As a kid, Dave Gottenborg loved to read Western novels. He dreamed of running a ranch. As a teenager, while working a summer job on horseback in Estes Park, Colorado, he met his wife, Jean, who shared his dream of ranching. In 2012, more than thirty years later, their dream finally came true when they purchased Eagle Rock Ranch, located 9,000 feet above sea level near the town of Jefferson, Colorado.
“We got here a little bit late, but we’re making the most of it,” Gottenborg tells Davis Michaelsen on the latest episode of Grow Getters, a Farm Journal podcast showcasing how ag producers are creating new businesses to help support their operations.
Having built a very successful career in law and in the energy sector, Gottenborg had no intention of playing cowboy on a hobby ranch. He approached stewardship of the 2,800-acre property — which dates back more than 150 years as a cattle and hay operation — with a strong commitment to making it a successful business. His daughter, Erin Michalski, her husband, Matt, and their three children, joined Dave and Jean in the enterprise.
He quickly learned that financial success required diversification. “It became apparent to me early on that farmers and ranchers need other sources of income to survive,” he explains on the podcast. “We need to look at our attributes and how we can monetize them to stay on the land.” They opened a store in nearby Fairplay, through which they sell their beef and other merchandise. They also set up an online direct-to-consumer business, which has found customers in all 50 states. Erin now offers classes to other cattle producers on setting up their own e-commerce businesses.
When customers started asking about ranch visits, the Gottenborgs added an agritourism business to their operation. Ranch tours, wildlife viewing, hunting and fishing now play important roles at Eagle Rock Ranch.
Their main focus, however, remains on growing their timothy-grass hay, which was voted Best in Show at this year’s Colorado State Fair, and on tending their herd of roughly 100 cow-calf pairs of pure-breed Black Angus cattle. In 2023, Dave was named Commercial Producer of the Year by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
As for how to start a new business, Gottenborg offers this advice: “Don’t be intimidated. We’ve learned there are a thousand ways of doing anything and none of them are the correct way. People say, ‘you think outside the box,’ but I don’t even know where the box is. We just try to figure out what’s best for us in this location with the resources we have.”
Watch the full interview on Grow Getters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E45Hbl_dqk
Visit the Eagle Rock Ranch website: https://www.eaglerockbeef.com/
