Ranching to Improve Land function, Stock handling, and Profit capture

Dates: June 26 - June 27, 2026

Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM MT

Location: Brett Gray Ranch - Rush, CO

15501 County Rd. 11 Rush, CO 80833

Overview

A hands-on event at the acclaimed Brett Gray Ranch with Louis Martin, experienced Holistic Manager and one of Colorado’s most successful ranchers.

At this thriving cattle operation on state trust land, Louis has achieved remarkable results, including:

• Increasing plant diversity with 12 additional desirable grass species

• Improving land from 70% bare ground to 70% covered ground

• Doubling stocking rates from 400 to 800 AU’s in just two years

Louis will be joined by Dawn Hnatow, founder of Cattle Up Stockmanship. Raised in a ranching family and mentored by Bud Williams, Dawn brings a lifetime of experience working with livestock and teaching practical stockmanship skills.

Through Dawn’s training, you will learn to read livestock behavior, use proper position and timing, and work with animals as partners. The result is calmer animals, easier gathers, improved efficiency, and better weight gains.

Participants will leave with practical tools and skills to:

• Improve stock handling and animal performance

• Strengthen grazing management and monitoring

• Make confident, principle-based decisions

• Support long-term land health and resilience

You will also explore how proactive planning supports resilience during drought while maintaining rangeland health and profitability.

This is a rare opportunity to be on the land at Brett Gray Ranch, see successful stewardship in action, and learn directly from leaders in the field.

Brett Gray Ranch

The Brett Gray Ranch is a 50,000-acre ranch currently leased and managed by Round River from the Colorado State Land Board.  In partnership with the State Land Board and The Nature Conservancy, Round River has a three-part goal to maintain a productive and sustainable ranching operation, encourage science and stewardship that maintains biodiversity and a sustainable prairie ecosystem, and to support education and community outreach to appreciate and support effective conservation of prairie ecosystems through responsible ranching.

During the past ten years of operations at the Brett Gray Ranch, Round River has demonstrated its commitment to these principles by implementing a planned rotational grazing system that is designed to limit the duration of the grazing process and provide adequate recovery for the grazed plants.  This grazing system helps to improve the four ecosystem processes by adding more organic matter to the soil, building a stronger root system, providing better water capture and infiltration, stronger more vigorous plants that capture more energy from the sun, increases the biodiversity of the plant and animal community and helps to protect sensitive riparian areas from degradation and erosion.

These improvements have been achieved during some of the most severe drought conditions on record and have been documented through an intensive monitoring process conducted by Round River, the State Land Board and The Nature Conservancy.

Fee & Financial Assistance

• $300 for the two day workshop, this exceptional value is made available thanks to a generous supporter (lunch included both days)

• Apply for a scholarship!