WSARE 2000 Farmer/Rancher Grants-FW00-028

TITLE: Building a Community-Based, Direct Marketing Model for Diverse Ranch Enterprises

Box T Partners is seeking community support for their diverse ranch enterprises

The Colorado State Land Board has given Box T Partners management of the Chico Basin Ranch for the next 25 years. Chico Basin Ranch is an 87,000-acre property not far from Colorado Springs, Denver, and Pueblo. Box T Partners would like to develop a community based, direct marketing network that supports both traditional and non-traditional ranch products on the ranch. They believe that people in nearby cities would be interested in supporting a real ranch with high conservation values. Not only would these people purchase products from the ranch, but they would also be involved in conservation projects and ranching activities on the ranch.

Box T Partners recently received a Western SARE Farmer/Rancher grant that will help them in the first stage of the project: developing a pilot program to determine community interest in such a marketing and conservation network. To develop this pilot program, Box T Partners will begin by identifying potential groups who might be interested in the program. Then they will spend the next eight months giving presentations about the ranch to these potential groups. At the presentations they will distribute a survey to determine interest in the ranch. They will also prepare a staging facility at Chico Basin Ranch, which will be used to give on-site presentations. Finally, Box T Partners will conduct workshops to explain their methods and procedures to other interested producers. Box T Partners hopes that Chico Basin Ranch will become a model of sustainability and profitability for other ranches.