Ranching

The ranch is part of a West-wide program that aims to expand regenerative beef production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For some ranchers, mustangs are seen as trash horses that litter the range, taking much-needed grass from cattle and destroying expensive fencing and water infrastructure. Ashley heads to Winnemucca, Nevada to talk to a fifth-generation rancher who runs his cows in wild horse country. But unlike many ranchers, Will DeLong doesn’t want the wild horses gone – they’re entwined with his family’s history – he just wants them better managed. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Boo bucks Ashley off and she gets teased about it by the cowboys at the local bar.

Last year, Wyoming lost 500,000 acres of farm and ranch land, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the Mountain West, more than seven million acres have disappeared in the past decade, mostly in Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico.

A new study looked at livestock deaths in states like Wyoming, Montana and Idaho that were presumed to be from wolves. It found that the data was woefully inadequate.

The meat supply chain in this country is broken. Four big companies control more than 80% of the meat packing industry. In the final episode of Women’s Work we’ll meet a rancher entrepreneur who is reimagining our meat system – and building an alternative.

As more land in rural communities across the West gets gobbled up for housing and development, meet a rancher who’s working to protect open space for agriculture … and she’s teamed up with a surprising ally.

Beth Robinette is trying to be a “less shitty white person.” For her, that’s meant learning about the history of her family’s ranch in eastern Washington and the people from whom the land was taken. It’s also meant exploring the LandBack movement and building a relationship with the next generation of Native American youth in her area.

Across the West, women are changing the ways land and livestock are managed. Ashley Ahearn saddled up for the Mountain West News Bureau to chronicle their big dreams – and daily challenges. This is the third story of a three-part series.

Across the West, women are changing the ways land and livestock are managed. Ashley Ahearn saddled up for the Mountain West News Bureau to chronicle their big dreams – and daily challenges. This is the second story of a three-part series.

Across the West, women are changing the ways land and livestock are managed. Ashley Ahearn saddled up for the Mountain West News Bureau to chronicle their big dreams – and daily challenges. This is the first story of a three-part series.