Meet Kathy Wood | Rancher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathy Wood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathy, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
To give a little history, I am a third generation co-owner of our family ranch. I partner with my cousin and both of us have children that are interested in continuing the family legacy. From our grandfather, who started in 1923, through our fathers, we have been involved in a regenerative approach to agriculture. Our family has been growing and feeding cattle for decades, but as time has evolved in the cattle business, it is very hard for small family run operations to compete with large corporate operations, due to the economy of scale needed to show any kind of profit.

We added a cow/calf enterprise in the early 2000’s to our operation as my cousin and I were transitioning to take over from our fathers. This allowed us to raise our own cattle to finish feeding for the consumer market, and let us improve on the genetics for better quality beef. In the last decade we realized we wanted to move away from the traditional agriculture business model were we purchase our product at market price and sell the finished product according to the market at time of sale. There is no place for us to put a set margin for profit in this business model.

That was the driving force behind starting our branded beef business. In 2017, we started our boxed beef business where we ship boxes of our home-raised frozen beef to consumers. At this point, we have shipped to all 50 states and Canada. It has taken time to refine the process, but the biggest driving factor behind our success has been meeting the needs of our customers. The first year we started, we developed 20# size boxes of beef. From the feedback, we learned that was too much beef for a family that only had a refrigerator freezer! So we reconfigured to 10# boxes. Families also ordered steaks rather than roasts or large portion beef cuts, as they were looking for quicker preparation for meals. After 2020, both of these dynamics changed. Families spent more time at home, so learned to enjoy making meals that cooked all day, like a roast dinner or brisket on the Traeger. And surprisingly, people bought freezers so they could store more food, so we started offering larger sized boxes again. Being adaptable is key to meeting consumer needs.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I received two Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Microbiology. I worked in the research field for several years, studying how to regenerate nerves. I loved the job, but stepped back and decided that life was about more than just a career. Quality of life is very important to happiness, so when I realized what those goals looked like for me, I realized I had the opportunity to pursue quality of life back at the family ranch. That was decades ago when women in agriculture were in short supply. Women were of course always part of agriculture, but were often seen as support, like a wife and mother, rather than the head of the business. Times have changed and today, women in agriculture is at least 50%.

It was not always easy to be taken seriously in this male dominated field, but learning to do the job and work just as hard as everyone around me changed the focus to working with me as a business partner. I think that is the take away I would share with women. If you have a passion for something, do not let anyone minimize who you are or what you are capable of doing. It may not feel good when you are disregarded, but knowing that you have the upper hand when someone does that to you helps keep you going. Anyone that has a narrow vision of who you are will not see you coming when you surpass their expectations!

Having a science background helped with the animal side of our agriculture business, but I did not have a lot of business training from my college years. When talking with high school students, I tell them to take advantage of their public education. The knowledge they get is free and you never know when you will use it! My most important classes have been my accounting classes in high school. I was never one to be a top salesmen for class fundraisers. But selling our beef to customers has become a passion. When you love what you are doing and believe in it, the rest follows.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend were visiting, she would be back in her hometown! But, if there was a week worth of time to spend, we would be on horseback, moving cows and calves to new pastures, driving the harvest equipment while putting up feed for the cattle for the next year, and she loves to come help pack beef boxes that are shipping to customers that week.

Each of those jobs would take one or two days on their own, so we would have filled a full week by the time those tasks were complete. Barbecuing some of our steaks and roasting sweet corn grown in our fields would be the best meal, but the local restaurant has a lot of home cooked meals each day, so we would take advantage of both of those options.

Most likely, the visit would include our school wide class reunion, so that would take up half a weekend. We have a small local 225 kids preschool through 12th grade school. Reunions happen every five years, but they are not grade specific. Rather, anyone who has graduated is invited. The last reunion had people from eight decades worth of graduates.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Shoutout goes to my family. I would not have this opportunity to share the beef we raise with our customers without the generations of family that came before me. Our grandfather homesteaded at our current location in 1923 and raised his family here at the ranch. My grandparents had three sons and a daughter. The three brothers took over the business from my grandfather and when my dad married, he moved in to the house where he grew up. My parents raised my sister and me on the ranch while continuing the farm and ranch business.

Both my cousin and I have continued with the business. We took over from our fathers after pursuing careers outside of agriculture before deciding our passion was in continuing the ranching heritage. Agriculture is a hard business and I cannot imaging just jumping into this career without the knowledge and opportunities presented to us because of the hard work put into it from our ancestors. Once I started a family, we moved in to the house where I grew up, which makes four generations living in the original home.

Website: https://www.christensenranch.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christensenranchbeef/

Linkedin: none

Twitter: none

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristensenRanchBeef/

Yelp: none

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristensenRanchBeef

Image Credits
#1 – Me with neighbors (horseback moving cattle)
#3 – Me with Michael Buttram, Colorado State University Pantry coordinator
#5 – left to right: Connor, Don, Kathy, Kirsten Wood; Allie, Eric, Jodi, Tyler Christensen (my cousin & partner – Eric)
#6 – Me in the feedlot
#7 – Me and daughter Kirsten showcasing product in Washington DC
#8 – Me packing prime rib roast for Christmas shipping