About
the Ranch
Badger Creek Ranch is a family-owned and operated working ranch high above the Arkansas River Valley in central Colorado devoted to serving the land by preserving its vitality and history in perpetuity. We are certified through the Audubon Ranching Conservation Program, and we collaborate with our neighboring ranchers.
We also collaborate with Badger Creek Ranch Community, which is a program of Full Circle Alliance, a non-profit organization, which has a primary focus on education, restoration, regeneration and cultural legacy through the preservation of the natural and human history of the land. Through our nonprofit, we host a variety of workshops here at the ranch and we offer workshops in conjunction with the Quivira Coalition.
At Badger Creek Ranch, we are dedicated to raising healthy, humanely raised meats for our local community, and are committed to keeping the land vital for the livestock, the wildlife and the humans that call the ranch their home.
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Regenerative Practices
We follow a prescribed grazing plan for all our livestock. We use electric netting to rotate our sheep pasture, which is moved weekly. We subdivide our horse pastures using poly-wire, moving them to a new pasture every 2-4 weeks, depending on the size of the paddock and amount of forage. Our chickens are in a mobile chicken coop surrounded by electric netting, which we move to a new area every few weeks. For our cattle, we predominantly graze on leases and adhere to prescribed AUMS per pasture, typically moving each herd about once a month. Due to our arid environment, we run no more than 200 head on our 7,000 acres that we steward. We also use Virtual Fence (VENCE) Collars for our cattle to further protect sensitive riparian areas on our rangelands.
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the Ranch
The Mentor
Chrissy McFarren
I am a first generation rancher, artist, educator, horse trainer, facilitator and director of the ranch. We have been working hard for the last 11 years at our ranch to make lasting positive changes. At our previous farm in WV, we had a small meat business selling to our local community. At the ranch, we continued that mission by selling our meat through the local farmers’ market and through our direct market business.Â
Regenerative agriculture is my passion; I am devoted to the improvement of the ecosystem at our ranch; I am devoted to education about land stewardship for the next generation of ranchers and the public and I am committed to working with and networking with other ranches in our area. I have over 40 years of experience with horses. My philosophy with horses and training is one of partnership and respect.
As a Shadow Work facilitator, I bring my inner personal skills to mentoring. I believe in kindness, good communication, respect and working alongside my mentees.
Ranch collaborators will also likely serve in mentorship roles, including a neighboring 7th-generation rancher and current ranch staff.Â
The Duties Of
The Apprentice
What will an apprentice do?
What skills and traits are required?
What skills will an apprentice acquire?
Nuts & Bolts
More Details
Living on the Ranch
Town Information
The nearest town is Salida (45 minutes from the ranch on mostly a gravel road). Salida ( population 7,000 ish) is a cool mountain town with lots of great stores (including grocery stores), restaurants, and coffee shops. Salida has a variety of events, festivals and lots of live music.
Housing
We have two housing options:
- A small travel trailer that sits directly behind the house connected to water and septic.
- We have two private bedrooms that share a private bathroom on one wing of the main house. There is a private entrance on the back of the house through the mudroom and laundry. Kitchen is shared with the rest of the house.
Laundry
There is laundry in the main house for everyone in the ranch operation.
Internet Service
Starlink WiFi is available at the main house.
Cell Service
We do not have cell service at the ranch but you can make calls using WiFi. There is also a landline for the apprentice’s use. We use walkie-talkies for communication when we are far out on the ranch and cell phones can be used through WiFi around the headquarters.
Visitors
Visitors are welcome with advance notice.
Food
We provide all the meals for the apprentice. They are also welcome to pack food for their days off.
Pets
It depends on the pet. Past apprentices have brought their own dogs. And, the dog must get along with our ranch dogs.
Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol
Yes, apprentices are welcome to a beer after work. Cannabis use at the ranch after hours can be discussed. If use of substances becomes an issue, the apprenticeship will be terminated.
Firearms
This can be discussed.
Vehicle Info
Ranch Vehicles
We have two ranch trucks, one is automatic, and one is manual and they are available to use during working hours. We also have a couple of 4-wheelers.
Personal Vehicles
 Apprentices will require a personal vehicle for their own travel and errands.
Work Hours / Time Off
Working Hours
We generally start our days around 7:30am and end around 5:30pm.Time Off
Usually, apprentices will get 2 days off per week. Occasionally, there may be super busy weeks where they will only get one day off and they can bank their missed days off for future use.
Health Insurance
Explore
Apprentice Stories
Check out past apprentices and what they have to say about their experience.