Women Led Livestock Businesses
Being part of Women in Ranching is an amazing force of good in my life. Even before we were joined through the Women in Ranching circle at TomKat Ranch in Pescadero, California, Beth and Cole were two women who I deeply admired and respected. We met through our work with the Savory Institute, and the regenerative agriculture community on the West Coast of the United States. They are entrepreneurs, they are holistic managers, they’ve started and managed livestock businesses. They sing, play guitar and have the most beautiful laughs and smiles.If you are keen to learn how to get started with livestock enterprises as a woman (or a man), please join us for a fun, enlightening and unforgettable hour with two leaders who are shaping the future of livestock agriculture.[button1 size="small" width="standard" link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLPedOWhOVU&t=81s" animate="none" color="default" color_custom="off" color_text="#ffffff" color_text_hover="#ffffff" color_bg="#ffffff" color_bg_hover="#ffffff" border_radius="0"] WATCH THE REPLAY [/button1]
SPEAKERS
A self-deemed ‘urban shepherdess’, Brittany Cole Bush, AKA Cole is a regenerative agriculture and land management specialist. Cole aids in the development of prescribed grazing programs for public safety and ecological enhancement. She also specializes in building stacked agricultural enterprises and is the Owner/Operator of Shepherdess Holistic Hides, working with byproducts from the meat industry to produce luxury homegoods. She is also spearheading the launch of a start-up prescribed grazing business, Shepherdess Land & Livestock Co. to serve the Ojai Valley, in support of the community’s wildfire resiliency. Her on-the-ground experience includes the development and implementation of large-scale prescribed grazing programs in the Bay Area of California as the Project Manager forStar Creek Land Stewards (SCLS), a premier contract grazing operation in Los Banos, CA. During her tenure with SCLS from 2012-2016, she oversaw contract grazing programs impacting over 2,000 acres of private and public lands on an annual basis for vegetation management, ecosystems services, fire fuel load reduction, invasive species management, and biological enhancement, using upwards of 2,400 head of sheep and goats in over six counties. Clients include private land owners & managers, public agencies and municipalities such as: CalTrans, PG&E, East Bay Regional Parks District, East Bay Municipalities, Santa Clara and San Mateo Parks & Recreation, the City of Lincoln, and a number of land trusts throughout the greater Bay Area, CA.Cole’s academic background is in Agroecology and Sustainable Development and she received a Bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Cruz. Additional studies include: Urban Planning at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley; Architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City; and extensive technical training leading to accreditation as an Accredited Holistic Management Field Professional & Educator with the Savory Institute.
Beth is the fourth generation of her family to steward the Lazy R Ranch, located just west of Spokane, WA. She moved home and began managing the business with her dad, Maurice, in 2010, after completing her studies at Western Washington University. She went on to earn her MBA at Bainbridge Graduate Institute, a small independent business school dedicated to using the tools of business for environmental and social good. Beth is also the co-founder of LINC Foods, a worker-farmer-owned cooperative food hub based in Spokane. Beth became the first second generation certified Holistic Management educator in 2015 after completing her training in Extremadura, Spain, with Byron Shelton. She has had the honor of teaching and studying holistic management in Turkey, Mexico, and throughout the United States. Along with fellow Holistic Management practitioner, Sandra Matheson, Beth is a co-facilitator of the New Cowgirl Camp, a 5 day intensive course for women interested in learning the ins and outs of regenerative ranching. Beth is married to her high school sweetheart, Matt (who is now a school teacher) and is the proud step-mama to Matt’s 18-year-old kiddo, Audrey. Beth is a very mediocre yodeler but this does not discourage her in the slightest.