Aug 29, 2025
A visual appraisal of soil characteristics, including texture, structure, porosity, colour, worm numbers and root depth. The soil pictured is great soil, says Āta Regenerative chief executive Hugh Jellie.
Mountain River Venison has launched a pilot Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) programme, a globally recognised regenerative standard backed by real data and credentials.
Mountain River is one of the five venison companies participating in the North American Retail Accelerator (NARA) programme, and it was one of their key American clients, Force of Nature, that prompted the regenerative verification move.
John Sadler
Force of Nature's key point of difference is the supply of healthy meat products from regeneratively managed farm systems. It’s a holistic approach to food production that resonates with the company’s environmentally conscious consumers, Mountain River’s John Sadler explains.
“The team at Force of Nature gave us a clear message – that they can achieve an additional premium for our products if we are able to verify that they are produced according to regenerative principles in a sustainable and ethically based system.
“We believe that proving our farming systems are in balance with the land, soil and ecosystem will become a more important consideration for our clients, and that having our suppliers achieve EOV will provide real data and credentials,” he says.
EOV methodology and protocols were developed by the Savory Institute, a global nonprofit whose goal is to regenerate the world's grasslands through holistic management. Mountain River is working with New Zealand-certified EOV provider Āta Regenerative to lead the pilot programme. The programme started in May last year, supporting and educating 20 farmer suppliers on regenerative management.
The EOV process starts with baseline monitoring to establish the overall ecological health of a farm system and a baseline index for ongoing annual comparison. The process is continuous, qualitative and science-based, Āta Regenerative chief executive Hugh Jellie explains, and helps farmers understand critical areas like plant litter incorporation, dung decomposition and soil capping.
“There is no starting point or outcome target other than constant improvement,” Jellie says.
It’s encouraging to be working with the Mountain River Venison group, he adds.
“There’s a high level of engagement and interest, and that’s important because EOV is a different approach to measuring soil and ecological health, and it requires a mindset change.
“It’s exciting to see how Mountain River is taking this on board, along with a quality rather than a mass volume approach to venison production.”
Ecological Outcome Verification is one strand of Mountain River's Future Value Project, a partnership with Lincoln University to add tangible value to farm-raised venison, strengthen the value chain and boost long-term profitability. The second strand is the Deer Healthscape Farming Framework, a four-year project for PhD student Emilia Lopez Seco, who will investigate, among other things, feeding systems and management that could enhance the nutritional value of venison.
“It’s about connecting the dots between nature and nutrition,” Sadler says. “It’s early days, but there is a lot of potential for productivity gain and value-add in this future-focused project."
This article is an abridged version of an article that will run in September's Deer Industry News, so keep an eye out for that.
