It’s easy to argue about food systems from behind a screen. It’s harder when you’re standing in a pasture, watching cattle that aren’t stressed, land that’s still alive during a drought, and a rancher who knows exactly why every decision gets made.
That’s what this conversation with Jason Rick of Rick Ranches in western Colorado captures.
Jason isn’t running a massive operation. He sells about 35 beefs a year, raises registered Angus bulls, and runs his ranch direct-to-consumer. The clarity and connection Jason has to his operation is what makes this conversation remarkable.
When people criticize weaning, Jason doesn’t dodge the emotion. He acknowledges it. Calves bawl for a couple of days. Anyone who lives on a ranch hears it. But he also explains why the process exists, how it protects the long-term health of both cows and calves, and why romantic ideas about “letting nature handle it” usually ignore how brutal nature actually is.
The same honesty shows up when he talks about water. His irrigation water comes from snowmelt tied to an 1899 water right. Some years, it runs well. Other years, it doesn’t run at all.
In the last two decades, he’s had more drought years than good ones.
That reality forces hard choices like selling cattle early, keeping a full year of hay in reserve, and thinking about hay not just as feed, but as fertility brought back onto the land.
One of the most important threads in this conversation is context. Jason makes it clear that regenerative agriculture isn’t a checklist. What works in Virginia doesn’t work in western Colorado. Blanket prescriptions fail. Stewardship only works when it’s grounded in place, climate, and economics.
And economics matter. A lot.
Jason is blunt about something many people avoid saying out loud: you can’t praise farmers into survival. If consumers want a different food system, they have to support it financially. Not someday. Now. That might mean buying direct, prepaying for beef, or simply building real relationships with the people feeding you.
This podcast isn’t about the ‘Regenerative ideology’. It’s about what actually works, what doesn’t, and why small producers keep getting squeezed by systems built for scale, lawyers, and corporate compliance.
Connect with Wrich Ranches and Jason
Website: https://www.wrichranches.com/
Ranch IG: https://www.instagram.com/wrichranches/
Ranch Stay IG: https://www.instagram.com/wrichranchesranchcamp/
