By Shawn Chitnis

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Farmers say raising animals the way nature intended leads to healthier plants, better tasting food and it helps the environment. The Colorado Carbon Fund wants to invest in more farmers practicing this method and now has a fundraiser for local drivers to contribute to the effort.

“We are trying to do what’s best for the grass,” said Karel Starek, who owns the farm The Golden Hoof. “If we’re trying to improve the ecosystem, we have to control where the animals are and how long they’re there.”

Starek has a team of two staff members and interns along with his wife to manage the 27 acre farm. He says carbon farming requires his entire team to make decisions all year and each day that are best for the animals and the earth. He says it goes back to what they would experience in a natural habitat, staying close together as if they were avoiding predators.

The farm team moves the animals from one part of the property to another to control how much grass they eat. This creates a cycle of the grass growing but also being consumed that is more authentic than allowing the animals to eat where they want, when they want.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Starek. “I get a much tastier end product and much healthier end product.”

He says the animals can be harmful the environment if farms do not take proper care of them. The grass itself needs to be seen as a resource that needs to be used appropriately.

“Those are solar panels collecting solar energy,” he said of the grass. “It’s not the animals themselves, it’s how they’re managed.”

This process of farming is expensive and it can be a challenge for others to start on their own. Funding to help them make the transition can be essential to getting them to use this method.

“Helping farmers and ranchers transition from conventional practices to regenerative practices,” said Brandon Welch, program director of the Colorado Carbon Fund. “It’s a no-brainer way to get involved with food, community, water, carbon sequestration and helping the environment.”

Welch says the Fund wants to help people become carbon neutral. They are emitting it each day as a driver but can help to reduce the overall impact on the earth by supporting these farmers. For a donation of $25, you can receive a special license plate that supports farmers trying to make the switch.

He says the earth needs to remove emissions and reduce the amount entering the atmosphere. Welch says helping farmers by purchasing a license plate is a low-tech approach to the reduction aspect. Typical donations for the fund related to the license plate are around $50, he said.

“It’s a great strategy for climate change,” said Philip Taylor, the founder of Mad Agriculture.

Taylor’s nonprofit tries to help farmers and the Colorado Carbon Fund find the dollars needed to start this process. He says there are federal grants available to support this type of transition in farming.

“The farmers often don’t know how to access that money and we’re trying to solve that difficulty and overcome that challenge,” he said.

It is costly and it can be challenging. Starek says he is always trying to find ways to create more revenue for his farm while staying true to this process. But he also has to take educated guesses about what will work best for grass and the animals. Considering all that it takes, he still enjoys the process.

“It’s more interesting to me to work with nature than to replace nature,” said Starek.

The Colorado Carbon Fund has created a special page with instructions to get their special license plate.

Shawn Chitnis reports weeknights for CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Email him story ideas at smchitnis@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.