SAN LUIS VALLEY– The tradition of ranching is dying.

Zapata Ranch is home to around 2000 bison located in the San Luis Valley.  The bison roam on 50,000 acres of the total 110,000-acre ranch. Each year, ranch workers harvest 500 bison. They are sold under their label, Lasater Grasslands Beef.  Among the buyers is Whole Foods.

Ranch manager Duke Philips said his goal is to mimic the natural grazing patterns.

While being constraint to 50,000 acres of land it would be more effective to allocate the herd to different plots to avoid overgrazing said, Philips. This not being the goal, bison will naturally rotate around land with little to no management. Unlike most ranches, Zapata Ranch does not implement predator control.

This ranch is not only a meat producer, it is striving to educate the next ranching generation. They use social media.

Philips having spent his life on a ranch shows concern over the future of Ranching. He states that there is an unhealthy divide between rural and urban.

People are isolating themselves from rural environments. Today, 2 percent of people works as farmers, compared with 38 percent in 1900 according to Growing A Nation the Story of American Agriculture.

“We love it, it’s an honor to be entrusted to this” Philips said.

While observing the annual bison round up one woman opened and closed a gate letting bison through to the next stage of tagging while there was a constant flow of chilly brisk wind. It was her only task through the day, she grinned as she worked.

Guest workers from around the world are hosted by Zapata Ranch promoting education for the next generation. The educational programs are designed for children grades K-12, college students, and adults.  Philips said 2,000 are reached.

Guests who come to visit the ranch get to work alongside wranglers and ranch staff on projects. Duke Philips son also named Duke Philips manages Zapata Ranch. He said that putting people into the heat of the action is the best way to teach them about land management.

Educational programs focus on the bison herd and ranching lifestyle. They also have programs on the ecology and geology of the surrounding San Luis Valley.

While visiting the Zapata Ranch it was evident that their educational and internship programs were paying off. There were newly hired ranchers from Tennessee, California, Australia and Colorado. Interest is being shown by the next generation across the country.  

Smart land owners increasingly hire professional land managers to run their herds of bison and cattle. The idea is to keep their land healthy as most as possible.   

“Land management skills will be more sought after in time,” said Ranch Manager Duke Philips.