Production Practices

Conservation – Cowboy Style

By Lisa Bard

Three different environments. Three different management schemes. Three different production systems. One similar goal. Conserve the land so that all can benefit from it and it can sustain itself – and us – for generations to come. This is the common theme in the conservation practices of the three ranching operations that were finalists for the 2006 Leopold Conservation Award. As varied as these three operations are, their commonalities far outweigh their differences.

Cattle producers have long been under a microscope for how they use and manage their land and have been stereotyped in popular media as users and destroyers of the land. The good news is that cowboy conservation defies all stereotyping.

The rugged individualism that is the benchmark of the cowboy persona is also threaded through the cowboy conservationist. They are single minded in their passion for what they do and how they do it. They have a level of commitment that pushes them to keep moving towards their goal, year after year. They do what they do to satisfy their internal hunger and care not a bit about what others think and why. And they have a feel for the land and its inhabitants that few in their position have.

Sand County Foundation sponsors the Leopold Conservation Award to recognize extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation, inspire other landowners through their examples and to help the general public understand the vital role private landowners can and do play in conservation success. A quick look at the following three operations reveals that with their own style of cowboy conservation, they each accomplish this and much more.

Rodney & Amy Christen

Rodney and Amy Christen, along with Rodney’s father, Richard, and sister, Kay, run a Black Angus/Maine-Anjou cross cow-calf herd with 250 head on a 2,434-acre ranch near Steinauer in Pawnee County, located in the southeast corner of Nebraska. Using funds from federal and state EQUIP and LIP programs, the Christens have invested in conservation practices that lead to both economic success and better wildlife habitat. They improved water quality on the ranch’s existing ponds and developed additional water sources to improve grassland utilization. They strategically planted trees to improve scenery and wildlife habitat and removed others to improve production of native grass and provide better bird habitat. They enrolled in the Grassland Reserve Program to restore farmed ground to native tallgrass prairie. Rodney Christen also promotes conservation in his community, hosting pasture walks each year, which provide opportunities for his neighbors to interact and exchange ideas.  He also hosts camps and hayrides for Girl Scout outings.

Wilson Ranch

The Wilson Ranch (previously highlighted in the January issue of Nebraska Cattleman and the winner of the 2006 Leopold Conservation Award) is owned by brothers Blaine and Bryan Wilson, and their wives Charlie and Debbie. Wilson Ranch is a seedstock and commercial operation located deep in the Nebraska Sandhills.  They cite land management as a matter of high importance on their operation and have implemented a rotational grazing system that monitors animal distribution, plant health and utilization on a daily basis. Wildlife habitat and wetland areas have been developed and fostered through controlled grazing,  building of wetland areas and watering systems, planned irrigation and extensive tree planting. Stocking rates of wildlife are monitored and adjusted if necessary and controlled through harvesting. Bird habitat has been enhanced, resulting in increased and varied wildfowl populations. Even with all this, the Wilsons state that  resource management – that of the cattle, labor, land, forage, crops and finances – is the prevailing theme in their operation.

Wine Glass Ranch, Inc.

The Wine Glass Ranch, located near Imperial, includes more than 20,000 acres of crops rangeland and wildlife habitat. The operation, run and owned by Jeff and Connie Pribbeno, includes farming, ranching, cattle (cow-calf and stocker cattle) and natural resource management, as well as world-class hunting. The Pribbenos have taken a very holistic approach to their ranch, implementing a rotational grazing system that includes more than 60 paddocks and takes into account plant species, topography, soil type and stage of maturity. The system increased plant diversity and production and optimizes land health and grass production. They have planted thousands of trees to enhance habitat and control wind erosion, installed watering devices that encourage wildlife distribution, constructed a waterfowl pond, and released thousands of game birds, including pheasants and quail.

Different operations, similar practices

Each of these ranches utilize similar practices that enhance their operations:

•  Implement and manage grazing systems that allow for more productive use of the available forage and water.

•  Match cattle to the environment and resources, not the other way around.

•  Adapt crop and farming practices to the environment, cattle resources and labor force, sometimes thinking and acting way “outside the box.”

•  Look at and manage water, forage, wildlife and cattle as an integrated package rather than individual units.

•  Use watering systems to enhance forage usage and animal distribution.

•  Actively add forage and plant species back to the system in order to restore the environment to a more native state, to enhance utilization of native species and to add diversity to the system.

•  Manage and promote wildlife production (wild game, fish, birds) in order to improve ranch diversity, aesthetic appeal and recreational opportunities.

•  Take advantage of  various government or private programs that enhance conservation throughout their operations.

•  Maintain a commitment to the sustainability of the land and resources that are under their stewardship for years to come.

•  Be involved in conservation groups and organizations.

•  Foster an attitude of constant learning and evolving.

•  Embrace change as a positive movement.  

What these three understood is what Leopold understood in the 1930s, that successful ranching requires good husbandry and that “husbandry is the heart of conservation.”  “Ranching is my way of life,” says Rodney Christen,  “not my life’s work.”

For more information on how increased conservation practices can be implemented on your operation, contact the Nebraska Cattlemen or Sand County Foundation at www.sandcounty.net. Y By Lisa Bard, Nebraska Cattleman managing editor.