Wheels Up! Grass, Birds, and Good Food Take Off at Rafter W Ranch

Lance Wheeler might have grown up in a Los Angeles suburb, however he at all times knew he needed to be a cowboy. It was in his blood. His household raised cattle in Texas from earlier than the Civil Struggle till the Thirties, however younger Wheeler’s solely publicity to cowboy tradition was his favourite TV present, Bonanza. 

Now, as co-owner and supervisor of Rafter W Ranch, Wheeler is aware of these episodes are removed from the precise realities of ranching. Alongside his spouse Lisa, their kids and grandkids, Lance operates a regenerative cattle and rooster ranch in east-central Colorado and cares deeply about restoring the panorama and offering high quality wildlife habitat. 

In 2018, Rafter W Ranch turned licensed as bird-friendly land by Audubon Conservation Ranching, assembly this system’s rigorous requirements for habitat administration, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare. Throughout the USA, greater than 150 Audubon Licensed Fowl-Pleasant ranches help very important habitat for grassland species, among the many nation’s most imperiled group of birds. As a result of most grassland habitat is privately owned, voluntary conservation motion on working lands is essential to stabilizing the decline of chicken populations.   

“We’ve at all times appreciated the wildlife that shares this house with us, however we’ve gained a a lot deeper understanding of them since becoming a member of Audubon’s program,” Lance stated. “We’re managing not only for livestock manufacturing, however for all of the species on this ecosystem.” 

Conservation-minded meals manufacturing has been a precedence for the Wheeler household for the reason that begin. Lance and Lisa’s first foray into agriculture was elevating grass-fed meat, poultry, and eggs on a small plot in Elizabeth, Colorado, within the early Nineteen Nineties. As their information of regenerative agriculture grew, they realized a chance to do one thing bigger. In 2014, the Wheelers bought land in Elbert County, and simply two years later, additionally they purchased the acreage and residential subsequent door. At present, Rafter W Ranch sells its meat, poultry, and eggs by an online ordering platform. 

“We’re not simply elevating meat, we’re truly farming grass,” Lance stated. “You want wholesome grasslands and soil to have high quality meat. That realization grew into information of soil well being and a enterprise mannequin constructed round promoting nutrient-rich meat and eggs.” 

Lance and Lisa take an adaptive, holistic method to caring for his or her ranch, incorporating chicken surveys, water and soil monitoring, and rotational grazing into their land administration. Raised on grass for the whole lot of their lives, Rafter W Ranch’s cattle are moved strategically to create a mosaic of brief and lengthy grass habitat that helps totally different chicken species fulfill their life cycles. The household’s free-range chickens are additionally an important a part of the operation, trailing the cattle with a cellular coop, choosing by the manure and incorporating it into the soil.  

“Rafter W Ranch has all of the elements that make a superb bird-friendly ranch: curiosity within the analysis and science, coronary heart behind the regenerative agriculture, and a need to construct up the water, soil, and land well being,” stated Dusty Downey, Audubon Conservation Ranching Director for Audubon’s Rockies area. “That trifecta makes for a beautiful, great companion.” 

Within the japanese excessive plains of Colorado, Rafter W Ranch supplies essential grassland habitat for Western Meadowlarks, American Kestrels, Upland Sandpipers, Lark Buntings, Vesper Sparrows, Loggerhead Shrikes, amongst different species. Since becoming a member of Audubon’s program, the Wheelers have enhanced habitat on their ranch, as confirmed by their monitoring outcomes. Of their surveys from 2019 to 2025, the full chicken species (known as species richness) elevated from 29 to 37, and grassland chicken detections on their ranch grew from 178 to 356. Their rating on the Bird-Friendliness Index (Audubon’s metric for a chicken group’s abundance, variety, and resilience) has grown 4% yearly, which is a 26% cumulative improve since monitoring started in 2019. 

“Rafter W Ranch has improved its Fowl Friendliness Index over time, which in the end signifies that they’re offering extra alternatives for birds to thrive than comparable ranches, state parks, and lands round them,” Downey stated. 

Downey says these outcomes come from Lance and Lisa’s exemplary work in adaptive grazing. The Wheelers are “lifelong learners,” at all times wanting a greater understanding of learn how to apply totally different administration ideas and scientific learnings to their land. For instance, the Wheelers are specialists at rotational grazing, shifting their cattle each day to realize particular targets, reminiscent of grazing down invasive crops to assist native species. 

“Lance and Lisa got here into ranching with none preconceived notions, simply wanting to teach themselves as a lot as potential,” Downey stated. “They do an incredible job taking the ideas they’ve realized and adapting them for the system they work in.” 

Over the eight years that they’ve been part of the Audubon Conservation Ranching program, Lance and Lisa have additionally been concerned in a number of analysis and restoration initiatives, such because the Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources (STAR) soil well being monitoring program, the development of low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) constructions for erosion management, and a keyline project to extend water infiltration and drought resilience. In 2022, Downey and Lance additionally introduced collectively on the Edible Institute, a sustainable meals system convention in Denver. 

“We wouldn’t be the place we’re at the moment with out the assistance of the Audubon Rockies crew,” Lance stated. “We’re seeing the land reply, with extra biodiversity expressing itself and an rising degree of resilience. We actually have a protracted approach to go, but when we will preserve maximizing the power for the birds to spend time right here, then that is an enormous win.”  

The Wheelers have been beneficiant companions of Audubon’s programming, opening their ranch for academic occasions, reminiscent of bird walks with Denver Audubon and a ranch experience for 10 teenagers concerned in a new partnership program between FrontLine Farming (a Denver-based meals advocacy group) and Audubon.  

These partnerships exemplify Lance and Lisa’s glorious work in constructing group with different ranchers and advocates of regenerative agriculture. With this strong community in thoughts, Lance says the ranching life-style is in no way what he envisioned as a child. 

“Ranching is essentially the most rewarding and essentially the most humbling work that I’ve ever finished,” Lance stated. “It is extremely rewarding to see the end result, not simply right here, however for the opposite individuals I’ve met alongside the way in which. There’s a powerful sense of group on this work, not seen within the rugged individualist, cowboy-style narratives I had watched as a child.” 

About Audubon Conservation Ranching   

Audubon Conservation Ranching companions with ranchers to maintain wholesome grasslands, ample birdlife, and resilient rural communities. By means of our bird-friendly land certification and science-based method, we empower land stewards to boost habitat, enhance soil well being and water high quality, and strengthen the connection between conservation and ranching. By buying merchandise from Audubon Licensed Fowl-Pleasant Land, shoppers develop into conservationists, serving to shield America’s grasslands and the birds, wildlife, and people who rely upon them. For extra info, go to www.audubon.org/ranching.