ROLLINSVILLE - Ten years ago, in an effort to become more connected with their food and the land and to lower their carbon footprint, Anthony Ricketts and Samantha Irizarry began their agricultural journey with yaks.
Last October their ranch qualified to become a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The title of their non-profit is Global Regenerative Agricultural Sustainable Solutions Focused Educational Directives—GRASS-FED.
According to Ricketts, they chose yaks for a variety of reasons, one of which is that they would be able to stay in the mountains year-round. Their herd of yaks graze in a field in Rollinsville, Colorado.
Soon after they started their agricultural journey, Woody Woodward joined them and now owns half of the herd. Woodward had been a rancher in the Nederland area for years prior to meeting Ricketts. He had experience raising cattle and knowledge about sustainable farming and High Impact Rotational Grazing.
Woodward joked that these practices require a “500-year mentality,” because you won’t see the benefits of these agricultural practices for years, but your children and grandchildren will. According to Woodward, these practices aim to mimic the grazing patterns of “the herds of the old days” by ensuring that livestock don’t overgraze one area.
The family’s goal in the beginning wasn’t to promote sustainable agriculture; it was to become more sustainable themselves. After meeting Woodward, they began to learn more about sustainable agriculture and implementing those practices into their ranch.
“We’re focused on making the land better so it’s better for everyone,” Ricketts said.
Both Ricketts and Woodward were interested in training the yaks to go on packing trips. They began training a calf named Murray the same year that Woodward got involved. After Murray was born, they bottle fed him and raised him in their house.
Woodward, told The Mountain-Ear that they used a combination of training techniques for donkeys and horses from YouTube videos in order to train Murray. The idea to train him to go on packing trips originated from wanting to help their friend’s son, who has spina bifida, to be able to go hunting with his father.
At the time they weren’t planning on using Murray to promote their farm and sustainable agricultural practices, but after noticing how many people in the community connected with Murray, they decided to make him the star of the show.
“But the idea is definitely since Murray…has captured the hearts of so many…people, it’s like it just made sense…to try and go in this direction,” Ricketts said.
In an effort to find a way to explain their work with sustainable agriculture to their daughters, Irizarry and Ricketts were inspired to write a children's book, with Murray as the main character.
“How do you educate people on what you are doing as well as have a passion for what you are doing? And if we can start with teaching children and teach a parent at the same time, it’s a win-win scenario,” Ricketts said.
They are working on creating their children's book now, hoping to begin publishing it in the near future.
