PORTSMOUTH — Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure that all food-producing animals are raised in a humane and healthy manner, recently awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant in the amount of $1,137 to Cloverbud Ranch. 

The ranch, located off Jepson Lane just south of Portsmouth Middle School, is owned by Martin Beck and Paul Zurlo. The grant is designed to expand humane farming and increase pasture-based livestock production. Cloverbud Ranch will use its award to install fencing and a pasture water system for mob grazing of its herd of beef cattle. 

“We are delighted to partner with Cloverbud Ranch to improve animal welfare,” said Larissa McKenna, FACT’s Humane Farming Program director. “The ongoing pandemic has exposed both the fragility of the factory food system and the resilience of local, sustainable farms. FACT’s Fund-a-Farmer Grants provide a needed financial boost for operations like Cloverbud Ranch so that they may continue to do what they do best — care for their animals and provide nourishing, humanely-raised food for people in their communities.” 

This year FACT awarded 56 grants totaling more than $130,000 to farmers and ranchers across 33 states. Since 2012, FACT has cumulatively awarded 257 grants totaling over $590,000 to farmers across 44 states, benefiting more than 136,000 animals. 

A recent 2021 survey of past grant recipients found that the grants have produced a wide range of long-term benefits. Overall, 98 percent of farmers reported that their FACT-funded projects improved animal welfare, 92 percent experienced a positive environmental impact, and 88 percent found that the grant improved their farm’s financial viability by decreasing expenses, increasing customers and visibility, and ultimately improving net profits. 

With this grant to Cloverbud Ranch, local residents will have additional humanely raised food options to bring home to their kitchen tables, according to FACT. For more information on humane products, visit foodanimalconcernstrust.org. 

For more information about Cloverbud Ranch, visit newenglandgrassfed.com.