2nd Year – What is your land ethic?
May 2025
When considering land ethic as a guiding set of principles relating to how one treats the land, mine could be summed up with the phrase “Leave it better than you found it”. That mindset is part of what lead me to regenerative agriculture. I’ve always been an admirer of the natural world and its processes so it was easy for me to see the benefits of using regenerative practices to provide healthier food for my community. By studying nature’s processes and learning from them, we can not only provide nutritious food now but nurture the land so it continues to provide for us as well as future generations. Seeing the fundamentals of regenerative ag in practice and being a part of it has made this past year extremely rewarding for me. I know I will continue to learn different techniques and processes this year with a more focused eye for what I want my future role to be. Perhaps it is continued management of land that is already being well cared for. Maybe it will be an opportunity to steward a piece of ground that has not been so well taken care of in the past. I do love a good fixer upper. Either way, it will be some of my most satisfying work yet.
Final Reflections
November 2024
Autumn has long been my favorite time of year and this is my second autumn spent in Montana. That in itself brings me much satisfaction, being a goal of mine for quite some time to live in the state I would visit when there was barely enough free time to make the drive. This autumn brings with it the bonus of having worked and learned in food production for a season. Almost a year ago, I started the application process for a program I knew little about and appeared to be aimed at people much younger than myself. After starting and stopping the process several times, I finally submitted my application for what I felt was a long shot chance to step through the door to my future in agriculture. After interviews with several mentor sites, I accepted the position at Sather Farm and Ranch. No matter where I end up in agriculture, it started here and I will always be grateful for Jeff and Marisa affording me the opportunity.
Having no experience in agriculture prior to joining the program, the past 7 months have not been short on learning experiences. In the beginning, of course, I had to learn how this place operates, where everything is, and how to care for all the animals. Then came the new animals, from calves being born to baby chicks and turkeys, and piglets.Then the farming started and there were a whole new set of processes to learn. Point is, it felt overwhelming at times but there was always support to get me headed in the right direction. Aside from the individual things I had to learn to get a job done, I felt my desire to expand my personal knowledge in general was rekindled. I was eager to attend pasture walks, animal clinics, and local events to glean any and all experience I could. It became very fun and satisfying for me. Throughout the season and all the experiences I also learned the things about the regenerative agricultural lifestyle that I enjoyed and which parts may not be for me. I feel like that’s one of the important aspects of this apprenticeship, sort of a test drive for what suits us and what doesn’t. There were things for me that quickly became chores and others I looked forward to. Some aspects of ag I came here quite excited to experience left me underwhelmed while others quickly became quite comfortable, unexpectedly. Distilling this all down to a set of clear goals for my future in ag becomes the task now and I’m excited for what that future looks like.
Aside from the knowledge and experience gained during the apprenticeship, it’s the people I’ve met that have been the greatest gift. Quivira and my fellow apprentices feel like a family to me now. Julie, Hayden, and Luka created a welcoming and comfortable space for us at orientation and continued to be great support throughout the season. I was fortunate enough to share a mentor site with another apprentice so we got to know each other pretty well and provide a sympathetic ear or helping hand. Other apprentices I got to know at orientation, mid season gathering, and weekly unwind calls. I’m very much looking forward to seeing them all again at REGENERATE and hopefully crossing paths with them in our future endeavors. My mentors have also treated me like a part of their extended family. Saturday breakfasts, county fair, and other social events will be fond memories I keep with me. I’ve also been able to start building a network of people in regenerative ag and some of the agencies involved through several pasture walks, community events, and my mentor site hosting a Ranchers Stewardship Alliance tour.
As I write this, I don’t have a destination after REGENERATE but I do have a clearer vision of what it is I want to focus on going forward in regenerative ag. I consider that to be an important step in the journey and makes me feel like the apprenticeship was a great success. It’s important to recognize even these small wins in whatever we do because they all add up to big victories eventually and we don’t get to the big victories without the small wins and losses along the way. Recognizing the wins and losses has been a key part of my apprenticeship because it kept me motivated and forced me to be more present in the moment. My mind naturally demands that all things attempted be executed perfectly the first time. Not only is this slightly unhealthy, it’s just not realistic. Being that I’m a realist, and also an optimist, I’ve been able to reign in the perfectionist. Staying in the present when doing new things during my apprenticeship made me focus on the things I was doing well to keep my confidence up and notice the things I could do better. It was a good way to keep my spirits up and not get too focused on the mistakes. There were plenty, to be sure, but in the end I feel good about my contributions this year. More than that, I feel good about how I spent my time this year. I haven’t been able to say that for way too long. Being able to watch calves be born, chickens and pigs go from being babies to being processed, crops go from seed I put in the soil to grain in the bins, and myself go from dreamer to doer has been one of the most satisfying ways I’ve spent seven months. Here’s to many more.
What contributes to a meaningful life and how do you hope this apprenticeship will help you explore that?
May 2024
For me a meaningful life means I used my time on this planet to leave it better than I found it. It means I used my talents and passions to not only fulfill my needs and desires but be of service to others as well. Agriculture does this on a very basic level by providing food for not only myself but others as well. Agriculture done well means I can be a part of feeding a community while improving a small piece of the planet. Through this apprenticeship I hope to gain knowledge and experience in practices that will help me make these contributions to society and the planet. By working alongside a mentor that puts regenerative practices to use everyday with livestock as well as crops I have the opportunity to experience both to decide where my passion lies. I hope to experience not only my mentor site but a few other sites through the apprenticeship, as well as the clinics and educational calls, to broaden my perspective on regenerative agriculture. During the apprenticeship is the time to be out of my comfort zone and saying yes to trying new things. It’s all valuable information and experience in the end.
Final Reflections
November 2025
Resilience is a word I’ve heard many times this past year. It’s used in a broad sense when talking about a farm or ranch needing to be resilient and how we can strive to make our operations sustainable through the good years as well as the not so good. Maybe we try to improve efficiencies to reduce labor or input costs. Could be a shift in business model to better suit a location. We talk about making the land more resilient by improving soil health to better withstand drought or other weather extremes. Our livestock and crops need to be resilient as well. Perhaps the most important factor to consider is our own resilience. It’s easy to plan for known possibilities, the real challenge comes when you’re faced with completely unexpected circumstances. I find myself in the wake of those unexpected circumstances, now a member of a club no one asks to join. I’m writing this final reflection in the familiar cool, rainy midwest amidst the backdrop of autumn leaves instead of my mentor site in the San Luis valley of Colorado surrounded by mountains. I’m going to find out, yet again, just how resilient I am.
My second year as a NAP apprentice felt like a huge step forward for me in terms of knowledge and skills. Since much of what takes place on a ranch only happens once a year, I still felt pretty green when I arrived at San Juan Ranch. The cattle work started immediately and the lessons and encouragement from my mentors came along with it. Cattle are the only focus here and that allowed me to concentrate on developing my stockmanship skills constantly. In addition to the cows, we spent a lot of time on the grazing planning and land management side of the operation which really helped me understand how everything is interconnected. There are many different elements to consider in southern Colorado versus northeastern Montana and having experienced both definitely highlighted the need to consider context when making decisions about most anything on an operation. There is no one size fits all solution in this business. In short, this year solidified my desire to continue this meaningful work of land stewardship and healthy food production. Aside from the nuts and bolts of ranching, building community is another important facet of this lifestyle. I was extremely fortunate to meet and spend time with really fascinating people in the local community, different parts of Colorado and New Mexico, as well as some past apprentices. This year’s apprentices and the NAP staff in the southwest have made in-person gatherings and zoom calls entertaining and informative. Most importantly, I spent the year with the best mentors anyone could ask for and now consider them family.
Even more so than last year at his time, my exact next steps are uncertain. Given the reality of my new circumstances, I may need to step away from production and find an adjacent path. In any case, I’ve been extremely fortunate to spend two years learning and growing as a person alongside other like minded people as part of the New Agrarian Program.