Our partners at Audubon’s Conservation Ranching Program have been honoring the women of conservation ranching this month. One of them is Panorama Organic rancher Carolyn Carey, who’s also the founder of the Born and Raised in the U.S.A. certification found on every package of Panorama Organic’s grass-fed beef.
Rancher Name: Carolyn Carey
Audubon Certified Bird Friendly Ranch: Carey Ranches
Location: Alturas, California
What is your favorite bird and why?
Owls… we have many on the ranch… as well as great rodent control, they’re fun to watch and “talk” with.
What conservation projects are you working on right now?
We’re proud of our management plans with Audubon and Ducks Unlimited. The Pit River runs through our ranch and irrigates the meadows. We devised a management plan to continue providing wonderful habitat. Swainson’s Hawk and Ibis and the threatened Bank Swallows are here because of the way we’ve managed the ranch for 50 years. I’m also the Vice-Chair of the board of California Rangeland Trusts and their plan is to help ranchers keep ranching to save the land.
Who’s been your most influential woman mentor?
My mother. She went to Cal Berkeley and graduated in 1938 with a degree in Business as one of the few women in those times to have a business degree. She was brilliant. She had incredible common sense in addition to being very educated, which she never flaunted. One of my best memories is when kids came over to our house and we’d sit around the table doing homework and visiting. Someone would have a problem with algebra, French, Spanish, etc. and without saying a word, my mom would get out of her chair and go over to the big bookcase. She’d bring back the right book and set it down in front of them. We could always count on her to get more information about whatever subject we needed. She was such a strong, unassuming, commonsense type of person.
Any advice for women looking to pursue a career in ranching?
Every situation is so completely different but you need to have a bit of a financial background and you can’t get flustered by much of anything. Just be ready for whatever might come up at whatever time of day!
Support Carey Ranches
Carey Ranches is one of the first Audubon Certified bird friendly ranches in California that produces Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Beef™. You’ll find Panorama Organic beef at retail locations throughout the U.S. and online at Crowd Cow for shipping nationwide.
Read about other women working to save the planet here.