Abe Ott
Cattle Rancher at James Ranch
Durango, CO
October 20th, 2025
Westies, just the night before, had eaten at the James Ranch Grill, enjoying locally processed beef burgers and the beautiful ranch property. The next day, we met Abe Ott, who manages the herd. As he introduced his job to us in more detail, the ranch prioritizes managing cattle in a way that emulates historical natural range use. He says he is attuned to the land, stewarding it in a way that mimics nature and regenerates the rangeland ecosystem. This way, James Ranch, a now multi-generational family farm and enterprise, can continue its legacy in Durango, Colorado. James Ranch began in 1961 and has continued to grow since Abe’s grandparents started the farm. Abe shared that his grandparents had almost sold their ranch; fortunately, his parents decided to buy it from them and began transforming it, diversifying their business and staying local. Now, fifteen of the twenty family members are working for the ranch in one way or another. The ranch is 400 acres total, half of it is leased for the beef business, and the rest is used for a variety of other businesses, such as their newly opened grill and market, as well as the family's homes.
Overall, James Ranch is a holistic business practice. Abe is incredibly passionate about thinking ecologically about ranching. Regarding his role in ranching, he shares that the cows have GPS collars and are rotationally grazed to replicate the disturbance-evolved grassland ecosystem. Although the Animas River flows through the ranch, Abe says they do their best to minimize and efficiently use water. He explains that they try to “slow down the water cycle” by maintaining reservoirs, using efficient irrigation methods, and making sure they recharge the underground aquifer. These efforts seem to be paying off; even though this past year was one of the driest the ranch has experienced, they were still able to grow more grass than usual using less irrigation.
Abe, when explaining the ranch's history, says, “It’s hard to realize what you have when you’re so close to it.” Abe is acknowledging his family’s closeness to their own business and livelihood, but perhaps this reflects humans' deep connection to the land we still disregard.
by Rio Burk