of grain-fed cattle?
• Why is grass-fed so expensive?
• There is a lot of talk about Venison and other game animals. Can you share a bit about game animals from a nutritional standpoint and also from an environmental standpoint? 
• I love learning about regenerative farming. Give us your definition of it. 
• Why is regenerative farming being talked about so much as one of the solutions to our ecological crisis?
• Meat consumption plays a big role in environmental impact. What is your take on this?
• First Light Farms Steak club.
• Jason shares his top two traits for a conscious leader to embody.

Check out https://www.firstlight.farm/
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Below is a transcript of the video podcast created by Seb’s Robot buddy, Zekton. He tends to make mistakes so please forgive him if you find errors or some funky sounding sentences. For the real deal, watch the video or click on your favorite audio Podcast platform above! Enjoy!

Sebastian Naum:
What up fam today I had on Firstlight farms, founder, Jason Ross, who we call Jace. If you’re into high quality, top notch, grass fed beef, I’m sure you’re already a fan of first light, a brand that can be found in Bristol farms Lassens and tons of other natural grocers. And now even a Ralphs in some areas with some of the top cuts in the world found only in their state club. And just a few of some of the highest end state restaurants in the world. First light farms was founded by Jace and a couple of friends frustrated with the traditional meat value chain. They had cut their teeth in the industry and were unhappy with the lack of transparency and the commodity mindset. They also identified a problem. They thought they could solve beef with a consistency, tenderness and succulent of grain fed raised on grass without any nasty and unhealthy inputs.

Sebastian Naum:
So Jason is homies said about inventing 100% grass fed guu beef, and they created a value chain to seamlessly connect consumers who care with groups of like minded farmers, guys. There’s the reason why Forbes calls it the best beef in the world. If you’re someone who’s interested in regenerative farming, conscious consumerism, or perhaps just the best freaking stake in the world, we got it all in this episode. And Hey, if you get value from the show, please share with a friend, tag me on social and definitely subscribe and means the world to me. I appreciate you guys spending time with us. Enjoy the show, Jace. Welcome to the show. How’s it going

Jason Ross:
All good. Thanks Sebastian.

Sebastian Naum:
Wonderful. Great to have you looks like a beautiful morning over there in New Zealand.

Jason Ross:
Yep. Half past nine Friday morning. That sun behind me is the, uh, first sun of Friday. You’ll get it tomorrow.

Sebastian Naum:
Love that. Wonderful, wonderful Jace. I start all my podcasts by asking my guests. What was your last oh, moment. First thing that comes to mind last. Oh, moment.

Jason Ross:
Um, yesterday when one of my boys went down with blood all over his face on the rugby field.

Sebastian Naum:
Oh.

Jason Ross:
That’s a proper

Sebastian Naum:
O. How’s he doing? Is he all right?

Jason Ross:
He’s okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wiped it off and carried back on

Sebastian Naum:
<laugh>. That’s why he plays rugby.

Jason Ross:
Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Sebastian Naum:
Exactly. I love that. That’s a good, oh. There. I’ve asked a lot of those. That’s that’s a good, that’s a good one. Ja. Yeah. So Ja um, I wanna acknowledge you right away. I tend to do this at the end of shows, but I wanna acknowledge you right away for you and your company’s, uh, commitment to ethical raising a cattle commitment to quality regenerative farming practices. And I’m super excited to dive more into these subjects, uh, because it’s really a conscious business model and what’s a, what’s what I’m passionate about. But first I wanna ask you, was there a time in the past when ethical raising of animals, wasn’t really a thing in your life? Or is this something that’s always been there for you as a kid?

Jason Ross:
Um, no. I grew up in the, I guess the mainstream meat business. So we don’t have grain feed beef in New Zealand, but, um, we have commodity grass fed, so that’s where I sort of, um, cut my teeth. Never. Uh, I sort of certainly appreciated all the learnings. Um, never really fell in love with the commodity mindset. Um, so it was just a matter of time, I think before we sort of transition where I transitioned into something that was, I could say just a little bit deeper, a little bit more robust.

Sebastian Naum:
What does that mean exactly for someone who hasn’t heard that term commodity mindset?

Jason Ross:
Um, I, I suppose the easiest way of explaining it would be the difference between growing to order and harvesting. So commodity businesses will go and buy off the open market. So there is thousands and thousands of farms in New Zealand and thousands of farmers. And they might not have loyalty to one particular, um, company that processes their cattle. So the meat companies, therefore go and harvest, they just pay a price. The best price on the day gets the, gets the livestock. And some of that livestock’s fantastic. And some of it’s not so good and commodity businesses are set up to just deal with the full range. Whereas in our today’s iteration of first light, we grow to order. So we are very specific about every single piece of the puzzle and cause we’ve got a very specific outcome we’re trying to achieve. So we don’t, you can’t become a grass fed where you supplier to first light, unless you are part of the business because we don’t, we’re just not designed to deal with stuff that we don’t want.

Sebastian Naum:
Great. Thanks for that description. Yeah, absolutely. You know, um, Ja the more and more you start to dig and learn about American history when it comes to it’s farming practices, um, you know, it’s pretty scary. Uh, even if I just look into like glyphosate, for example, this is just something I know a little bit about something that was discovered in the fifties and, uh, in the seventies was essentially, um, adopted by Monsonto right. And, uh, marked as Roundup as a, as a herbicide. And although in the eighties, this was all, there was already data showing that, um, this is carcinogen. Um, basically it became rampant in the nineties early thousands and you basically find it everywhere. I believe there was a study and just a few years ago done that, uh, glyphosate has found in 95% of all Americans urine, which is just a crazy statistic. And just over the last couple of years, we’ve started to see some true progress when it comes to settlements and, and lawsuits and things that are happening that are going to curve that, um, do you see this situation, uh, as analogous when it comes to grain fed animals and how animals are raised for consumption in the United States?

Jason Ross:
Uh, look, I think what changed the American meat industry was clearly was grain, was corn, corn subsidies in the fifties. Um, and what corn enables is, um, highly optimized, which is a euphemism for cheap and cheerful, uh, protein production. So, um, the risk that comes with that is that you gain a whole lot of IP around, we would say artificial animal production, and you lose a whole lot of IP around natural animal production. So I think the answer probably to the question is, yes. Um,

Sebastian Naum:
What do you mean by that? By the IP?

Jason Ross:
What’s really, really hard to grow grass, feed cattle, and produce, produce a kick outcome. Like really, really hard. It’s like, you know, driving a super high quality, uh, race car. You’ve gotta be at the top of your game to win. Um, where, because you with a, um, an industrialized system, you, you take out all of the variables, not all of the variables, but most of them, right? You take out animal health by giving them lots of antibiotics. You take out, um, fat burning by standing them still, you take out the weather, you know, you, you, you eliminate a whole lot of the challenges that are inherent in the grass fed pastoral system. One is a lot harder and for some crazy reason, which is called marketing. So it’s not a crazy reason. It’s, you know, good, good, well done to the marketers. Um, grained beef became more expensive than grass fed beef when an actual in reality, the, the, um, disciplines and capability required to deliver really good quality grass fed animal, um, their chalk and cheese.

Sebastian Naum:
So that, that was in terms of the pricing. Then it was actually more exp that was in the beginning.

Jason Ross:
Well, for, for, until until five years ago, okay. Grain beef was more expensive than grass fed. And the reason for that I think is pretty simple is that grass, that grain fed beef is really, really consistent. It’s consistently tender and juicy. It’s not particularly flavorful, um, relative to grass fed. And some people would say that that’s a good thing, cuz the grass Fed’s quite a strong flavor. Um, but people were paying for con willing to pay a premium for consistency. Um, but that comes at an enormous cost. If you happen to be the animal as an example,

Sebastian Naum:
Is this just, uh, is this just an American thing that we went so hardcore into grain fed and really looking at, uh, this, uh, cheap and cheerful production that you’re talking about or is this really a worldwide phenomenon that started happening as basically we wanted to just feed more humans and profit over everything else, sort of mentality.

Jason Ross:
Um, I can’t speak to the, you know, profit over everyone else and all that sort of stuff, cuz that’s sort of outside my wheelhouse, but in terms of did Americans invent grain, fed, um, beef production at, um, at extremely and do it extremely efficiently? Yes. Did you export that IP around the world? Yes. Is the rest of the world now where they can doing it like south America for example. Yes. So, um, yes you did. Um, and I think you’re also are gonna export the solution because grass fed, um, consumption is growing in north America and you are exporting the health and wellbeing benefits of grass fed to those places that are, you know, have followed you into grain fed. So we’re, we’ve seen the reemergence and I say, I call it a reemergence of grass feed because you, our, all our grandparents grew up on grassed, anyone who was born, who, who lived pre the fifties, was eating grass fed. So it’s not like this is a new thing. There’s just been a moment in time when grain fed became popular. And um, so I think, you know, grass feed is, is, is just making its comeback. And I think America’s doing just a good job at exporting the idea of grass feeded as they did at exporting the, the idea of grain fed.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah. Yeah. Well I’m, as you know, I’m originally from Argentina, so this is definitely something that, um, that has changed a lot, even south America, like you said, right. It caught on significantly there. And again, I’m not an expert in that, but I, I would have to say that there’s something to be said about the consistency and removing the variables like you were saying, and definitely being that, having to do with profit, right. For a lot of people that are really just, you know, farmers that are looking to make money. But um, moving on from that

Jason Ross:
The cynic, you know, the cynic would say that, of course you come from New Zealand, you are an advocate for grassed because you know your climate and your terrain doesn’t lend itself to grain fed beef. And that’s a fair statement. South America, Australia, Midwest of the us, they are custom designed for growing crops that you can cut and carry to an animal. So logically if you happen to be on those purpose planes in Europe, in Argentina and you know, parts of Uruguay and Brazil for that matter, and you can grow maze or corn and cut and cart it to an animal and, and the whole net net, it’s more profitable. Mm it’s pretty hard to argue against why you might not do that.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah. Yeah. I understood there Ja what, so tell us a little bit about first sight farms. How did, how did that start? What was it that inspired you to begin this journey of your,

Jason Ross:
Uh, the beefs we of venison business and the beef business? So if I was just to pick on the beef side of things, um, what inspired us was an opportunity or a, an unfulfilled need, which was for that American consumer who was transitioning back to, or for the maybe discovering grassed beef to give them an, an amazing eating experience. The downside to grassed beef is that it is inconsistent, uh, which means it’s quite oftentimes dry and chewy and has got a very strong flavor. Um, and we knew, well, we, we, we rolled the, we, we put our money on black. You know, we said this reemergence of grass feed is not gonna be a fad. It’s gonna be a long term trend. And therefore we are well positioned in New Zealand to produce the world’s best grass fed beef. So that consume that American consumer who has made the decision to transition from grain to grass is gonna have a consistently tendered juicy experience.

Jason Ross:
And that’s why we invented grassed where you beef, because the only there are multiple ways to create great grass feed beef. But the great leveler is marbling, which is the, you know, the, those flicks of fat into the inside the muscle and where you as an animal that is genetically predisposed to marbling. So I guess don’t it longwinded answer to your question. We created first light and created grassed wa beef, which was still pretty much the only company in the world that does to give Aner a north American consumer who wanted grass fed beef, an amazing eating experience, not an eight ounce health supplement

Sebastian Naum:
Ja uh, the, I, I actually wrote down here, the Oxford definition of guu is a breed of cattle of Japanese origin from which sustain from which is obtained trended, marble beef typically containing a high percentage of unsaturated fat. And then there’s other sources using the term Kobe beef and guu interchangeably. Can you clarify that the difference between the two, if there is one?

Jason Ross:
Yeah, there definitely is one. So why, so in Japanese WEU is a breed Angus Herford WEU I know simile, uh, wa means Japan and GU means cow. So Japanese cow, so it’s a Japanese kettle breed. Um, Kobe is a place. So Kobe WEU is a bit like saying Los Angeles, Angus.

Sebastian Naum:
Got it. So

Jason Ross:
Kobe beef, yes. They grow great where you and Kobe, and they probably argue they grow the best. But then the, um, the guys in Miyazaki would say, which is another place in Japan would say that Miyazaki beef is better than Kobe beef. So co Kobe is a, I think it, it probably came out of the, the second world war Americans had been in Kobe, came back and said, Hey, I had this amazing beef beef stuck. Kobe is not, Kobe is a place, it’s a Seaport in Japan, where was a breed?

Sebastian Naum:
Got it. So they had some good branding and marketing there.

Jason Ross:
Uh, yeah, <laugh>

Sebastian Naum:
And, uh, Ja there’s, um, you know, you’re te telling us a little bit about why you started as first slide farms and, and this need, and this sort of resurgence for, for grassed and the states. And really there is, there are aspects of your business that are conscious business aspects, conscious capitalistic aspects that are ingrained in the DNA of it, um, that you haven’t, you know, you haven’t mentioned yet in regards to what that looks like in, in terms of the, the collective of farms and your relationship to farming families. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Because you know, people in this city, if you grew up in, in like Los Angeles, for example, or New York or large city, and you never really had experience with the farms,

Sebastian Naum:
Hey guys, I just wanna remind you, if you wanna find more content like this, you can visit Sebastian nom.com. That’s Sebastian NA u.com. You can also get a ton of other marketing resources for myself and my agencies ranging from SEO to social media, influencer, marketing, branding, web development, and more, again, that’s Sebastian nom.com. Thank you. And enjoy the rest of the show.

Sebastian Naum:
Farmers are this sort of imagined humans that you have in your brain, and you don’t really even know what they’re like and what they do. Uh, tell us a little bit about that, about maybe the, what, what really gifts for the livelihood of farming families and, and what that’s all like and, and great in your business.

Jason Ross:
So the go back to the earlier, um, description of the commodity meat business, which makes up the majority of the meat business globally, it’s a very confrontational industry. So the farmers, um, are disengaged from the meat processes, who are, who own the market. And when there’s lots of grass and the, and the farmer doesn’t have to sell, um, or the markets, you know, the, the market is, is strong and the farmer doesn’t have to sell. Then they will hold back and hold the meat process at a ransom. And when the farmers get short on cash or feed, or some other environmental impact, the processes will pin them to the wall and pay them as little as possible. It’s a very confrontational industry. Yeah. And it’s a generalization, but that is actually how the majority of the, of the industry works. We decided that we would turn that on its head and prioritize, getting as much value out of the animal as we could and giving as much of that to the farmer as they deserved or as was fair.

Jason Ross:
So we talk about equitable distribution of value along the value chain. And we talk about no one in the value chain that doesn’t add value because that’s the other problem with the meat industry is it is full of, um, participants who might not be adding in a huge amount of value. So we, we limit the participants in the supply chain to the bare minimum between the consumer and the farmer. And we ensure that the farmer has transparency to the value that’s being created, and they’re getting their fair share of it. And the way we went about doing that was we made the farmers shareholders in the company.

Sebastian Naum:
How exactly how, how, how is that the case?

Jason Ross:
Oh, they just have shares like any other shareholder and they’re significant enough shareholders that they get to see the profitability of the business and the, and the distribution of value acro along the value chain. So they might not actively get involved in the trucking or transport negotiations, but they do understand that of the a hundred dollars that they get from the market eight of it’s going to trucking or something, you know, they’re just active participants that’s often. Yeah. And what that, what that does, when you feel like you’re being treated fairly, you become very engaged. Yeah. And when you feel like you’re treated unfairly, you know, you become your, your Ples go up. So we have, we have the, the opposite relationship to our farmers to, to what a, I guess, a big meat company might.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah. That, that’s, that’s a really awesome concept. So essentially if I was distributing strawberries and I worked with a hundred different farmers of strawberries, I would offer them shares of my company of the overall distribution and selling of my brand.

Jason Ross:
Yes. What it does is so the, the team that, you know, it’s quite a complicated process, you know, meet well, farming animals all the way through to, um, having them members of state clubs and, you know, and great grocery stores and all that sort of stuff. Um, so we’ve got a big supply chain team. Their job is to maximize the value from the animal and the farmer’s job is to maximize the quality of the animal. And it’s, mutely dis assured successful destruction. Yeah. It’s just a tight, it’s just a short, focused supply chain with an equitable, equitable distribution of value.

Sebastian Naum:
That’s wonderful. Yeah. What is the, um, what’s the cycle of cattle in, in, when it comes to pasture raised grass fed versus grain fed?

Jason Ross:
Um, I, I can’t speak super clearly for grain fed, but my understanding is that grain fed animals are processed somewhere between sort of 18 and low 20 months. Um, whereas a grass fed animal, our grass fed animals are more like 27, 28 months. Quite a big difference takes a lot longer. You know, there’s not anywhere near as much energy in grass as there is in cornflakes. And you burn a lot of that energy off when you’re walking up and downhill, um, on open fields than you do if you’re standing still in a KFO.

Sebastian Naum:
So essentially for the animal, you got a happier and longer life either way.

Jason Ross:
Yeah. You do you, I mean, you know, it’s all you could argue. It’s not a hugely, um, longer life, but I can tell you it’ll feel like a lot longer life when you’re enjoying it.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, and also, if you look at it from a percentage standpoint, it is actually quite, quite a lot longer <laugh>

Jason Ross:
Yeah. It is

Sebastian Naum:
Quite a lot longer for sure. Is that part of what is this, why it is much more expensive nowadays? Is it because of that in part?

Jason Ross:
Yeah, I think it’s a, it’s a mixture of cost of production in supply and demand. I mean, for us, our ours is more expensive because the, the energy that’s required to put marbling into meat off grass is significant. So farmers have to be at the absolute top of their game in terms of making sure every mouthful is an energy rich one. And they’ve got all sorts of mechanisms to do that, but suffice to say that you’ve gotta be extremely well planned. Um, and you’ve gotta have really good quality pasture all the time, which means you’re on the best quality land. So we are we’re, we are our way you’re occupying the best of the best land in New Zealand in order to get that marbling in the, in the mate.

Sebastian Naum:
Great. Yeah. There’s um, when we, a lot of the times when we’re thinking about it from a health perspective too, there’s, um, I’ve had someone else on the podcast in the past, talking about grass fed versus grain fed and what that means from a health perspective. And it makes it really a huge difference and, uh, in a very, very positive way. And a lot of the times we have this sort of understanding that healthier is more expensive. Um, but the truth of the matter is, you know, more expensive maybe right now today, but what is the price of your health in the long term, right? Whether that is a shorter lifespan disease, uh, you know, hospital bills, et cetera, et cetera, you know? So I, I see it as a very much, uh, worth expensive today sort of thing, uh, versus in the long term from a quality and health standpoint,

Jason Ross:
I think the reality of the matter is that, um, things that are done naturally just cost more cause they take more time and, and they haven’t got the artificial interventions that is, you know, nicest possible way. Cutting the, we don’t, we can’t, we can’t cut the corners.

Sebastian Naum:
Right.

Jason Ross:
So the, it costs more. Yeah. And you’re right. You know, ultimately short term that might, um, be a bit painful, longer term you’ll reap the benefits.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah, absolutely. And so many just like so many things in life. So, uh, definitely, definitely. There’s um, so talk to me a little bit about venison and other game animals. Uh, is there, is there anything from a nutritional standpoint about venison, another gay animals from environmental standpoint that yeah. We should be, um, essentially raising or consuming more gay animals.

Jason Ross:
Yeah. Well, I, you know, we say it was the, you know, was the original, fast food, you know, humans have been eating, uh, let’s just say deer, for example, since like we came down out of the trees, you know, it has been in pretty much all cultures around the world, the original meat. Um, so we are, we are biologically designed to, um, to get the most out of them. They also happen to be the antithesis of where beef they’re extremely lean. So venison, as an example, most cuts on a deer, um, are 1% fat. Um, and the great thing about venison is that it’s four times as tender as beef, so it’s lean and tender. Um, so yeah, I’d say it’s the nutrients from VE from wild game of very bio available because we’ve been doing it for so long and from a health and wellbeing perspective, it’s, you know, it’s a good story. And I think the, the, the other one is probably some of these wild game animals that we are consuming have become pests. So it’s not a bad idea to utilize what has become something we don’t want, rather than just protecting to protect your native forests, um, culling them. Um, you might as well CU them and can and use, use that protein.

Sebastian Naum:
Super interesting. It’s super interesting. Ja I love learning about regenerative farming. Um, there’s a lot of talk about it. Uh, why don’t you give us your definition of it?

Jason Ross:
Um, we, I think we’ve always been regenerative and, and so we were kind of probably regenerative before it was a thing. Um, the, for us, we are, we are learning what the new definition is, um, and making minor adjustments to make sure we comply with the generally accepted definition. Pretty much what it is to us is ensuring that you are protecting the soil. Um, and it’s linked to carbon. Um, while regenerative doesn’t focus specifically on carbon, carbon is a big, plays, a big role in it, but it’s, it’s pasture and soil management to ensure that because that’s where it all starts. Um, that’s where that’s kind of the building blocks of, of certainly, um, grass fed protein, but also plants for, you know, plant based consumption. So the integration of animals and past, and, and plants together in an ecosystem. Um, and primarily where we, I think we are ahead of others is we have determined that we are designing for a future with a few less animals in it with less animals in it in general. So big part of our regenerative definition is getting more value per animal to reduce the number of animals required for a farmer to earn a living and net net. That’s a better outcome for the environment.

Sebastian Naum:
So with meat consumption, playing a big role in environmental impact, you see this, this is the essentially the solution in regards to meat consumption. And it’s an impact on the environment is through regenerative farming.

Jason Ross:
Look, our worldview is that plants and animals have forever and they should continue to coexist forever where you get, um, bias in the wrong direction is when you have too many, when you have too many of anything, when you have too many plants and not enough animals, you have a problem have, have a, have a look at, you know, the big green desert that is in the middle of America, too many plants, not enough animals, not good. Um, on the flip side, if you have too many grassed wa animals on one farm, you will degrade the soil. So fundamentally, um, our view is that the two harmony, you know, the two should work in harmony and the, the risk is that you go too far in either direction and the great indicator for when you’re getting it right, is the quality of the soil. Cause the soil there’s nowhere to hide.

Jason Ross:
The soil will tell you if you’ve had too many plants and not enough animals, then you’ve taken too much carbon out of it. Um, if you’ve got too many animals and not enough plants, then the, you know, you’ll take the carbon out of it for, for another way, you know, that you release all the carbon by overgrazing. So it’s all about getting the balance, right? And, and it’s hard, the, the easiest way to do it, or the best way to do it, we believe is to get as much value from an animal as we possibly can. So the farmer doesn’t have to push the limit of how many he’s got on his farm.

Sebastian Naum:
That’s, it’s, that’s so fascinating. It’s fascinating that so much can be told through the, through carbon and through our soil and how much of an impact that has on everything. It’s such a domino effect. It’s truly fascinating. And, uh, it’s incredible that, um, I love that you guys are paying so much attention to that balance, such a careful balance that has to happen.

Jason Ross:
Um, it’s not just carbon though. I think we get caught up with carbon. I mean, carbon’s actually, we’ve gotta be careful with the term. We should be using the term greenhouse gases because carbon is actually the building block of life. You know, we are trying to put carbon into soils. Carbon’s a really, really good thing. Um, but for us, that soil quality is, uh, a mixture of how much organic matter carbon is in there, but also what the biodiversity is in there. How many worms per SP full, um, you know, the interaction of all of the, um, the different insects and not having too many of one. And, but yes, you can answer your question or, you know, to support your statement. It is it’s, it’s it, you get that bit right. Then all else follows.

Sebastian Naum:
Yeah. That’s, that’s incredible. Do you, do you see any time in the near future where more cattle producers and farmers are going to start going this route, Jace, the, the route that you guys have gone, uh, a very conscious route one that, uh, produces a high quality meat, one that helps the environment and hopefully starts to help us curve, uh, these ecological crisis that we’re having.

Jason Ross:
I think there’s farmers are generally, um, smart, capable people who want to do good. Um, so they, they, they will all want regenerative, you know, by their, their standards, which is the right balance of animals on healthy soil and grass. They all want that. Um, and so if you give them the opportunity to, to do that, um, most farmers that I know, um, are land custodians. They’re not this OGA who’s trying to, you know, use this, use the land for their own benefit. They’re typically custodians who are looking to protect it for the next generation as my observation. So I think that you give them the opportunity to do that, and they will pretty much all do that. It comes down to, um, the consumer, the consumer needs to get a, get real when it comes to the cost of protein and accept that they should eat less of it.

Jason Ross:
And it should be better quality. So no more of this, what I see a lot, not only in north America, but all over the place, which is half the steak left on the plate, have order half the size steak and eat every last piece of it. And, and the sticker shock of the cost of it, won’t be as significant cuz you’re eating less of it and it’ll be net, net be net or net positive and which will enable the farmer to be a better custodian. So yes, I think to answer your question, I think there are lots of people doing this, um, and there’ll be a lot more doing it, given the opportunity.

Sebastian Naum:
Absolutely. Yeah. I love that a say all the time is you vote with your dollars. So consumers drive so much of that market. So the more and more we can educate our consumers and we can be educated as consumers, the more of these practices we’re gonna drive, which is exciting. So I, and from what I see, thanks to also technology and the way we can disperse knowledge is that more and more people are finding out about it and are making choices consciously and that’s driving those practices, uh, to improve, which is super exciting to see. So, um, Jace now bottom line, I’ve had a lot of chances to try for slight steaks, uh, whether it’s, uh, buying it at sprouts, I’ve had a chance to have the steak club and it is freaking incredible. I’ve had a lot of stake in my life. I absolutely love it. Love it, love it. So, um, obviously I’ll be sharing all of the links, uh, here in the podcast for people to, to, uh, connect with first light farms and all that good stuff. Um, any words on, on the taste of what the steak club is and how people can, can, uh, buy your meat.

Jason Ross:
We had a, an event that, um, you were at where I, I asked the room, you know, someone helped me define the, you know, give me some words to describe grassed waggy beef. And, um, the one that came through the strongest was clean, um, which is not a great descriptive for the flavor, honestly, but it, but it sort of was what everybody felt. So I guess that, that that’s meaningful, um, and clean, I think means that when you eat it, uh, you feel good, um, which would suggest that it probably is good. Um, and supply chain’s clean, you know, it’s, it’s real, it’s not, there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in some parts of the meat industry. There’s no smokes and mirrors here. Um, and the state club, um, is really the, sort of the, the pinnacle, our, our absolute goal is to sell meat directly to consumers, because if you’re a member of the state club, you can email the farmer and that’s as close as we are ever going to get to success, which is joining the group of really caring farmers with a group of really caring consumers.

Jason Ross:
Um, and so, yeah, the state club’s really, really important for us and technology has enabled that we can, we can have two people, one growing at one, consuming it, talking to each other. Um, and then we can seamlessly deliver that meat to their doorstep once a month. And, you know, it’s a, it’s a win-win. And as we go into the whole sort of next chapter of our evolution, which is better using the leather better using the, you know, the livers as micronutrients for B12 it, using the collagen, um, and using every piece of the animal, then the person who’s eating the great steak gets an opportunity to, to buy collagen for their, for their smoothie or for their coffee from the same animal, knowing that it’s also lived a great life. It’s the best quality that money can buy. Yeah, that’s really the, the state club and that whole connection directly with the consumer is, is our definition of success.

Sebastian Naum:
That’s super cool. I love that. That’s amazing. Jace, is there anything coming up in terms of other products like you were just mentioning and in terms of collagen or, you know, really maximizing the animals.

Jason Ross:
Yep. This year we are going to bring out three products. One, one is the collagen. Um, another one is the, is the micronutrients. So that is, it’s this growing awareness that 90% of all the vitamins you buy a synthetic created in a lab wow. And not, and not bio available. So if you want to get B12, if you are short on vitamin a, um, then taking a, a freeze dried, mild encapsulated B liver capsule, not only will you get all the B12 and the a, um, and they, you know, all the squillion, other micronutrients, um, but you, your body will be able to absorb them properly. So, and in the last one’s pet food, you know, we create, we have create a lot of bones and that’s makes for an opportunity for a lots of pet food.

Sebastian Naum:
That’s great. What is a lot of pets in the states and <laugh> more and more pets need great quality food, just like we do. So that’s super exciting. Jace, I’m gonna let you go on this one last question. You’re clearly a conscious leader for what you do and what you stand for and, and everything you guys do at first light farms is truly inspirational. What do you find that are your top two traits that a conscious leader must embody today?

Jason Ross:
Um, stick to your principles would be one. I mean, there are so many opportunities for cutting corners. Um, and I give all my staff the clear mandate that when they reach the T intersection and there’s an easy way and a right way that they take the right way, even if it comes at a bit of a cost financial or time. Um,

Jason Ross:
I think you have to be a little bit of a futurist because, um, you might see something that others either don’t see or do see and feel uncomfortable with, and you’ve gotta be true to your conviction and stick to it. Um, even like when we first started producing super high quality grass fed beef, there were a lot of naysayers that this was a stupid idea from within <laugh>. Some came from inside our families. Um, but you know, you, you’ve gotta, you’ve got to stick to your conviction. And when everybody says no, and you still truly believe it to be the right thing to do, you gotta just, you know, go to thick skin.

Sebastian Naum:
I love that. That’s the first time I’ve heard that one. I’ve been asking people that, uh, for a long time. So, uh, Jace, thank you so much for being on appreciate you keep doing what you do, really, truly a conscious leader and love your company and what you guys are doing. We need more people like you and, and more companies like first light farms. So thanks again for being on very much. Appreciate you.

Jason Ross:
Thanks. Appreciate. Thanks.