Meet the LeValleys

Meet Your Rancher:

LeValley Ranch

Hotchkiss, Colorado

For more than a century, the LeValley family has managed their ranch with one guiding principle: think long term. 

The story began in 1914 when Thomas LeValley homesteaded land in Colorado's North Fork Valley. He was among the local leaders who helped create Crawford Reservoir, a project that brought reliable irrigation water to thousands of acres and laid the foundation for agriculture in the region. Today, five generations later, the LeValley family continues that legacy of stewardship on the same landscape. 

What started as a family cattle operation has evolved into a model of conservation-minded ranching. Through careful management, the LeValleys have demonstrated that productive agriculture and healthy ecosystems can thrive together. 

The ranch spans private land in Delta and Montrose counties, along with leased grazing lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Across these diverse landscapes, the family follows a planned grazing system designed to protect grasslands, improve soil health, and support wildlife habitat. 

Their philosophy is simple: healthy land requires rest. 

Private pastures are grazed for no more than two weeks each year, while some public grazing allotments are only grazed every other year. By allowing grasses time to recover and maintain strong root systems, the LeValleys have improved rangeland condition, increased plant diversity, and strengthened the resilience of the land during periods of drought. 

Their commitment extends beyond cattle. 

LeValley Ranch sits within important habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse, a threatened species found in western Colorado. For decades, the family has worked alongside conservation partners, including the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to implement grazing practices and habitat improvements that benefit both livestock and wildlife. 

Innovative water projects have also played a key role in the ranch's success. Solar-powered pumps, miles of pipeline, and strategically placed water tanks provide reliable water sources for livestock while also supporting birds, deer, elk, and other wildlife across the landscape. 

Since taking over management of the ranch in the late 1980s, brothers Mark and Hank LeValley have embraced cooperative rangeland monitoring to measure the results of their management decisions. Years of data have documented improvements in range condition, plant diversity, and overall ecosystem health throughout the ranch and surrounding grazing lands. 

The LeValleys have also diversified their operation to strengthen both the ranch and their community. Along with cattle production, the family manages hunting enterprises that depend on healthy wildlife habitat and partners with other Colorado ranches to operate a USDA-inspected meat processing facility and retail store. Selling beef directly to consumers allows them to share not only their product, but also the story behind how it is raised. 

For the LeValley family, ranching has never been solely about cattle. It is about caring for the land, supporting wildlife, strengthening rural communities, and ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to continue the work. 

Today, that future is already taking shape as fifth-generation rancher Ross LeValley becomes increasingly involved in the operation, carrying forward a family legacy that has endured for more than 100 years. 

As Mark LeValley often says, "If you manage the land right, everything flourishes." 

At LeValley Ranch, that philosophy continues to guide every decision they make.