"Just 50 years ago family farms lined the Animas Valley in Colorado. People knew who grew their potatoes and asparagus and who raised their beef. There was a relationship between the family sitting down to eat a meal, and the family who grew the meal. At James Ranch, we want that back, not only for the health of our family, but for the health of our community."

David and Kay James have held that vision for 38 years.

The Jameses and their children operate the James Ranch, a 450-acre ranch in the picturesque Animas River Valley near Durango, Colorado, where they grow and market grassfed beef and pastured poultry, along with organic produce and flowers.

David and Kay James

The James' other family enterprises include a tree-farm, a landscaping company, and a land development company. Their daughter Jennifer raises organic produce and flowers on a 6-acre farm. A small seasonal dairy and farmhouse cheese operation are also in the works. Each of these small enterprises is run by a different family member. They operate together under a holistic management system with a common mission to keep the land in agriculture, improve the land and reconnect people with the sources of their food.

The Jameses are a living experiment in small-scale, high-value holistic agriculture. So far, it is working well, 1999 has been their most profitable year. "We are working in our little corner of La Plata County to demonstrate that ranchers don't have to be at the mercy of the commodity market," Kay says.

Dave remembers giving a presentation at a local Cattlemen's Symposium, and being told their enterprises sounded "real nice," but that America couldn't feed the world without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. "We are questioning the paradigm of American agribusiness," says Dave. "Can huge American farmers and ranchers, who have been extremely successful in producing food very inexpensively, break up into family farms and instead raise food for our communities responsibly and organically?"

The Jameses make no attempt to feed the world. They are exclusively focused on feeding Durango and surrounding communities - both with food and the rich experience of agriculture. All of their products are sold through their weekly farm market (at the ranch), which has become a much-anticipated social event, or through the Durango farmers market and other local outlets. They sell pre-orders on beef and poultry through an annual newsletter with an order form and news from the ranch.

"Everyone has their unique advantages and problems," Kay explains. "Twenty years ago we saw this area was going to become an important retirement community. Developing 100 acres of our land into the finest residential community in the Four Corners area, has allowed us to keep the rest of our land in agriculture. In the process, we positioned ourselves to do seasonal marketing of our locally grown meats, and now we are just about out of the commodities business. Everything is sold as a premium product - this is a wonderful advantage for a small rancher. Our price is the same every year."

She continues: "Our particular problem was when the closest federally inspected processing plant (within an hour) went out of business. Now we have to go 2.5 hrs one way to get our meat cut. So we have to be creative in finding a solution. We may end up having our own processing plant on the ranch." Dave explains that "value-added is trying to gain control of all aspects of our business, not paying anyone else to truck or market our product, or even butcher it. The key for us is local marketing - also the value of telling the story of our family, our ranch, our situation. It's something people can buy into. They don't just buy our product."

Dave and Kay spend a lot of time working with local officials, speaking in public and talking to neighbors in an ongoing effort to change attitudes and understanding of local people. They serve on a task force with their County Commissioners to help farmers and ranchers overcome the old paradigms, "to let them see there is another way to go. There is hope." Through their marketing and networking, they let the public know that there are people close to home who are willing and able to raise their food - if they are willing to pay a little more and go out of their way a little bit.

The James Ranch near Durango, Colorado

"Holistic management allows us to keep our land in agriculture, keep our family together and improve the land," David says. "It encourages us to use all resources - natural or human resources - to their highest and best potential. That is the mission of James Ranch."

The James family comes together at the end of each year for a planning meeting, where they revisit the year's progress and look to the future. David explains how their holistic management system keeps them focused. "As we go about decisions, we test them against our goals to build the soil and our relationships with people. We are always revisiting the deep question: Why are we raising beef and chicken and farming when we could cash in big by growing condos? Our family spent two years discussing this issue before we committed to keeping the land in agriculture. We didn't spend those two years calculating land sale figures; we talked about our quality of life. What makes us happy? Where do we want to raise our children and grandchildren? Do we have a responsibility to the land? We found that once we began to place our values first, decisions became easier."

"We have a long way to go," Kay acknowledges. "But we're making an impact. The public is waking up and realizing that their food can be healthy and also give them a relationship with the land and the people who grow their food. The change will never come from the top down, only from the bottom up. With our farm market we have made such friends - that's part of changing agriculture from the ground up. All over America the farm market system is growing and people are showing their products. The products sell themselves. I know a lot of people laugh when they hear that organics and sustainable agriculture are going to make a dent (in conventional markets). They don't believe it, but I believe it."

David and Kay James
James Ranch Agriprises
33800 Hwy 550
Durango, CO 81301-7149
Tel: (970) 247-8836

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