Grazing & Cowboying

Year | 2013-2014
Type | Land management
Size| 40,000acres

Responsibilities | Moving cattle, Fencing, Doctoring, Haying, Branding, fabrication & repairs, Mechanics
Category | Land management

There are few experiences that have shaped my understanding of the world around us as much as ranching.

The Context:

Working as a cowboy at Sieben Livestock Company, an extensive ranch in Montana, I discovered my passion for landscapes and grazing. Day in and day out, riding through a vast and beautiful rangelands, I’ve had the opportunity to work within an organization that not only prioritize sustainability, but deeply understands the connection between thriving ecosystems and thriving communities.

Here I was first introduced to the concepts of Holistic Management and rotational grazing. I came to understand how well-managed grazing can not only produce high-quality food, but also regenerate the landscape, fighting desertification and flooding, restoring soil health, and increasing biodiversity.

Living and working each day in a vast and complex ecosystem gave me a profound awareness of the connection between ranching and the health of an environment. I learned to observe the land as a complex, living system — one that requires attention, intuition, and care. taught me that conservation is not just a set of techniques — it’s a practice of presence. It’s about noticing, responding, and building a relationship with the rhythms of the ecosystem.

Just like in painting, where every stroke is a reaction to what is the previous strokes that were brushed on the canvas, in ranching, every action is a reaction to what you observe on the landscape. This takes a great amount of subtle observation to response to what the environment and the animals are trying to tell you, and humility to evaluate and re-evaluate your actions to achieve a positive impact on the land.