EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — 16-year-old Jessa Book says the life of a rancher is hardly an easy one, especially when your day starts well before sunrise and ends long after the sun has gone down.
"The cows don't care what the weather is like, so we're always out here in the wind, or the snow, or the scorching heat. There's always something to do, and there's always a fence to fix," she said.
Book is a 5th generation rancher at Book Land and Cattle, her family's ranch near Rush, Colorado. She says many ranchers do this work because of their love of the lifestyle, but not always because of the money.
"Ranching alone is not very profitable, and there's not a lot of people that are willing to do it," said Book. "It's a lifestyle choice. We do it because we love it and it's our tradition as a family".
Several ranchers I spoke with Thursday say that it's becoming increasingly difficult to make a profit in this economy. Some say things like the rising cost of machinery and labor, along with unpredictable weather and the COVID-19 Pandemic have hurt their bottom line.
"We're subjected to a lot of things that are not in our control. We have the markets that we don't control, we have the weather that we don't control," said rancher Melisa Sims.
Sims, along with being a rancher, is an instructor for Ranching for Profit. That's a week-long educational class traveling around the country, educating ranchers on what they can do to become successful and environmentally sustainable.
"What we're doing here is teaching people to take back control, irregardless of what the weather is doing, and irregardless of what the markets are doing," said Sims.
Ranchers from Wyoming and Utah made their way to Colorado Springs for the seminar. The class, in part, focuses on nutrition,
land management, economics, and more.
"Sometimes you get isolated as a farmer, so to have these times to get together, pool in what everyone else is doing, it's been pretty cool," said rancher Aaron Waitman.
Waitman owns Waitman Farms in Wray, Colorado, and brought his two sons to the class. He hopes they can learn more information about running a ranch properly so he can pass down the tradition.
"It's a very cool job, and it's even cooler to have your family involved in all of it," he said.
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