The Ranch:
Redwing Ranch is located in Huerfano County, in Southern Colorado on the eastern flank of the Sangre de Christo Mountains. Ranging in elevation from ~7,200' to ~8,600', the ranch has a variety of habitats and topography that allow for cattle grazing, hay production and supporting wildlife. The lands comprise approximately 4000 acres (500 acres of irrigated hay fields, 1300 acres of pasture and over 2200 acres of rangeland and ridge-lines, for a total of 3,800 deeded acres and 200 leased BLM acres). Two miles of the Huerfano River bisect the ranch and provides senior water rights used for spring and summer irrigation.
Mission:
Empowering the team, livestock, community, and nature.
Vision:
Redwing Ranch is a regenerative operation with a healthy water cycle and ever-improving biological metrics. We are interested in scaling and growing at a sustainable rate through holistic planning and proactive decision-making. We have appropriate ranch systems in place that allow us to operate at our true carrying capacity. Through example, our ranch is creating opportunities to partner and grow our local community. All of this is made possible by a happy and empowered team that runs a profitable operation that supports itself.
Our Operation:
Cattle are our tool for improving our pastures and rangelands. Fortunately, that does not mean we need to own them! As such we have begun this reimagined phase of the operation by partnering with other cattle operations and custom grazing their animals. This allows us the flexibility to match the number of animals to the resources and climate patterns of the year, and lowers our overhead and dependance on the cattle market. We used targeted planned grazing and frequent pasture moves to achieve the animal impact our grasslands will respond to and ecological monitoring to track the direction of the response. This transition all started in 2023 so it is early days.
About Us:
Meet the team: https://youtu.be/YaNBDlz5ELc
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Dr. Christy Wyckoff is the owner/operator of Redwing Ranch. As a wildlife ecologist, Christy’s career has focused on wildlife conservation and ecological land management, skills that she is now using to move Redwing Ranch from conventional to regenerative grazing practices. Prior to her move back to Colorado in 2022, Christy was the Deputy Director of the Santa Lucia Conservancy, in Carmel, California, where she led the wildlife research, prescribed-fire and community-fire-preparation programs. She also supervised the land management program which included the Conservancy’s novel conservation cattle grazing program that used cattle for habitat restoration. Christy received her BS in Biology from Stanford University, ‘02, chased feral pigs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville for her MS, ‘07, and delved into the molecular world of chronic wasting disease in elk at Colorado State University for her PhD, ‘13. Over her career Christy has advised and mentored over 40 students (undergraduate and graduate) advancing the careers of young conservation and land management scientists.
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Fiona Jackson joined Redwing Ranch as the Ranch Manager at the beginning of 2023. After graduating California Polytechnic State University with a BS in Agricultural Business and a minor in Sustainable Agriculture, Fiona worked on a large commercial cow-calf operation in eastern Colorado for three years where she implemented cell grazing at a landscape scale. She is excited to combine her past experience with with Redwing’s vision for rebuilding our soils while producing a quality product. Fiona is enthusiastic about creating longevity in cattle enterprises and believes this can be done when working with nature. Her ability to problem solve and her growth-centered mindset are assets for Redwing as the ranch prioritizes more holistic decision making. She enjoys kayaking and roping when she’s not on the ranch, and is constantly wanting to learn and improve. Fiona is living on the ranch with her puppy, and enjoys having friends and family to visit.
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Erin Sheridan is the new Ranch Hand. Growing up in a rural mountain town of Northern California, Erin spent a lot of her time outdoors fishing, camping, and hiking with her family. For her high school senior project, she started an aeroponics tower in the school cafeteria, where students watched and helped grow produce to eat in the school lunches. This was special for the community because there is not easy access to fresh produce, especially year round. Ultimately, this sparked a passion for connecting people to their food, leading her to pursue a degree at Cal Poly in Ag. & Environmental Plant Science with a concentration in Fruit & Crop Science. Erin has worked on large cattle ranches, small organic vegetable farms, and coastal flower enterprises, and fuel reduction sawyer crews. Her love for the outdoors and agriculture, landed her at her most recent position, where she managed a small grass finished cattle herd, organic tropical fruit production, and maintained the ranch as a whole. She is thrilled to now be a part of the team at Redwing Ranch where she will expand her knowledge about regenerative livestock management. She also is currently pursuing an MS in Land Resources and Environmental Science through Montana State University with the goal of becoming a better steward of the land in agricultural settings.
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Payton Salas is a local ranch hand that is 10 miles down the road. She was born in Southern Wyoming and lived there for a few years before moving to South Central Colorado. She joined us full time the summer of 2024 and works part time during the school year. Payton is going into her sophomore year of high school at La Veta School District. She is the owner of Salas Show Goats and sells show goats to 4H and FFA members around the United States. Her interests and hobbies include fishing, hunting, camping, cooking, riding her horse, and spending time with her friends and family. Growing up she helped local ranchers brand and move their cattle-that is one of her favorite things to do. Payton’s need to keep busy and hard work ethic got her to her most recent position. She is super excited to be a part of the team at Redwing Ranch and hopes to learn more about regenerative agriculture and hopefully bring more ideas.
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Past Interns and Apprentices
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Bill Lane Center for the American West Summer Intern 2024
During the summer of 2024, Gibson Holmes was an ecological and hydrological infrastructure intern representing The Bill Lane Center for the American West for the summer of 2024. Gibson is a rising sophomore studying biology and history at Stanford University. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Gibson was first introduced to regenerative agriculture through his position as a multi-species livestock and land management intern at Turner Farm. Gibson was additionally a hunter for The City of Indian Hill’s Deer Management Program to regulate deer populations and maintain balance with their habitats. Gibson seeks to continue his experiences in regenerative agriculture and conservation land management in western landscapes. While at Redwing, Gibson’s role was to collect, analyze, and implement geospatial data of ranch irrigation infrastructure for documentation and improvement purposes. Quivira Coalition New Agrarian Program Apprentice 2024
MK Wilcox joined Redwing Ranch as an apprentice through the New Agrarian Program in 2024. They were raised in Overland Park, Kansas and attended Kansas State University for two years, studying Conservation Biology. Before arriving in the world of regenerative agriculture, MK worked a variety of avian field technician jobs in Kansas, Michigan, and North Dakota and worked in two avian biology labs. In 2019, MK decided to leave school in order to pursue new experiences. They returned to Overland Park where they worked at a dog boarding facility, honing their skills with animals. In the winter of 2020, MK started at a small farming operation in Pawnee Rock, KS working with alpacas, chickens, and a variety of crops. They became fascinated with the interplay between agriculture and environmental stewardship, and the promise of feeding people in ecologically healthy ways. In 2022, MK worked as a Livestock Apprentice at Rock Bottom Ranch in Basalt, CO. They worked with a diversity of livestock including cattle, sheep, llamas, and chickens. At Rock Bottom, they witnessed the incredible impact regenerative agriculture can have both on the community and the land. They also worked on a small homestead in Arkansas, assisting with livestock care and vegetable production. MK was thrilled to work at a ranch so committed to improving the management of the land and gained experience with cattle on a larger skill. They learned a lot through the NAP apprenticeship program and plan to bring that knowledge to future endeavors. In their free time, MK can be found with their dog Rooster, birding, hiking, or kayaking together. |