Past Interns & Apprentices

"Hi Everyone! I’m Izabella, Redwing’s 2026 Media & Marketing Intern from Stanford University. My summer internship at Redwing has been nothing short of rewarding. From working alongside Erin to coordinate upcoming and future educational programming (such as our August regenerative grazing workshop and Spring 2027 TREX!) to working the land with Fiona, Anique, and Sophia and learning about regenerative grazing practices firsthand, every day has been a new adventure and opportunity for growth. As someone who is completely new to ranching, it has been fascinating to witness all aspects of the industry, whether that’s branding cattle, monitoring herd health, bookkeeping of business operations, working with government agencies, planning for future growth, and much more.

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Additionally, these new experiences have broadened my perspective on many issues that I had rarely considered previously, such as managing water scarcity in agriculture during times of drought, ensuring wildfire readiness in local communities, and understanding the ecological tradeoffs between ranching and fire prevention.

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I’ve thoroughly enjoyed capturing Redwing’s story online across our different social media platforms and witnessing the impact of doing so. This summer, we’ve experienced immense growth in our online community from sharing our daily ranch life and lessons, amassing over 5,000 total followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and our Redwing mailing list. That growth has also led to several exciting partnerships with some of our favorite organizations and brands!

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Additionally, I’ve been incredibly grateful for the opportunity to experience life in the rural West and work directly within the communities that are regenerating our lands, feeding our nation, and putting good fire back on the landscape... I’ll be wrapping up my internship with Redwing at the end of August and returning back to school for a one-year Master’s program in Sustainable Design & Construction, and I look forward to applying the lessons and knowledge I’ve gained from a summer of ranching in rural communities to my future career."

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"Hey y'all, I’m the ranch hand intern from Colorado State University! This summer at Redwing Ranch was one of growth, hard work, and a lot of heart. I took on a mix of daily work such as spending my days riding horses, practicing effective stockmanship through an engaging workshop, and expanding my knowledge of plant identification that helps shape our grazing decisions. Much of my time was also spent stringing polywire, adjusting grazing rotations, checking herd health and fencing. Each task taught me something practical and lasting.

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I spent much of the summer season checking herds, monitoring pasture conditions, and adapting various grazing rotations due to an unfortunate high drought year! Along with that, polywiring taught me precision and how to strategize grazing rotations by applying a grazing plan. I also gained a better understanding of knowing the difference between forages, shrubs, trees, and forbs. This helped me see how thought-out management supports both cattle health and pasture recovery. The stockmanship sessions with Dawn Hnatow were a major highlight as well. Learning how to read cattle behavior, apply effective pressure and release, and move animals with intention deepened my appreciation for good stockmanship.

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For my final project, I focused on comparing virtual fence collars from Halter with traditional polywire fencing by building a full enterprise budget and financial analysis in Excel. Throughout my time here, I collected data, tracked labor, and documented how each system would affect daily operations. The project evaluates equipment costs, subscription fees, labor requirements, and long-term economic feasibility for the ranch. By pairing hands-on experience with financial modeling, I created a practical comparison the team can use when considering future grazing management decisions.

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In closing, this summer gave me more than skills—it gave me clarity. The land, the work, and the people all shaped the kind of agricultural future I want to build. Every day at Redwing Ranch added another layer to my foundation."

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"The experiences I have gained and skills I have learned are paramount to the career in regenerative agriculture I have decided to pursue, and it is all thanks to the NAP program. The friends and connections I have had the pleasure to gain from this apprenticeship is, in my opinion, the most valuable experience. Within a 10-month window, I have made lifelong friends with fellow apprentices and mentors alike. I have learned a passion for stockmanship and horsemanship, and have learned skills to be able to progress and find a job where I could endlessly learn more.

I have worked on planes, I’ve done body work on cars, I have been a plumber, but none of those things have come close to fulfilling my life as being able to work on a ranch—a ranch that is very devoted to producing healthy and happy cows, devoted to growing more grass and healing the land we work. I started off having never been on a horse in my life, never been around cattle, and never mended fences. This apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to learn these skills and many more.

All the skills I have learned have given me the opportunity to find a full-time position in Northwest Oklahoma, working on a cow/calf operation. Stepping into something completely new is hard, and it’s scary. But doing something challenging and getting out of your comfort zone is how you grow. The NAP program opens doors for folks who want to challenge themselves. I left the Military and went into agriculture, found a passion for production ag, and found people with the same passion and goals."

"I think now, being the most cowgirl means valuing the land and the livestock as life with intrinsic value, and that treating it with the most respect does not mean we both don’t benefit from a relationship. This summer was the first time I saw a heifer put down for her health, but on the same day, I saw a fresh calf launch itself into play with another and enjoy itself with joy.

The curtain was pulled back when I found myself searching for ground truth – the West's mythology should not be depicted as white men on horseback. Instead, the West is home to indigenous people, especially women, who travel on foot (and by ATV and horseback), interacting with a diverse and multifaceted land system. It's hard work, but made easier knowing you're serving the land and the animals in the way we evolved to do so."

"I came into this apprenticeship excited about the eight months but unsure of the future. To me, the apprenticeship was the next step on my way into a hazy, undefined daydream of my life in ag. Though I desperately loved working with the land and livestock, it was hard to see a way forward through the narratives of rising land prices and harsh realities of rural ranching life. As I leave Redwing, I leave brimming with a wary optimism.

At Redwing, I had the unique opportunity to immerse myself in the work of beginning a profitable livestock operation. I learned and grew along with the ranch and I truly began to understand what it takes to start and keep a ranch going. My mentors included me in all aspects of the operation. I sat in on meetings about our PRF coverage, the cost per day of salt and mineral consumption, and grazing planning as Redwing decided on stocking density for the coming season.

Erin taught me patiently how to operate the skid steer, the backhoe, and how to perfect my chainsaw operation. Her communication skills and grace at my questions and my mistakes taught me more than anything how I hope to lead and inspire in the future. Christy’s non-traditional path to ranching and her conservation goals matched my ideals. The time spent for pasture monitoring, photo points, and other ecological assessments set a superb example for the duality of running a livestock operation while restoring and conserving the land. I am excited to start a new chapter in California at Paicines Ranch working with cattle, poultry, pigs, and sheep."

"My internship at Redwing Ranch has exposed me to high-caliber work with professionals leading the shift to regenerative agriculture in cattle ranching. Using science-driven data solutions on pastures and irrigation networks, I found my place at the intersection between agriculture and technology. Implementing sustainable practices in a climate-conscious world optimizes outcomes for both the environment and ranchers.

I created datasets at Redwing Ranch to produce accurate water use records. My work contributes to securing the ranch's rights to this precious natural resource by mapping and analyzing the ditch irrigation infrastructure and ecological productivity. Using GIS data collection on ESRI platforms, I meticulously mapped miles of ditches and recorded their environment. Inputting this data into ArcGIS Pro, I identified opportunities to optimize irrigation water use within the existing system. My project played a key role in prioritizing repairs, investment, and contributing to Redwing's efforts to improve irrigation water usage, plant species diversity, and cattle health. My work has created a geospatial framework to cement our irrigation infrastructure's scale and efficiency."