July 22, 2025 • 29 mins
Alisa Ogden, a fifth-generation rancher and third-generation farmer from southeastern New Mexico, shares her family's rich history of land stewardship dating back to 1890. Her insights reveal how successful ranchers balance conservation, innovation, and tough decision-making through challenging drought cycles while maintaining passion for producing quality beef.
• Fifth-generation rancher whose great-great-grandfather homesteaded south of Carlsbad in 1890
• Past president of New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and current chairman of NCBA's Federal Lands Committee
• Manages drought conditions by adjusting herd size and resting pastures without adequate grass
• Participates in conservation initiatives like "Restore New Mexico" to improve watershed health and grassland productivity
• Family tradition of innovation – from her grandfather terracing with horse-drawn equipment to modern brush control
• Operates a cow-calf operation featuring Angus-Hereford crossbred cattle selected for meat quality
• Champions the Beef Checkoff program for its vital role in research, education, and promotion
• Favorite way to enjoy beef: a medium-cooked filet with just salt, pepper, and green chile
If you would like more information, please visit nmbeef.com. Whether it be a burger, a steak, or another beef dish, we hope you are enjoying beef at your next meal.
Dion's is has a new menu item! Try their Green Chile Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza today.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carollann Romo (00:03):
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger, our podcast produced bythe New Mexico Beef Council.
I'm Carol Ann Romo and I'm herewith Elisa.
We're here in Rio Doso for themid-year meeting for New Mexico
cattle growers.
Will you introduce yourself andmaybe start with your
background?
Alisa Ogden (00:21):
Sure, I'm Elisa Ogden.
I am a lifetime farmer andrancher in southeastern New
Mexico, fifth-generation rancher, third-generation farmer on
land that my grandparents onboth sides of my family
homesteaded and went to.
I am a past president of NewMexico Cattle Growers
Association.
(00:41):
I was president from 2007 to2009.
And so New Mexico CattleGrowers keeps their past
presidents involved.
So I'm still on the board ofdirectors and I feel like it's
an extremely importantorganization for the state of
New Mexico because we representthe cattle industry, but we also
(01:01):
look at all other avenues ofagriculture and try to be
proactive in things that aregoing on in the cattle industry.
But we also look at all otheravenues of agriculture and try
to be proactive in things thatare going on in the cattle
industry.
Carollann Romo (01:09):
Absolutely, and I think the most important thing
is that we need volunteers,right?
So volunteers and people thatare willing to put themselves
out there and take their timeaway from the ranches is
absolutely, and then you alsohappen to be really good at it.
Alisa Ogden (01:25):
Oh well, thank you.
It's important, like you said,for people to go out and to
advocate for their industry.
So many have let others do itfor them, and if you want to be
sure that your industry is aviable industry for the future,
(01:45):
and if you have your childrengoing into that or any kind of
family or even those that areyour friends, you want them to
not have constant spears beingthrown at them, and we are in
the cattle industry all over theUnited States.
I'm also involved in theNational Cattlemen's Beef
Association, and for the nexttwo years I'm serving as
(02:08):
chairman of the Federal LandsCommittee, because southeastern
New Mexico has a lot of federaland state lands well, public
lands, really, committee and soyou have to understand not only
what goes on in your industry onyour private land, but how
public decisions that are madein federal and state governments
(02:29):
affect you as trying to beranchers.
Carollann Romo (02:31):
Absolutely.
I think that's.
We've talked about a lot in thepodcast of how much you have to
know, right?
How many different avenues andhow many things you have to.
You just have to be at almost aknower of everything, right?
It's just, it just goes beyondanyone's imagination, I think.
Alisa Ogden (02:51):
Definitely a jack of all trades and master of none
is a pretty good discussionabout anyone involved in
agriculture, not just ranching,so you really have to be aware
of all that's going on, the newtechnology that you can use to
benefit raising your cattle, orhow you work your cattle Right
now at our mid-year meeting,there's a woman in there talking
(03:13):
about you know, low stress,handling of your animals and
your best way to design yourcorrals and things like that.
So it always something to makehow you are a herdsman or a
cattleman, or however you wantto define it, to be the best you
(03:36):
can be and to produce the bestproduct you can with the least
amount of stress on that animal.
Carollann Romo (03:43):
Absolutely.
And I know you said the jack ofall trades, master of none.
I had read something, or maybesaw a video somewhere, where the
end of that quote talks abouthow good it is to be a jack of
all trades and I just thinkthat's a really great thing.
That made me feel, maybeinspired, that when you're
saying that, I know it's almostsometimes self-deprecating to
(04:07):
say the master of none, but inthe real thing is, it's so cool
to be so many things and to tryand expand your knowledge and
all of that.
Alisa Ogden (04:16):
Well, I'm not a very good mechanic, but a pretty
good plumber and a pretty goodelectrician.
So you know, you just look tosee where you're.
There are people in this worldthat do things for a living, so
I don't have to, and I'm reallyhappy they're there for that
reason.
Carollann Romo (04:31):
Me too.
Me too Tell me about your ranchand your operation, where it is
and kind of what you guys do.
Alisa Ogden (04:38):
So our family ranch is south of Carlsbad, new
Mexico.
My great-great-grandfatherhomesteaded in 1890, you know,
22 years before statehoodhomesteaded the ranch.
He came in from South Texas.
We all wonder why they stoppedthere, but you know how it is
and it has stayed in the family.
(04:58):
It's been divided a couple oftimes but it has stayed in our
family.
My great-great-grandfather wasJohn D Forehand, who was a trail
driver as well as doing a lotof other things.
And so in 1981, well, I went tocollege, got my master's at
Colorado State, worked there acouple of years as a women's
(05:21):
athletic trainer and in 1981, Icame back to run the ranch with
my dad, and then he needed atractor driver and a irrigator
and this, that and the other.
So not only did I do theranching part but I also farm,
and the farm was settled by myfather's family in 1916.
(05:42):
And so we've been there a while.
My brother and I are partnerson the ranch and then we each do
our farming separately.
But it's all I ever wanted todo.
I did the other because Ishould have another life in this
world, but the farming andranching have always been my
(06:03):
only first and only love, and sowe have a cow-calf operation.
We raise primarily a crossbredAngus Hereford and have done
that.
You know you try a breed hereand there, but we've always gone
back to the Hereford Angus.
You know their meat is the bestmeat to eat and that's what
(06:23):
we're doing is we're raising agood quality beef product so
people will enjoy what they'rehaving to eat.
And through cattlemen'scolleges that I've attended at
New Mexico Cattle Growers, I'velearned more about how to, on my
animal husbandry, to do thingsthat keep your animals healthy.
You know they talk about oh, Idon't want to give them any
(06:45):
antibiotics.
What do you do when you're sick?
So there's some things that youhave to do to keep your animals
healthy and to try and havethem live their best life, the
best as you can.
Part of the luxury we have withthe farm is we raise alfalfa hay
(07:05):
, small grains, sometimes someSudan different forages.
So if, while we're in thedroughts, we have an option with
our cattle that we can feedthem what we have, sometimes you
just have to just, you know,slow down and get rid of your
(07:26):
herd, and we're at a very lowamount right now because we
haven't had rain.
We've been in an overthree-year drought.
We pray that this El Nino theysay that's coming in and a good
monsoon season will help.
But when you've been in adrought as long as we have, you
know it's years to recover fromthat.
(07:48):
And I've lived through as manydroughts as I've lived through
wet years.
And the first time I had tosell a lot of the cattle because
of a drought and they were mycows that I'd calved out as
heifers.
I'd seen them go up all thatway we retain ownership on our
heifers and I cried when thetrough left the ranch and I
(08:10):
swore I would never cry againwhen I had to disperse the herd,
because Watching them starve todeath is worse than putting
them on a truck and dispersingthe herd.
So you have to have passion forwhat you do, but you also have
to have a hard demeanor andheart when it comes to doing
(08:34):
things, when you know all yourcattle, so to speak, and it's
time to get rid of them andsometimes it's earlier than you
plan to, but it's only becauseit's what's good for the cow,
not just good for us.
Carollann Romo (08:50):
Oh, absolutely.
I think the fact that you careso much is something that we
really want to talk about in thepodcast, or that's kind of the
goal of the podcast, because ifsomeone wants to know where
their food comes from, that'skind of the goal of the podcast,
because if someone wants toknow where their food comes from
, I want them to know that thepeople are wonderful and have
their hearts set on thislifestyle and are doing the best
to care for the cattle and carefor the land and having to make
(09:11):
those hard decisions that youknow many of us couldn't.
Alisa Ogden (09:17):
Well, it is a hard decision and when I first came
back to the ranch there was areally good range con at BLN and
they were doing the analysis ofthe forage and everything and
he was going out every year andI got to go with him and I
learned so much and this waslike 1981 too.
I was learning so much of howyou did your forage evaluation,
(09:40):
your plants that were out there,which ones were, which of your
forage was more edible.
My dad was really good at thatalso, and so it helps you.
There's people that look anddon't see, and so when you're
looking at your pasture you needto see what's out there and
(10:01):
available for your animals toeat and what you can do to help
in your rotational grazing andall of those different type of
aspects.
But right now half the ranch wedon't have cattle on them
because we haven't had the rainto grow grass, and that's just
the fact of life that you don'talways and when you don't have a
(10:23):
good rain season, you just gowhere you have grass and then
you adjust your numbers to whereyou can.
But I've always felt like thatwe have done it as ranchers a
good job in taking care of ouranimals job in taking care of
our animals?
Carollann Romo (10:39):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and I think you've
already answered you know halfthe questions, because you're
talking about New Mexico'sclimate and you're talking about
the land preservation and youknow ranchers are often the
ultimate environmentalists, andthe fact that you know you're
resting your grass and then thatyou have to rely on nature
right, that's such a differentthing.
(11:00):
Limiting factor yeah.
Such a limiting factor yeah.
Alisa Ogden (11:04):
I was involved with the Bureau of Land Management,
state Land Office, the CarlsbadSoil and Water Conservation
District, in the early 2000s.
A program was implemented inlooking at the watersheds and
there was an agreement acrossall entities there, in addition
with the private landowners, andthe project was called Restore
(11:27):
New Mexico and it was going inand putting out tebuthyron or
spraying your you know, that'sfor woody plant species, or
spraying your mesquite to helpwith, you know, slowing down the
takeover of your grassland.
And so our ranch, my dad, wasin agreement and our ranch was
(11:49):
involved in Restore New Mexicofrom almost the beginning of the
project.
We were doing things on our ownbecause initially the state
land office, state land andprivate were the only ones who
could get equip money.
Well, things changed and thenyou could get equip money on
also federal land.
So when the attitudes in theoffices and the Carlsbad field
(12:11):
office for Bureau of LandManagement was where this all
the thought process came aroundand they were very proactive in
this Soil and Water ConservationDistrict jumped in and so in
the Carlsbad District and inRoswell they started doing
proactive brush control and youcould see the difference in your
(12:34):
production of your grass, yourhealth of your soil.
You didn't have the bare groundyou used to have because you
didn't have these woody plantspecies taking in all the water
and the grass had an opportunityto grow.
And so my dad did projectsbefore all of these monies were
available.
He showed how you could put upsome woven wire fence on a
(12:57):
drainage and you would get yourgrass coming back in instead of
having slick dirt on a drainage.
And you would get your grasscoming back in instead of having
slick dirt or taking a buckscraper out and just making low
spots in your so the water wouldslow down and pool.
So I was raised by aconservationist who always was
looking how to make a bettermousetrap in everything and
(13:17):
farming and ranching.
So I feel very fortunate tohave benefited from my dad's
foresight in looking at thingsand how to improve that desert
ground that we have.
And then when BLM and the Soiland Water Conservation District
say, hey, we think this is agreat idea too.
It was really a game changer inhow our ranches became the ones
(13:42):
who entered into the program,how it improved the quality of
the forage on the ranches, andso I'm really fortunate that I
have been involved in thatproject and right now, money's a
little short on the federalside, but we've still tried to
do things that are proactive inimproving the ranch land, and so
(14:02):
I'm grateful for my dad beingone of those initial persons
that did that kind of thing.
Carollann Romo (14:10):
Well, and that's why your family has been on the
same land since 1890 and 1916,right, right, probably a long
line of conservationists.
Alisa Ogden (14:19):
Well, my granddad terraced land with a sled and a
team and his eye.
Carollann Romo (14:26):
Yeah.
Alisa Ogden (14:27):
On the first.
You know, when he first pickedup some of that land and after
the 50s, you know, in thedrought of the 50s there wasn't
anything out there and that's,and all my dad had was a buck
scraper and a tractor and hewent out making water bars on
roads and doing all kinds ofthings.
So I think if you're lookingand you're innovative, you can
(14:47):
improve what you have, and I'mnot the only one.
You know.
You find that the people whoare successful ranchers are very
innovative and they have aconservation mind, and if you're
not conservation minded as arancher, you don't have anything
.
Carollann Romo (15:04):
Absolutely.
You have to have to care forthe land so that it can care for
the livestock.
Yeah, what's maybe somethingexciting you're working on,
whether it be maybe somethingyou're doing on the ranch or
something, or even on the farm,or maybe cattle growers but
what's something you're excitedabout right now, or even on the
farm?
Alisa Ogden (15:21):
or maybe cattle growers.
But what's something you'reexcited about right now?
Oh gosh, there's so many thingsgoing on.
I'm in hopes that with I'mgoing to go nationwide with the
change in the administration.
With Bureau of Land Managementwe're having and we were talking
about it before the change inadministration, we were talking
(15:52):
about it before the change inadministration but they're
looking at changing the grazingrules regulations and maybe
making them to where they'remore applicable for ranchers
westwide to use.
And then there's alsodiscussions going on about
having the Forest Servicegrazing regulations and the
Bureau of Land Managementgrazing regulations be more
similar so people who haveprivate, federal, both forest
and BLM lands can manage them asa watershed or as a whole and
(16:17):
not have different regulationsdepending on which federal
agency you're dealing with.
So I hope this comes tofruition and I think the people
in place right now in thegovernment are looking to do
that, and we have Karen Bedfowlin here speaking today and she's
in the Department of Interiorand she's very range-minded, so
(16:41):
I'm really looking forward.
She's progressive on thegrazing regulations for the
Bureau of Land Management, andso we're in hopes that we can
have some positive things comeabout on a federal level that
will help all branchers,especially westwide, that are
public land ranchers.
Carollann Romo (17:03):
What is the biggest challenge you face in
your operation?
Of course, you've kind ofalready talked about some, but
so maybe it's a differentchallenge.
Alisa Ogden (17:10):
For me, it's primarily the droughts that you
manage, for you don't manage forwet seasons, you manage for
droughts, and they can wear onyou a lot, and so when you rain,
people laugh in the East thatyou get excited with a one-inch
(17:31):
rain, but your attitude, it'samazing.
When you do get rain, you havejust a real attitude adjustment,
and so that is probably one ofthe things that I look for, and
I try to maximize what I'm doingso that when we do get rain, it
is the most effective possible,absolutely.
(17:54):
I think that's never ending.
Carollann Romo (17:56):
No, like you said you've said in we I know
I've said in another podcast toois the meteorology aspect of
ranching is crazy too, right,because you guys know about
what's weather patterns andmonsoons and that when Cattlefax
has their meteorologists talkabout historic patterns, that
(18:19):
room is packed at theCattlemen's Convention and yeah,
it's again another thing to addto the list of titles, but it's
yeah and it's a sharedexperience for many in the
Southwest, like you said.
Or you said West, right?
Oh, will you talk about whatyour favorite part is of the
(18:41):
industry?
Alisa Ogden (18:44):
So I've been blessed to be involved in both
New Mexico and national cattleorganizations.
The friendships I've made areoutstanding.
Growing up in the New Mexicocattle industry, the older
(19:04):
people, which I am now one of,those would take the younger
kids under their wing to helpteach them and train them up,
and I hope that maybe I can helpdo some of that, and I hope
that maybe I can help do some ofthat.
But the people you've gotten toknow, the friendships you've
(19:24):
made, the relationships you madeare priceless.
And people in the cattleindustry, in agriculture I'm
also on the cotton board Peoplein agriculture as a whole,
they're priceless, are some ofthe most wholesome people you
will ever know, and they're downto earth because they you know,
when you're working with theearth you understand how things
(19:48):
are, and it's pretty remarkable.
I'm in awe of how many ideasthey have and how innovative
they are, and so that hasdefinitely been a blessing that
I've been able to gleanknowledge from other people.
Carollann Romo (20:05):
Well, I hope that I can now glean, glean
knowledge from you and others aswell, and I'm grateful.
You talked about friendships.
I was just telling my husbandthis morning that that you know,
sometimes I wonder how to, howto you know, make new friends
and build new friends, and thenI realized it's just because my
friends are at the cattleconventions.
I just have to come here andthen I get to see you all, and
(20:26):
what an honor.
Alisa Ogden (20:27):
Well, I've been blessed to have gotten to know
you better since you've gone towork here in New Mexico, and you
have definitely done very goodthings in promoting our product
and you're looking at innovativethings and in this day and time
, we have to be innovative andwe have to look at, not the
traditional ways of promotion,and so I think that Beef Council
(20:50):
has done a very good job sinceyou've come with your new
outlook and fresh looks oneverything.
So we appreciate you Well thankyou, thank you.
Carollann Romo (20:58):
It's an honor to represent the industry and I
don't take it lightly and we'retrying to be really, really good
stewards of the money that isyour money, so thank you.
I didn't even pay you to saythat.
No, I did it on my own.
Oh no, thank you.
What a compliment.
Alisa Ogden (21:16):
I do want to say though, that there is currently
a senator from Utah that wantsto do away with all checkoffs in
all commodities, and that'sunfortunate because we as
producers, in whatever commodityit is voted to, assess
ourselves this because promotionand research is so important in
(21:39):
our fields and research is soimportant in our fields, and so
I'm sorry that he thinks it's atax and wants to eliminate all
checkoffs in all commoditieswhen it is an important part of
(22:04):
how we advertise, how we promote.
You know, when we can put ourdollars together for promotion
and research, we're able to doso much more for our product
than if we were trying toindividually do it.
New Mexico cattle growers as asingle entity could not do what
you would with Beef Council, andyou're able to get the dollars
to a national level too.
We can't do that, and I can'tdo it as an individual.
So I'm really I hope that thecheckoff will continue in all
commodities because the researchand promotion is so important
(22:42):
this promotion side at the BeefCouncil and I can't lobby and I
can't do policy.
Carollann Romo (22:43):
And there's other you know rules about how
we spend the money, becausepromotion, research and
education are the priorities andthat's what.
That was the missing piece inthe industry and I'm so grateful
that I get to get to work inthat piece.
Alisa Ogden (22:56):
You do both with cotton on one side and on the
other.
It helps me with my interest inbeing policy-driven but also
wanting to be sure that thepromotion, research, education
are very high priorities inevery commodity.
Carollann Romo (23:13):
Oh, absolutely, and I keep saying too if there's
producers listening to thepodcast or if I'm talking to
them here is that we want inputand we want you paying attention
.
I hope that you're looking forwhat we're doing and I hope
we're having conversations aboutit, because it's your money,
Absolutely.
It's your money.
So we want to do a good job, soconstantly try and be a penny
(23:34):
pitcher and try some new things,and then also it's kind of out
of our nature to brag about whatwe're doing but we're learning
how to do that, so we gave areport card yesterday.
We get a great value for ourdollar.
Thank you, thank you, I hope,and we'll keep working and I'm
sure there'll be or $2.
Alisa Ogden (23:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Carollann Romo (23:53):
Yeah, right, right, we do get.
Yeah, I guess that's a littleside note is the New Mexico Beef
Council is funded by.
An animal is sold, two dollarsare collected, fifty cents goes
to the Cattlemen's Beef Board,our national organization, and
about a dollar fifty comes tothe New Mexico Beef Council.
And then we already talkedabout what we're allowed to do
(24:13):
with that promotion, education,research.
So there you go, good sidebar.
Alisa Ogden (24:31):
Well, here's a fun question why do you do what you
do?
What makes you keep goingthrough drought, through
difficulties and challenges?
Why do you keep waking up andchoosing this?
My son's in the military rightnow and he plans to come back in
three years to the farm andranch, which I told him was a
good thing because I couldn'tlast forever.
But he understands that passionand the love of growing things
(24:55):
and the animals.
He used to give me a hard time.
He says, mom, how do all yourhouseplants die?
And you're a farmer.
And I said, well, we go throughdrought and drowned at my house
just like we do out on theranch.
And so it's passing onsomething that you have
generations of people ahead ofbefore you, that had that same
(25:16):
passion, that worked hard, and Ijust have that place in my
heart that that's something thatgives me satisfaction for what
I'm doing.
I feel like I'm doing somethingthat's worthwhile, that is good
for other people.
I wear my cotton jeans andshirt, I eat my beef, drink my
(25:39):
milk, you know all those otherthings, and I live my production
in all ways.
Carollann Romo (25:48):
And that's evident, that you love it and
live it, and gosh, we're sothankful for people like you
that are providing food andfiber for all of us.
Okay, so now we have a kind offun, but we joke that this is
the most important question whatis your favorite way to eat
beef, or even a favorite recipe,if you'd allow us to put it on
(26:11):
the website?
Alisa Ogden (26:13):
So I'm a purist.
I don't want stuff on my meatother than salt pepper green
chili cheese.
You can't beat a medium for meCooked steak, my favorite's
filet but I will eat all cutsand I love a good green chili
(26:35):
cheeseburger.
Carollann Romo (26:37):
Absolutely A true New Mexican.
Alisa Ogden (26:38):
Absolutely A true new Mexican.
I mean, you know, I've evenfound freeze-dried green chili
that I can carry with me ontrips Because you need it in my
eggs, you know, or whatever.
So, but I'm not into sauces,I'm not into a whole lot of
other things.
I will put, you know, hamburgermeat in other products and with
(27:02):
other things, but I just reallylike meat by itself, with
something by itself, and so Idon't have any other recipe
other than salt pepper and anice steak and maybe a modelo on
the side or something you know.
Carollann Romo (27:23):
That's perfect.
No, I support thatwholeheartedly.
I love a good filet.
I love sometimes I love theportion control of a filet.
Alisa Ogden (27:32):
Right, exactly.
Carollann Romo (27:36):
But we love yeah , we love steaks and we love
green chili cheeseburgers.
Those are good, I know Ilearned at cattle convention the
trick is to go to the NMSU, theNew Mexico State University,
booth, and they have green chilisamples and you go get your
green chili samples so that youcan add some green chili to
whatever you're eating in theChuck Lydon Cafe, exactly At the
convention.
(27:56):
Perfect, well, thank you somuch for everything.
Thank you for joining us on thepodcast, but really thank you
for the work you do for cattlegrowers and the work you do to
provide food for New Mexico andfor the world.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much for askingme.
Absolutely, Thank you.
Behind the Burger is a podcastproduced by the New Mexico Beef
(28:18):
Council with the goal of tellingthe stories of the cattlemen
and cattlewomen of the NewMexico beef industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you would like moreinformation, please visit
nmbeefcom.
Whether it be a burger, a steakor another beef dish, we hope
you are enjoying beef at yournext meal.
Welcome back to another episode of Behind the
Burger, our podcast produced bythe New Mexico Beef Council.
I'm Carol Ann Romo and I'm herewith Elisa.
We're here in Rio Doso for themid-year meeting for New Mexico
cattle growers.
Will you introduce yourself andmaybe start with your
background?
Alisa Ogden (00:21):
Sure, I'm Elisa Ogden.
I am a lifetime farmer andrancher in southeastern New
Mexico, fifth-generation rancher, third-generation farmer on
land that my grandparents onboth sides of my family
homesteaded and went to.
I am a past president of NewMexico Cattle Growers
Association.
(00:41):
I was president from 2007 to2009.
And so New Mexico CattleGrowers keeps their past
presidents involved.
So I'm still on the board ofdirectors and I feel like it's
an extremely importantorganization for the state of
New Mexico because we representthe cattle industry, but we also
(01:01):
look at all other avenues ofagriculture and try to be
proactive in things that aregoing on in the cattle industry.
But we also look at all otheravenues of agriculture and try
to be proactive in things thatare going on in the cattle
industry.
Carollann Romo (01:09):
Absolutely, and I think the most important thing
is that we need volunteers,right?
So volunteers and people thatare willing to put themselves
out there and take their timeaway from the ranches is
absolutely, and then you alsohappen to be really good at it.
Alisa Ogden (01:25):
Oh well, thank you.
It's important, like you said,for people to go out and to
advocate for their industry.
So many have let others do itfor them, and if you want to be
sure that your industry is aviable industry for the future,
(01:45):
and if you have your childrengoing into that or any kind of
family or even those that areyour friends, you want them to
not have constant spears beingthrown at them, and we are in
the cattle industry all over theUnited States.
I'm also involved in theNational Cattlemen's Beef
Association, and for the nexttwo years I'm serving as
(02:08):
chairman of the Federal LandsCommittee, because southeastern
New Mexico has a lot of federaland state lands well, public
lands, really, committee and soyou have to understand not only
what goes on in your industry onyour private land, but how
public decisions that are madein federal and state governments
(02:29):
affect you as trying to beranchers.
Carollann Romo (02:31):
Absolutely.
I think that's.
We've talked about a lot in thepodcast of how much you have to
know, right?
How many different avenues andhow many things you have to.
You just have to be at almost aknower of everything, right?
It's just, it just goes beyondanyone's imagination, I think.
Alisa Ogden (02:51):
Definitely a jack of all trades and master of none
is a pretty good discussionabout anyone involved in
agriculture, not just ranching,so you really have to be aware
of all that's going on, the newtechnology that you can use to
benefit raising your cattle, orhow you work your cattle Right
now at our mid-year meeting,there's a woman in there talking
(03:13):
about you know, low stress,handling of your animals and
your best way to design yourcorrals and things like that.
So it always something to makehow you are a herdsman or a
cattleman, or however you wantto define it, to be the best you
(03:36):
can be and to produce the bestproduct you can with the least
amount of stress on that animal.
Carollann Romo (03:43):
Absolutely.
And I know you said the jack ofall trades, master of none.
I had read something, or maybesaw a video somewhere, where the
end of that quote talks abouthow good it is to be a jack of
all trades and I just thinkthat's a really great thing.
That made me feel, maybeinspired, that when you're
saying that, I know it's almostsometimes self-deprecating to
(04:07):
say the master of none, but inthe real thing is, it's so cool
to be so many things and to tryand expand your knowledge and
all of that.
Alisa Ogden (04:16):
Well, I'm not a very good mechanic, but a pretty
good plumber and a pretty goodelectrician.
So you know, you just look tosee where you're.
There are people in this worldthat do things for a living, so
I don't have to, and I'm reallyhappy they're there for that
reason.
Carollann Romo (04:31):
Me too.
Me too Tell me about your ranchand your operation, where it is
and kind of what you guys do.
Alisa Ogden (04:38):
So our family ranch is south of Carlsbad, new
Mexico.
My great-great-grandfatherhomesteaded in 1890, you know,
22 years before statehoodhomesteaded the ranch.
He came in from South Texas.
We all wonder why they stoppedthere, but you know how it is
and it has stayed in the family.
(04:58):
It's been divided a couple oftimes but it has stayed in our
family.
My great-great-grandfather wasJohn D Forehand, who was a trail
driver as well as doing a lotof other things.
And so in 1981, well, I went tocollege, got my master's at
Colorado State, worked there acouple of years as a women's
(05:21):
athletic trainer and in 1981, Icame back to run the ranch with
my dad, and then he needed atractor driver and a irrigator
and this, that and the other.
So not only did I do theranching part but I also farm,
and the farm was settled by myfather's family in 1916.
(05:42):
And so we've been there a while.
My brother and I are partnerson the ranch and then we each do
our farming separately.
But it's all I ever wanted todo.
I did the other because Ishould have another life in this
world, but the farming andranching have always been my
(06:03):
only first and only love, and sowe have a cow-calf operation.
We raise primarily a crossbredAngus Hereford and have done
that.
You know you try a breed hereand there, but we've always gone
back to the Hereford Angus.
You know their meat is the bestmeat to eat and that's what
(06:23):
we're doing is we're raising agood quality beef product so
people will enjoy what they'rehaving to eat.
And through cattlemen'scolleges that I've attended at
New Mexico Cattle Growers, I'velearned more about how to, on my
animal husbandry, to do thingsthat keep your animals healthy.
You know they talk about oh, Idon't want to give them any
(06:45):
antibiotics.
What do you do when you're sick?
So there's some things that youhave to do to keep your animals
healthy and to try and havethem live their best life, the
best as you can.
Part of the luxury we have withthe farm is we raise alfalfa hay
(07:05):
, small grains, sometimes someSudan different forages.
So if, while we're in thedroughts, we have an option with
our cattle that we can feedthem what we have, sometimes you
just have to just, you know,slow down and get rid of your
(07:26):
herd, and we're at a very lowamount right now because we
haven't had rain.
We've been in an overthree-year drought.
We pray that this El Nino theysay that's coming in and a good
monsoon season will help.
But when you've been in adrought as long as we have, you
know it's years to recover fromthat.
(07:48):
And I've lived through as manydroughts as I've lived through
wet years.
And the first time I had tosell a lot of the cattle because
of a drought and they were mycows that I'd calved out as
heifers.
I'd seen them go up all thatway we retain ownership on our
heifers and I cried when thetrough left the ranch and I
(08:10):
swore I would never cry againwhen I had to disperse the herd,
because Watching them starve todeath is worse than putting
them on a truck and dispersingthe herd.
So you have to have passion forwhat you do, but you also have
to have a hard demeanor andheart when it comes to doing
(08:34):
things, when you know all yourcattle, so to speak, and it's
time to get rid of them andsometimes it's earlier than you
plan to, but it's only becauseit's what's good for the cow,
not just good for us.
Carollann Romo (08:50):
Oh, absolutely.
I think the fact that you careso much is something that we
really want to talk about in thepodcast, or that's kind of the
goal of the podcast, because ifsomeone wants to know where
their food comes from, that'skind of the goal of the podcast,
because if someone wants toknow where their food comes from
, I want them to know that thepeople are wonderful and have
their hearts set on thislifestyle and are doing the best
to care for the cattle and carefor the land and having to make
(09:11):
those hard decisions that youknow many of us couldn't.
Alisa Ogden (09:17):
Well, it is a hard decision and when I first came
back to the ranch there was areally good range con at BLN and
they were doing the analysis ofthe forage and everything and
he was going out every year andI got to go with him and I
learned so much and this waslike 1981 too.
I was learning so much of howyou did your forage evaluation,
(09:40):
your plants that were out there,which ones were, which of your
forage was more edible.
My dad was really good at thatalso, and so it helps you.
There's people that look anddon't see, and so when you're
looking at your pasture you needto see what's out there and
(10:01):
available for your animals toeat and what you can do to help
in your rotational grazing andall of those different type of
aspects.
But right now half the ranch wedon't have cattle on them
because we haven't had the rainto grow grass, and that's just
the fact of life that you don'talways and when you don't have a
(10:23):
good rain season, you just gowhere you have grass and then
you adjust your numbers to whereyou can.
But I've always felt like thatwe have done it as ranchers a
good job in taking care of ouranimals job in taking care of
our animals?
Carollann Romo (10:39):
Oh yeah, absolutely, and I think you've
already answered you know halfthe questions, because you're
talking about New Mexico'sclimate and you're talking about
the land preservation and youknow ranchers are often the
ultimate environmentalists, andthe fact that you know you're
resting your grass and then thatyou have to rely on nature
right, that's such a differentthing.
(11:00):
Limiting factor yeah.
Such a limiting factor yeah.
Alisa Ogden (11:04):
I was involved with the Bureau of Land Management,
state Land Office, the CarlsbadSoil and Water Conservation
District, in the early 2000s.
A program was implemented inlooking at the watersheds and
there was an agreement acrossall entities there, in addition
with the private landowners, andthe project was called Restore
(11:27):
New Mexico and it was going inand putting out tebuthyron or
spraying your you know, that'sfor woody plant species, or
spraying your mesquite to helpwith, you know, slowing down the
takeover of your grassland.
And so our ranch, my dad, wasin agreement and our ranch was
(11:49):
involved in Restore New Mexicofrom almost the beginning of the
project.
We were doing things on our ownbecause initially the state
land office, state land andprivate were the only ones who
could get equip money.
Well, things changed and thenyou could get equip money on
also federal land.
So when the attitudes in theoffices and the Carlsbad field
(12:11):
office for Bureau of LandManagement was where this all
the thought process came aroundand they were very proactive in
this Soil and Water ConservationDistrict jumped in and so in
the Carlsbad District and inRoswell they started doing
proactive brush control and youcould see the difference in your
(12:34):
production of your grass, yourhealth of your soil.
You didn't have the bare groundyou used to have because you
didn't have these woody plantspecies taking in all the water
and the grass had an opportunityto grow.
And so my dad did projectsbefore all of these monies were
available.
He showed how you could put upsome woven wire fence on a
(12:57):
drainage and you would get yourgrass coming back in instead of
having slick dirt on a drainage.
And you would get your grasscoming back in instead of having
slick dirt or taking a buckscraper out and just making low
spots in your so the water wouldslow down and pool.
So I was raised by aconservationist who always was
looking how to make a bettermousetrap in everything and
(13:17):
farming and ranching.
So I feel very fortunate tohave benefited from my dad's
foresight in looking at thingsand how to improve that desert
ground that we have.
And then when BLM and the Soiland Water Conservation District
say, hey, we think this is agreat idea too.
It was really a game changer inhow our ranches became the ones
(13:42):
who entered into the program,how it improved the quality of
the forage on the ranches, andso I'm really fortunate that I
have been involved in thatproject and right now, money's a
little short on the federalside, but we've still tried to
do things that are proactive inimproving the ranch land, and so
(14:02):
I'm grateful for my dad beingone of those initial persons
that did that kind of thing.
Carollann Romo (14:10):
Well, and that's why your family has been on the
same land since 1890 and 1916,right, right, probably a long
line of conservationists.
Alisa Ogden (14:19):
Well, my granddad terraced land with a sled and a
team and his eye.
Carollann Romo (14:26):
Yeah.
Alisa Ogden (14:27):
On the first.
You know, when he first pickedup some of that land and after
the 50s, you know, in thedrought of the 50s there wasn't
anything out there and that's,and all my dad had was a buck
scraper and a tractor and hewent out making water bars on
roads and doing all kinds ofthings.
So I think if you're lookingand you're innovative, you can
(14:47):
improve what you have, and I'mnot the only one.
You know.
You find that the people whoare successful ranchers are very
innovative and they have aconservation mind, and if you're
not conservation minded as arancher, you don't have anything
.
Carollann Romo (15:04):
Absolutely.
You have to have to care forthe land so that it can care for
the livestock.
Yeah, what's maybe somethingexciting you're working on,
whether it be maybe somethingyou're doing on the ranch or
something, or even on the farm,or maybe cattle growers but
what's something you're excitedabout right now, or even on the
farm?
Alisa Ogden (15:21):
or maybe cattle growers.
But what's something you'reexcited about right now?
Oh gosh, there's so many thingsgoing on.
I'm in hopes that with I'mgoing to go nationwide with the
change in the administration.
With Bureau of Land Managementwe're having and we were talking
about it before the change inadministration, we were talking
(15:52):
about it before the change inadministration but they're
looking at changing the grazingrules regulations and maybe
making them to where they'remore applicable for ranchers
westwide to use.
And then there's alsodiscussions going on about
having the Forest Servicegrazing regulations and the
Bureau of Land Managementgrazing regulations be more
similar so people who haveprivate, federal, both forest
and BLM lands can manage them asa watershed or as a whole and
(16:17):
not have different regulationsdepending on which federal
agency you're dealing with.
So I hope this comes tofruition and I think the people
in place right now in thegovernment are looking to do
that, and we have Karen Bedfowlin here speaking today and she's
in the Department of Interiorand she's very range-minded, so
(16:41):
I'm really looking forward.
She's progressive on thegrazing regulations for the
Bureau of Land Management, andso we're in hopes that we can
have some positive things comeabout on a federal level that
will help all branchers,especially westwide, that are
public land ranchers.
Carollann Romo (17:03):
What is the biggest challenge you face in
your operation?
Of course, you've kind ofalready talked about some, but
so maybe it's a differentchallenge.
Alisa Ogden (17:10):
For me, it's primarily the droughts that you
manage, for you don't manage forwet seasons, you manage for
droughts, and they can wear onyou a lot, and so when you rain,
people laugh in the East thatyou get excited with a one-inch
(17:31):
rain, but your attitude, it'samazing.
When you do get rain, you havejust a real attitude adjustment,
and so that is probably one ofthe things that I look for, and
I try to maximize what I'm doingso that when we do get rain, it
is the most effective possible,absolutely.
(17:54):
I think that's never ending.
Carollann Romo (17:56):
No, like you said you've said in we I know
I've said in another podcast toois the meteorology aspect of
ranching is crazy too, right,because you guys know about
what's weather patterns andmonsoons and that when Cattlefax
has their meteorologists talkabout historic patterns, that
(18:19):
room is packed at theCattlemen's Convention and yeah,
it's again another thing to addto the list of titles, but it's
yeah and it's a sharedexperience for many in the
Southwest, like you said.
Or you said West, right?
Oh, will you talk about whatyour favorite part is of the
(18:41):
industry?
Alisa Ogden (18:44):
So I've been blessed to be involved in both
New Mexico and national cattleorganizations.
The friendships I've made areoutstanding.
Growing up in the New Mexicocattle industry, the older
(19:04):
people, which I am now one of,those would take the younger
kids under their wing to helpteach them and train them up,
and I hope that maybe I can helpdo some of that, and I hope
that maybe I can help do some ofthat.
But the people you've gotten toknow, the friendships you've
(19:24):
made, the relationships you madeare priceless.
And people in the cattleindustry, in agriculture I'm
also on the cotton board Peoplein agriculture as a whole,
they're priceless, are some ofthe most wholesome people you
will ever know, and they're downto earth because they you know,
when you're working with theearth you understand how things
(19:48):
are, and it's pretty remarkable.
I'm in awe of how many ideasthey have and how innovative
they are, and so that hasdefinitely been a blessing that
I've been able to gleanknowledge from other people.
Carollann Romo (20:05):
Well, I hope that I can now glean, glean
knowledge from you and others aswell, and I'm grateful.
You talked about friendships.
I was just telling my husbandthis morning that that you know,
sometimes I wonder how to, howto you know, make new friends
and build new friends, and thenI realized it's just because my
friends are at the cattleconventions.
I just have to come here andthen I get to see you all, and
(20:26):
what an honor.
Alisa Ogden (20:27):
Well, I've been blessed to have gotten to know
you better since you've gone towork here in New Mexico, and you
have definitely done very goodthings in promoting our product
and you're looking at innovativethings and in this day and time
, we have to be innovative andwe have to look at, not the
traditional ways of promotion,and so I think that Beef Council
(20:50):
has done a very good job sinceyou've come with your new
outlook and fresh looks oneverything.
So we appreciate you Well thankyou, thank you.
Carollann Romo (20:58):
It's an honor to represent the industry and I
don't take it lightly and we'retrying to be really, really good
stewards of the money that isyour money, so thank you.
I didn't even pay you to saythat.
No, I did it on my own.
Oh no, thank you.
What a compliment.
Alisa Ogden (21:16):
I do want to say though, that there is currently
a senator from Utah that wantsto do away with all checkoffs in
all commodities, and that'sunfortunate because we as
producers, in whatever commodityit is voted to, assess
ourselves this because promotionand research is so important in
(21:39):
our fields and research is soimportant in our fields, and so
I'm sorry that he thinks it's atax and wants to eliminate all
checkoffs in all commoditieswhen it is an important part of
(22:04):
how we advertise, how we promote.
You know, when we can put ourdollars together for promotion
and research, we're able to doso much more for our product
than if we were trying toindividually do it.
New Mexico cattle growers as asingle entity could not do what
you would with Beef Council, andyou're able to get the dollars
to a national level too.
We can't do that, and I can'tdo it as an individual.
So I'm really I hope that thecheckoff will continue in all
commodities because the researchand promotion is so important
(22:42):
this promotion side at the BeefCouncil and I can't lobby and I
can't do policy.
Carollann Romo (22:43):
And there's other you know rules about how
we spend the money, becausepromotion, research and
education are the priorities andthat's what.
That was the missing piece inthe industry and I'm so grateful
that I get to get to work inthat piece.
Alisa Ogden (22:56):
You do both with cotton on one side and on the
other.
It helps me with my interest inbeing policy-driven but also
wanting to be sure that thepromotion, research, education
are very high priorities inevery commodity.
Carollann Romo (23:13):
Oh, absolutely, and I keep saying too if there's
producers listening to thepodcast or if I'm talking to
them here is that we want inputand we want you paying attention
.
I hope that you're looking forwhat we're doing and I hope
we're having conversations aboutit, because it's your money,
Absolutely.
It's your money.
So we want to do a good job, soconstantly try and be a penny
(23:34):
pitcher and try some new things,and then also it's kind of out
of our nature to brag about whatwe're doing but we're learning
how to do that, so we gave areport card yesterday.
We get a great value for ourdollar.
Thank you, thank you, I hope,and we'll keep working and I'm
sure there'll be or $2.
Alisa Ogden (23:52):
Yeah, yeah.
Carollann Romo (23:53):
Yeah, right, right, we do get.
Yeah, I guess that's a littleside note is the New Mexico Beef
Council is funded by.
An animal is sold, two dollarsare collected, fifty cents goes
to the Cattlemen's Beef Board,our national organization, and
about a dollar fifty comes tothe New Mexico Beef Council.
And then we already talkedabout what we're allowed to do
(24:13):
with that promotion, education,research.
So there you go, good sidebar.
Alisa Ogden (24:31):
Well, here's a fun question why do you do what you
do?
What makes you keep goingthrough drought, through
difficulties and challenges?
Why do you keep waking up andchoosing this?
My son's in the military rightnow and he plans to come back in
three years to the farm andranch, which I told him was a
good thing because I couldn'tlast forever.
But he understands that passionand the love of growing things
(24:55):
and the animals.
He used to give me a hard time.
He says, mom, how do all yourhouseplants die?
And you're a farmer.
And I said, well, we go throughdrought and drowned at my house
just like we do out on theranch.
And so it's passing onsomething that you have
generations of people ahead ofbefore you, that had that same
(25:16):
passion, that worked hard, and Ijust have that place in my
heart that that's something thatgives me satisfaction for what
I'm doing.
I feel like I'm doing somethingthat's worthwhile, that is good
for other people.
I wear my cotton jeans andshirt, I eat my beef, drink my
(25:39):
milk, you know all those otherthings, and I live my production
in all ways.
Carollann Romo (25:48):
And that's evident, that you love it and
live it, and gosh, we're sothankful for people like you
that are providing food andfiber for all of us.
Okay, so now we have a kind offun, but we joke that this is
the most important question whatis your favorite way to eat
beef, or even a favorite recipe,if you'd allow us to put it on
(26:11):
the website?
Alisa Ogden (26:13):
So I'm a purist.
I don't want stuff on my meatother than salt pepper green
chili cheese.
You can't beat a medium for meCooked steak, my favorite's
filet but I will eat all cutsand I love a good green chili
(26:35):
cheeseburger.
Carollann Romo (26:37):
Absolutely A true New Mexican.
Alisa Ogden (26:38):
Absolutely A true new Mexican.
I mean, you know, I've evenfound freeze-dried green chili
that I can carry with me ontrips Because you need it in my
eggs, you know, or whatever.
So, but I'm not into sauces,I'm not into a whole lot of
other things.
I will put, you know, hamburgermeat in other products and with
(27:02):
other things, but I just reallylike meat by itself, with
something by itself, and so Idon't have any other recipe
other than salt pepper and anice steak and maybe a modelo on
the side or something you know.
Carollann Romo (27:23):
That's perfect.
No, I support thatwholeheartedly.
I love a good filet.
I love sometimes I love theportion control of a filet.
Alisa Ogden (27:32):
Right, exactly.
Carollann Romo (27:36):
But we love yeah , we love steaks and we love
green chili cheeseburgers.
Those are good, I know Ilearned at cattle convention the
trick is to go to the NMSU, theNew Mexico State University,
booth, and they have green chilisamples and you go get your
green chili samples so that youcan add some green chili to
whatever you're eating in theChuck Lydon Cafe, exactly At the
convention.
(27:56):
Perfect, well, thank you somuch for everything.
Thank you for joining us on thepodcast, but really thank you
for the work you do for cattlegrowers and the work you do to
provide food for New Mexico andfor the world.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much for askingme.
Absolutely, Thank you.
Behind the Burger is a podcastproduced by the New Mexico Beef
(28:18):
Council with the goal of tellingthe stories of the cattlemen
and cattlewomen of the NewMexico beef industry.
Thank you for joining us fortoday's episode.
If you would like moreinformation, please visit
nmbeefcom.
Whether it be a burger, a steakor another beef dish, we hope
you are enjoying beef at yournext meal.
Host
Carollann Romo
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