Road 39 Ranch

Road 39 Ranch is bordered by BLM lands on one side and the Mancos River on another. About a mile of the river runs through the property. It was part of a much larger holding established in the late 1800’s.

There is a small cabin, once a playhouse built for the owners children, that dates back to that period. Along with a grain storage building dating to the early 1900s. The land is irrigated with underground pipe served by two different ditch companies. The property has resident turkeys in the hundreds, nesting bald eagles, a herd of about 60 elk, deer, and the occasional visiting bear and mountain lion. (And prairie dogs).

Currently, about 300 acres are farmed for hay and wheat, or grazed pasture. There are four homes on the property and all people living there now are part of the ranch operation. The property serves as the headquarters for Road 39 Ranch operations. Since buying the property, the current owners have spent time restoring the fields, installing fences, restoring buildings, and repairing irrigation systems. They grow hay, wheat, raise cattle and goats, and process meat at their on-site USDA-certified facility.

In the words of landowner Dan Mominee, “In our opinion the best way to conserve farm and ranchlands is to conserve farming and ranching as a profitable way of life. We believe the key to making it a profitable way of life is by diversifying the products a farm produces and utilizing the land for what it can sustainingly carry. Producing a single product or only signal season produce makes full-time employment difficult. Most farms require off-farm work to support the family or in some cases the farm. Making lands be valuable as farmland or ranch land puts the economic value of the land on par with other competing uses. Montezuma County has been home to people and agriculture for a very long time. Land, water, favorable climate make the area well suited for diverse medium sized farms and livestock operations. Farming is a long term commitment. You get one chance each season or year to make an improvement or change to your process. The best conservationists are those that are tied to the land. Conservation means seeing land as the asset it is, keeping it valuable as land helps retain it as land.”