Life Choices

Whether or not to return to the land after college is a question faced by many young people who grew up in agriculture all over the United States. One young woman who grew up on a Colorado ranch decided early on that she wanted to return to the land herself and she's also using her experience to help other young ranchers get their start.

The call of the West has been made famous on page and screen. For some, the lure of ranch life is as strong today as it was when settlers crossed these plains. For the Johnson family of southeast Colorado, it's a desire to return to the land.

Meet Jen Johnson, her brothers Will, Myles and Charlie. On any given day you might find them rounding up cattle on their family's 20-thousand acre ranch. They do it the same way their ancestors did it more than 100 years ago on this same ground.

Jen explains, "I think this is a really special place. And for me, you know, it's just five generations of history. You know this is what my childhood is all about."

Hers may not be the first image that comes to mind when you think of rough-n-ready ranching but the reins fit just as snugly in her hands as they do her younger brothers.

She says, "I'm not in a family where women have been delegated to the kitchen and making sure that when all the boys come in for lunch there's a hot meal, you know. I've been one of the boys. And that's always the way it's been in my family. And I'm very lucky to have been in an environment like that."

Her work on the ranch today comes in between receiving a degree from Princeton and grad school. It might not make sense to some, the idea of returning to a place where the neighbor's house isn't even on the horizon and the closest gourmet coffee shop is 63 miles away. But to Jen, coming back here makes all the sense in the world.

When asked, there are a lot of things you can do with an Ivy League education, right? Jen replies, "There are. I have friends all over the world doing fascinating things, important things. But honestly I don't think there's anything more important that I could do than to use, you know, what I've been blessed with as a background. As well as my education and experience that to be part of agriculture, and to be part of ranching."

Jen's commitment to agriculture also brings a new and slightly unorthodox approach. She's developing innovative land conservation and management programs with The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group that hasn't always been looked at favorably in the agriculture community. Frogard Ryan is the program's Eastern Colorado director. Ryan says, "I think ranching and ranchers have been the life blood of rural communities and have been preserving wildlife habitat for many generations. And so it's critical that we work hand in hand with the ranching community."

Jen goes on, "My family for 100 years has been stewarding this land. And it's you know our livelihood literally depends on the health of this land and how well we take care of it. Can the nature conservancy teach ranchers something? I think, absolutely. Can ranchers teach the nature conservancy as well as the conservation community at large something? Absolutely."

Her latest project, a program that pairs up young ranchers with innovative established ranchers to help get their start. Jen's father admits he was skeptical when he first learned about his daughter's plans with the nature conservancy. But in time he's changed his views.

Scott Johnson a Colorado farmer says, "I mean they want to conserve this open space and that's what we want to do. You know to make room for the future generations. If there are some tax credits we can use to do it, that just helps us do what we want to do."

And the future generations here all intend to make ranching part of their lives. Jen's brother Will is back for the summer after getting his degree from the University of Pennsylvania. We asked Will, was it quite the change, coming from population 250 Kit Carson to the middle of Philadelphia? Was there a little bit of a culture shock there? He replied, "Yeah, it was good time (laughs). It took a little getting used to."

When asked if there were many ranchers at the University of Pennsylvania he answered, "Yeah, no I looked for them. But in a school of 10000, honest to God, never found one that was really a rancher."

Will intends to return after his career in the marines. We asked him if they all will be back and involved with the ranch again in a larger sense what they thought it would look like in the future. He said, "I'm pretty hopeful. I think we're getting some angles to come at agriculture that's not you know they typical ag school stuff and so I think, I don't want to sound too boastful and stuff, but I expect big things from us."

A couple of ivy leaguers bringing fresh ideas and a healthy respect for history back to the ranch. Father Scott Johnson says, "I think somebody's gonna win, somebody's gonna be able to do this. And I think they'll have as good a chance as any kids to do it."

Jen adds, "I'm very proud to use my Ivy League education for this. I couldn't think of a better use for it."

You Want Fries With That?
While we talk beef, several people claim the distinction of having "invented" the hamburger. But it was Colorado cook Louie Ballast who, in 1935, trademarked the name "cheeseburger" for his Humpty Dumpty Drive in Denver.