Experience Arizona Cattle Ranching
Welcome
to Cold Creek Ranch, a 10,000 acre working cattle ranch in Arizona's
Mogollan Rim Country. Here, the Schwennesen family, with roots in
Arizona since 1921 produces 100% natural grassfed beef. This has not
kept us out of the global discussion on land management and the value of
productive landscapes. This international sense has welcomed dozens of
visitors from around the globe.
Cold Creek lies between the headwaters of the Gila and San Francisco
Rivers, high above the lower plains and rangelands of Southern Arizona.
The face of the Mogollon rim rises sheer over 6,000 feet to the north,
supplying the ranch with a perrennial flow of rhyolite-filtered, crystal
clear water. This rarest of all commodities twists through countless
canyons and draws, supporting wildlife and livestock alike.
We believe that responsible, small-scale agriculture is a critical, and
currently, largely missing key to a responsible economy. Our mission
is the production of humane and sustainable beef. We know that managing
land well can restore the biodiversity that our landscapes are losing
at a frightening rate. We have a biological plan to manage our land
holistically, all our decisions are goal driven to ensure that they are
socially, economically and environmentally sound. We are dedicated to
improving our watershed. We share our ranch with a variety of wildlife:
mule deer, javelina, quail, rabbits and rattlesnakes, to name just a
few. Coyotes, bobcats, bears and the occasional mountain lion are an
important part of the balance. We feel that this balance is far more
important than any economic loss we may incur losing a calf or two to a
predator. Therefore, unless an animal is rabid or deviant, we do not
control them.
The land is where our livelihood originates, but it is far more than
that. As stewards of this dramatic landscape, we maintain a tie to the
land that far exceeds the transient notions of "place" common in an
urban world.
We live "off the grid" producing all our own electricity from a
medium-sized solar system. There is no televison reception and to get a
cell phone to work you'll have to go across the Black Jack Creek or
around the mountain a ways (Jean can show you her favoite "phone booths"
with comfortable rocks for desks and juniper trees for shade).
