Clifford Childs: I was born and raised in Nucla, Colorado. I have a cow-calf operation that we're trying to We're doing regenerative type ag. My wife's into selling the beef directly to the people.
Rosella Childs: Cliff and I, we've been married four years and we, like he said, we run a regenerative agriculture ranch, out on the Rimrocker Trail.
Brody Wilson: Start by telling us about the size of your operation, about how many acres do you run? How many head of cattle do you run?
Rosella: We've got 290 acres, mostly under irrigation, and we have about 100 head of cattle right now.
Wilson: Cliff, you say you run a regenerative type ranch.
Clifford: Well, we're trying to do no-till, basically. I mean, sometimes there's a need to do, there's a need to do everything at times, but for the most part we're trying to do no-till, multi-seed mixes, sectional grazing, keeping live seed on the ground. If you plant a mono crop, you, you don't get that with it. So we're trying to do multiple seed mixes and plant two or three, two times a year.
Wilson: You're going to have to talk to the layperson here when you say live seed on the ground. What do you mean by that? And why, why plant a diversity of species? What good is that?
Clifford: It helps your soil regenerate, get your soil more productive is what we're trying to get. We planted a multi-seed like sixteen different seeds that we've been grazing this winter and the deer and elk like it too.
Wilson: Hold on a second. I think I just heard you say you've been grazing it this winter. Aren't most folks feeding hay this time of year?
Clifford: It just depends upon how much pasture you've got.
Rosella: So when we're growing this, we're growing, it's everything from turnips and radishes to sunflowers and fava beans and it grows taller than use. It's like six foot tall. And so as it, when it dries out, it looks like dried out field of corn, but it's actually all sixteen species in there. And the turnips and radishes in the ground, they're still green or they're still alive. And it's a great grazing mix through the winter.
Wilson: sounds pretty non-traditional to me. My understanding is most ranchers were growing, you know, growing a lot of hay, some alfalfa and we, we, we run a tractor over it. We bail it up. Uh, so that's what we can feed the cattle all winter long when the ground is covered with snow. But are you all telling me that you plant a crop of sixteen different species all mixed in in one big field and then that's what your cows eat most of the winter?
Rosella: That's right and we still supplement with hay and maybe uh, oats that we've baled or triticale that we've baled but we grow all of that ourselves.
Wilson: So you're not buying any hay for your cows and you grow everything kind of self-contained, one operation. I said this earlier, but, describe your operation, how it might be different than a cow-calf operation. You're from conception to kind of plate, almost, huh?
Rosella: I sell my beef, um, the steers. I sell them, we call it on the hoof. We sell them before slaughter. And so after slaughter, they go directly to the consumer.
Wilson: And who, who are these folks what kind of people are buying your, um, are buying your beef?
Rosella: Mostly folks that have heard about us word of mouth. Maybe they've tried our beef and what I have found is, uh, my best client is the repeat client. And we have clients coming back now for three, four, five years in a row.
Wilson: I assume you're getting a different price per pound than if you were selling calves to a feedlot.
Rosella: Well, Cliff could answer this better, uh, somewhat, you know. We can usually, um, realize a higher price for the animal, but we have kept that animal till slaughter. So, we, you know, I have two years, maybe just over two years invested in that animal every day. And what people don't realize on regenerative ag is we do rotational or sectional grazing. So for ten months out of the year, I personally am moving that fence over every single day, sometimes twice a day so that they have fresh feed.
Wilson: So while you might charge a significantly higher price, it makes sense because you've put significantly more time, energy, and money into that cow. How's it going? Are you able to sell your beef?
Rosella: At this time, we sell just about as fast as we could raise it. We sell everything we raise.
Wilson: So you're telling me that all the beef you're growing right now, that you're not worried at all about getting rid of it? It's all spoken for, all sold?
Rosella: We are now taking orders for January of 2026. And so they can find us on Facebook at Rimrocker Ranch.
Wilson: One of the things I was talking with a rancher earlier today and noting that, you know, uh, one of the complications about, running an operation like you are, where you're selling direct to consumers, it's a whole nother skillset. I mean, first you gotta be able to run a ranch and all of the things that it takes to actually do that, science and engineering and just grit and hard work, and then also you gotta be able to rub elbows with people And, and, uh, market and deal with taking payment and it's a whole, that's a, it's a whole business, huh?
Rosella: That's right. Yeah. Um, there's one thing raising it and, and that's boots on the ground 365, but then you've got to market and kind of read the market and know when you need to start advertising. So when I advertise, I've got to advertise six months ahead of when I'm going to deliver the beef.
Wilson: Well, um, it sounds incredible what you're all doing. I'm glad that, uh, we've got your contact info and, um, anything else you'd like folks to know about your operation out there?
Clifford: Well, you was talking about, it being significantly more, uh, It's gonna be more than what your ground beef is in your local stores. But if you take the overall cost of when you buy a complete animal. And you get the prime $16, $18 a pound meat along with the $4 that you can get in the hamburger. It balances out that it's probably cheaper than the stores to buy from the local ranchers and stuff like that.
Wilson: I feel like a lot of consumers would be willing to pay significant premiums because they know you and can shake your hand and know something about your practices.
Clifford: Yeah, they can, they can come and see what, you know, most every rancher or farmer will let them see what they're doing. You know, how they're grazing their animals, how they're fed, you know, and they're getting better quality because Even us, if we have something that we don't feel is prime, we take it to the sale yard. That's what you're buying at the $4 a pound meat in your markets.
Young: Is this the first year you've been here or you repeat and what bring, what brought you here this year?
Rosella: This is our second year. Um, in fact, last year we were presenters on one of the panels. I come to soak in all the information and meet, meet more like-minded folks. But probably the best thing is to talk to the vendors that normally I would only see on the internet. I can talk to the vendors and we can collaborate and they can make an appointment to come out and see the ranch if we're trying to have them help us at the ranch.
Young: Yeah, it's a great place to, um, network and get to see other farmers and ranchers and find out what's really going on in regenerative farming and ranching. Great to have you guys here today and best of luck in everything you're doing out on the West End and just wonderful to meet you.
