On Gayel Alexander’s Colorado ranch, the cow-to-land ratio is enough to leave many scratching their heads.
Every year, she grazes 200-head of beef cows on 40,000 acres of public land that sits on the rugged landscape shared by national monuments and culturally significant mountaintops.
The fact that her cows are scattered across the landscape like needles in a giant haystack of land doesn’t bother Alexander. She knows this land.
In 1936 and 1942, through the Taylor Grazing Act, Alexander’s grandfather was able to secure two land leases.
“Even though he only had an eighth-grade education, my grandfather was a very smart man,” she said.
Now, these separate leases, managed first by her grandfather, then later by her mother and now by Alexander, combined with adjoining private property, make up the Ja Quidi Ranch.
Layered with generational land knowledge, Alexander also knows her cattle. She spends time on the land with them, learning their habits and tracking their grazing patterns.
But Alexander’s knowledge doesn’t necessarily equal control.
“I have range cows, not pasture cows,” she says. “They are very agile, very smart and they are used to doing what they want to do to survive on their own.”
One challenge with range cows is that Alexander is sometimes chasing her herd away from boundaries and shooing them from neighbors’ cropland and hay barns. On a broader scale, this rangeland free-for-all limits her ability to take full advantage of the rotational grazing plans she develops with federal range conservationists from The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. This data-tracking hurdle impacts her management decisions, which, in turn, affects overall profitability and environmental stewardship.
That’s where the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, USDA’s historic funding package for conservation agriculture comes into play for Alexander. The $3.1 billion investment is broken up into 141 public-private grants aimed at providing both technical and financial support for farmers and ranchers to begin, grow or enhance their conservation journey and connect the data associated with it to both operational success and the climate-smart economy.
One of those grants, Farm Journal’s Connected Ag Project, was the missing piece Alexander needed to connect her practical ranch needs and her dreams of holistic land management to reality.
“We have gathered a coalition of industry and conservation leaders, put the power of their technical expertise alongside $40 million in federal grant dollars and brought all of that to bear for the American farmer,” says Jimmy Emmons, senior vice president for climate-smart programs for Trust In Food, Farm Journal’s sustainable ag group. “Through this project, 500 growers and producers like Gayel will have a true partner in connecting their conservation goals to success both for themselves and for agriculture’s sustainable future.”
Each producer enrolled in the project receives:
- technical conservation planning
- agronomic support
- data tools
- coaching for how to maximize data efficacy
- financial support to implement climate-smart practices or technology
Andrew Lyon, director of technical assistance for the project, is tasked with assessing the needs of farmers in the program and matching them with partners that can provide both solutions and expertise. As the first producer to implement a conservation program under the grant, Alexander will be using both technology and data-coaching partners to accomplish her conservation goals.
“Virtual fencing and data coaching have been important tools to meet both the current challenges that Gayel has on her public land leases and the aspirational goals that she has for better land overall stewardship through increased rotational grazing,” Lyon says. “Through this program, producers like Gayel will have the information and tools they need to set them up for a future of conservation-minded decision-making on their operations.”
Alexander says she never would have been able to address her challenges and meet those goals on her own – which is the main factor that led Merck Animal Health to sign onto the grant project with their Vence virtual fencing technology.
Other private partners for the program, including Ducks Unlimited, PTx Trimble, AgriWebb, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, ABS Global and Tuskegee University, among others, combine to provide both resources and technical assistance to put practical conservation on the ground throughout the U.S.
“The grant partnership is important to Merck Animal Health because it helps reduce barriers and encourages ranchers to adopt innovative tools, like Vence, to implement strategies to produce beef while reducing their environmental impact,” said Gary Tiller, Commercial Director, Vence Corp., part of Merck Animal Health. “Through our partnership, Merck Animal Health can contribute to sustainability efforts important to the industry.”
Recently, the Connected Ag Project team outfitted Ja Quidi Ranch with technology that is already providing tangible benefit.
Alexander’s cattle have been outfitted with Vence virtual collars, which are allowing her to collect data that she has been “chomping at the bit” to have. She says the data will allow her to make adaptive changes during the growing seasons and better care for the health and wellbeing of her herd.
That level of control could help her increase the size of her herd in the future. Grant partner AgriWebb will provide both the technology and support needed to help get Alexander to that point with their all-in-one livestock management software.
“Those focused on improving their livestock’s efficiency or reducing their fertilizer usage will work with Trust in Food’s technical assistance team, as well as AgriWebb’s customer success team, to ensure the right records are tracked and assessed to support producers on their climate-smart journey,” says Coby Buck, a fifth-generation rancher and director of strategic accounts at AgriWebb.
Alexander believes that the benefits will grow exponentially for her ranch.
“I have feed on both my permits that isn’t getting used right now,” she says. “I normally have four allotments, but when we wrote my summer plan, we tripled it to 12 allotments.”
“Now I can do a lot more intensive rotational grazing which will increase forage and help bring back grasses that have been dormant for years because they haven’t had hoof and cow activity,” Alexander continues.
Range management practices will be beneficial for wildlife and allow Alexander to increase riparian areas that will revive springs and ponds for healthier habitats.
“Some of this land just isn’t healthy anymore, and this will help it come back alive,” she added.
Gazing out over the rugged, rocky landscape Alexander thinks of as her own, you’ll see areas that are part of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and, just south, the Ute Mountain, a culturally significant landmark for the Ute Nation of Indians.
Alexander is aware of the weight she bears as steward of this land.
“Every time I can better my permits, I’m bettering everything,” she says.
To learn more about Farm Journal’s Connected Ag Project and explore how it could benefit you, visit www.trustinfood.com/grow. Farm Journal also can connect you to expanded opportunities through our Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator, available here.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR233A750004G096
