This is the second story in a three-part series, ‘Greener Pastures,’ which explores climate workforce development in rural Colorado.
Before you can put a new horse to work, you've got to train it.
Jackson Watford was learning to do just that on a mild, sunny morning last September at Elk River Livestock, a regenerative ranch about 30 minutes north of Steamboat Springs.
The 21-year-old led a pony named Seven out of the stables, towards the training corral, or round pen.
“He is the youngest one on the ranch,” Watford said of the young horse. “He hasn't been messed with much this summer. So, this will be his first time in the round pen.”
With time and training, Seven would be able to join the team of working horses used to manage the ranch's cattle and pastures.
Watford was in training, too. As a first-year apprentice on the ranch, this experience earned him credit towards an associate's degree in agriculture business management from North Carolina State University.
At the same time, Watford learned the ins and outs of regenerative ranching—a method of raising livestock that involves grazing cattle at high densities for very short periods of time on small sections of pasture. The technique is much more labor intensive than conventional ranching, which keeps cattle spread out on much larger pastures for extended periods. Proponents say the regenerative style is more aligned with the natural ecosystem of the grasslands and promotes soil health.
The work kept Watford busy all summer, moving electric fencing and cattle from pasture to pasture.
“We would move them every day or two, to get them onto new grass and allow this grass to rest,” Watford explained. “It's definitely more work, but I really enjoy it and I think it's worth it in the end of the day.”
Watford’s mentor, rancher Davey Baron, owns and operates Elk River Livestock. He’s been ranching in Northwest Colorado for about a decade and sees this regenerative approach as critical for keeping the ranch afloat in a hotter, drier climate.
“Hearing old timers talk, we used to get monsoons every day. Used to be so wet,” Baron said. “Now we're dry.”
In fact, after seeing the region change over the years, Baron believes that adapting to the warming climate is now an essential skill for ranchers.
“If you're not managing differently for dry times, then you're not doing it correctly,” he said.
As climate change intensifies, adaptation skills are increasingly part of career training for the next generation of farmers and ranchers.
Hands-on climate adaptation
Training new agricultural producers in the art of climate adaptation is the big idea behind that apprenticeship program, which is run by the Quivia Coalition, an agriculture and environment nonprofit operating throughout the Mountain West.
“It offers an opportunity, particularly for people who don't come from ranching and farming backgrounds to get a foot in the door in these careers,” said Leah Ricci, the Quivira Coalition’s agrarian program director.
Since the apprenticeship program was launched in 2009, more than 150 apprentices have graduated. About 80% of them go on to have careers in agriculture. The regenerative techniques they learn as apprentices shape their approach to the work.
“As we're entering increasingly long periods of drought and climate instability, young people going into these careers know that it's not really a choice anymore,” Ricci said. “They have to be using climate smart practices in order to have a financially sustainable business.”
Mentors are veteran farmers and ranchers with deep experience in regenerative techniques who feel called to pass their specialized knowledge forward to the next generation of agricultural producers. Many see the mentoring as a necessity – a way for them to cultivate the kind of workforce they want to tap.
“Some of them have talked with us about the challenge of finding labor who care about the same things and are excited about moving fence as often as they have to do to get the grazing outcomes that they want,” Ricci said.
Climate adaptation enters the classroom
These days, hands-on experiences like the Quivira Coalition’s apprenticeship complement what goes on in the classroom as climate adaptation becomes a bigger, more sophisticated part of the national agriculture curriculum.
“Agriculture producers have to address climate change,” said Travis Park, director for agricultural education with the National Council for Agricultural Education. “It's causing additional stresses on livestock. There are new diseases and pest pressures. So, they have to change their management practices (based) on the science end of agriculture.”
Education in climate adaptation doesn’t stop at regenerative practices. Agriculture students today learn things like how to use advanced technology—drones and artificial intelligence—to be smarter about their work. It’s a practice called enhanced precision agriculture. Farmers make use of granular data about soil type, historical yield rates and crop growth to apply only the right amount of pesticides and fertilizers with hyper precision, at the exact time and placement best suited for each crop. The approach helps farmers cut down on costly inputs and respond in real time to changing climate conditions.
“We want our students to understand the science of agriculture,” Park said. “And to understand the science of agriculture, we need to understand the science of climate change and make production decisions based on the science in both those areas.”
That science is now being taught to more than a million students enrolled in agriculture education programs at high schools and colleges across the country.
But for ranching apprentice Jackson Watford, it’s the hands-on experience learning regenerative techniques at Elk River Livestock that captured his imagination.
“I really learned a lot more being out here than I did two years in college,” Watford said. “Experiencing everything day to day, making mistakes, messing stuff up—I learn a lot better doing that than just sitting in a classroom.”
Miles from any classroom, in the training corral with the unschooled pony at Elk River, Watford was trying to get the animal used to following directions. His mentor, Davey Baron, stood by and coached, offering tips on the subtler details of horsemanship.
“You're not trying to force him into submission,” Baron counseled his apprentice. “You're trying to make him a tough, resilient thinker.”
It's what Baron is trying to do for the next generation of ranchers, too. After all, he said they'll need to be smart and nimble to stay ahead of a volatile climate.
This story was supported by the Higher Education Media Fellowship at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars.
