Rep Provisions

If you speak with Eric Perner about the 350 acres he farms south of Tulsa, you might get the impression he’s in the business of raising birds. He talks at length about bird habitat, bird food supply, and bird song.

“In the winter, one of the things you’ll first notice on our land is the number of red-tailed hawks you’ll see,” Perner says. “As the season begins to change, you’ll see a lot of bluebirds, cardinals, and even redheaded woodpeckers. Dickcissels are very abundant, too — their song is unique and beautiful.”

And in a way, he is raising birds. Perner’s business, REP Provisions, received a “Bird Friendly” certification from the Audubon Society’s Conservation Ranching program in 2023 that takes into account its habitat management, animal welfare practices, and more. Once awarded, a ranch can affix a label to its packaging that lets consumers know the product originated on lands managed for birds and biodiversity. A biologist visits the ranch yearly to count the visible bird species.

“Grasslands are among the most imperiled ecosystems, as well as the least protected,” explains Thomas Schroeder, Senior Partnerships Manager at the Audubon Society. “Audubon’s Conservation Ranching program was born out of the urgent need to restore grassland habitat and reverse the steep decline of grassland birds in North America.”

But birds aren’t what REP Provisions sells … at least not song birds. REP Provisions sells meat, exclusively online, shipped anywhere in the Lower 48. It sells beef, pork, lamb, goat, and, yes, one type of bird: chicken. It launched its business in March of 2020, which turned out to be a great time for direct-to-consumer food sales. Its focus is exclusively on grass-finished and pasture-raised animals, which is why Perner talks so much about his pasture, and the birds that call it home.

“Regenerative agriculture” describes the practices used on his farm, and on the seven other family farms that supply REP Provisions. Regenerative practices seek to leave the land better than before, with more biodiversity both in the soil and above it. These practices stand in contrast with “extractive agriculture,” which has been the norm for the last century thanks to the rise of mono-crops and the chemical inputs necessary to sustain them.

“I’m a big believer that regenerative agriculture cycles nutrients in the right way so that it benefits all animals, not just our animals,” Perner says. “Instead of killing everything, we work with nature.”

Perner relies on two basic strategies. First, move the animals more. Divide your pasture into smaller paddocks and rotate your animals between them as often as possible. Second, do everything you can to minimize mowing and baling hay.

“The truth is, if you have the right number of cattle, and you move your cattle correctly, you end up with enough grass to sustain them through the winter without relying on hay. This preserves native habitat and is better economics for you,” Perner explains.

Perner came to believe in regenerative agriculture through simple observation, beginning when he was a boy.

“We had abundant numbers of bobwhite quail on our land, and within a decade, they were gone,” Perner says. “My father was unique, he always wanted to preserve nature. But all of the landowners around us were wiping out their habitat. I really got concerned because I watched that one bird disappear. I started thinking, ‘Where does this end?’ Well, it ends in extinction, eventually.”

Although there are scientific markers of soil health, Perner relies primarily on his own senses. “The noises I hear on my property are deafening,” he says. “I can literally walk across the road to another property, and it is dead silent. It is spooky, actually.”

Birds aren’t the only beneficiaries of regenerative ag. Another measurable marker of success is the nutrient density of the meat Perner raises.

“We’ve measured the fatty acids in our beef, and they have much higher Omega 3 than grain-finished beef,” he says. “The flavor is usually more robust as well, which is something most consumers appreciate,” although it sometimes requires an adjustment of both expectations and cooking methods. Perner lamented that industrial ag has “turned everything into baby food,” conditioning consumers to expect a corn-finished steak that’s bland and soft enough to cut with a fork.

The flavor and nutrient value of meat from REP Provisions comes from the animals’ diverse grazing diet. “You are what you eat, eats,” Perner says. So what are you eating when you eat REP Provisions meat? Perner is as eager to talk about plant diversity as he is bird diversity.

“Depending on the time of year, you’ll see butterfly milkweed in our pastures, spider milkweed, black-eyed susans, prairie coneflower, tall gay feather (one of my favorites), ashy sunflower, maximilian sunflower, black sampson, lead plant …” The list goes on and on.

> Find REP Provisions at repprovisions.com