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A ranch can change overnight, and so can your role in it. We’re joined by Candy Baca, a sixth-generation rancher east of Las Vegas, New Mexico, who stepped in after an unexpected loss and built a direct-to-consumer beef program to keep her family operation strong. She shares what it’s like moving from a traditional cow-calf routine to selling local beef to real families who want to know the story behind their food.

We dig into what “regenerative agriculture” looks like on the ground in New Mexico: pasture rotation, soil health, working with natural forage, and planning for drought and snow. Candy also gets candid about the parts nobody glamorizes, like paperwork, marketing, and the constant pressure of doing business with a small team. On herd health, we talk genetics, vaccinations, and why prevention planning matters, including staying alert to threats like New World screwworm.

If you’ve ever wondered how buying beef direct works, Candy breaks down the customer side too: cut sheets, finished weights, rail weights, customization, and why dry aging changes yields while improving tenderness and flavor. She also tells a powerful customer story that captures the real impact of buying local and supporting family ranchers across New Mexico.

If this conversation helps you see beef differently, subscribe to Behind the Burger, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the people and practices behind New Mexico beef.

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A ranch partnership sounds simple until you price a feeder calf, hit a drought, or unload fresh cattle that have never seen a hot wire. We’re out near Fort Sumner, New Mexico with Luke and Donna Cortese and Taylor and Kayla Lee to tell the full story of how two families build a cattle operation together and why trust, fairness, and daily discipline matter more than hype.

We talk through the real work behind New Mexico beef production: turning calves out safely, pushing cattle to water, setting up vaccine and mineral programs, cleaning tanks, and using limit feeding to spot health problems before they turn into wrecks. You’ll also hear how modern ranching uses practical technology like cameras on remote water, Bluetooth feed-truck scales, group texts, FaceTime, and drones with infrared to find calves when weather and terrain make the job harder.

Then we zoom out to the business side of ranching and agriculture. We get honest about thin margins, big capital needs, labor shortages, and why risk management tools like hedging and Livestock Risk Protection insurance matter when markets move fast. Throughout it all, the theme stays consistent: stewardship of land and cattle, investing in people, learning from failure, and keeping your word when it costs you.

If you care about ranch life, animal welfare, and where your beef comes from, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find these New Mexico ranching stories.

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A lot has to go right before a kid in New Mexico bites into a steak finger at school, and most of it happens far from the cafeteria line. From Roswell, USA Beef Packing is doing the quiet, essential work of turning cattle into safe, inspected, traceable beef that can serve communities across the state.

We sit down with Joe Madrid, owner of USA Beef Packing, and Nayely Madrid, office manager, to talk about building a USDA inspected slaughter and processing facility and what it looks like to grow a family business in the middle of a changing beef supply chain. They share how decades of meat processing equipment experience turned into buying a small plant, expanding rooms and workflows over time, and learning the hard way why diversification and niche markets keep a regional processor alive when the big companies control so much of the industry.

You’ll hear how their programs work, including Ranch to Institutional Markets through the New Mexico Grown program, custom processing for cattle owners, co-packing and private labeling for small brands, and exporting American beef to places like Mexico and China. We also dig into food safety and humane handling, from lot-based traceability and trained station teams to the reality of constant inspections. Then we get practical and specific: fully cooked beef for school lunch programs, why “ready-to-heat” helps with food safety, and what’s next as grants help turn offal into value-added products like raw pet food and treats.

If you care about New Mexico beef, local food systems, or how a processing plant actually runs day to day, hit play, then subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find the stories behind the burger.

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The real story of New Mexico beef isn’t a TV montage of horses and hero shots. It’s drought math, grass management, and a daily promise that the cattle get water and care before anything else. From the New Mexico Cattle Growers office in Moriarty, we sit down with Kimberly Stone, a fifth-generation rancher from Capitan, to talk about what it takes to keep a commercial cow-calf operation moving forward when the land and the world keep changing.

Kimberly shares what stewardship means on the ground: setting stocking rates that match what the native rangeland can handle, protecting soil health, and planning for the next dry stretch because it always comes. We also get into the human side of ranching, including the pride and pressure of raising two sons who love ranch life and may become the sixth generation. Along the way, she breaks down the gap between the romantic “Yellowstone” image and the real work of storms, feed trucks, and fence repairs.

We also talk about the choices ranch families make off the ranch: working in town for health insurance, navigating herd health concerns, and staying involved in organizations that defend and promote the beef industry. Kimberly reflects on a lesson that guides her approach to generational agriculture: respect your heritage, but don’t let it trap you. If you care about sustainable ranching, animal welfare, New Mexico agriculture, and how beef gets from grass to plate, this conversation will stick with you.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode, share it with a friend who loves steak, and leave us a review to help more people find the stories behind New Mexico beef.

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A fifth-generation rancher from Roswell, New Mexico, pulls back the curtain on how a family outfit survives drought, policy, and razor-thin margins without losing its soul. Bronson Corn joins Carollann Romo to share the decisions that kept their herd intact—building a cow-focused feed yard as a drought tool, rotating entire ranches through pens to rest brittle grasslands, and accepting the hard work of calving under lights to beat scours and protect condition. It’s a story about stewardship you can measure in both range health and cash flow.

We walk the fenceline between tradition and innovation. Bronson still works horseback and handles cattle the way his granddad did, but he’s unapologetic about new models that fit a semi-arid climate and cyclical rainfall. He talks plainly about public lands and the true costs of BLM and state leases that are baked into ranch purchases—why stewardship isn’t charity, it’s a business imperative. After more than 100,000 miles representing New Mexico Cattle Growers, he explains how policy really happens at the Roundhouse and why more ranchers need to see it firsthand.

There’s hope here, too. With the national cow herd at multi-decade lows, prices finally let families breathe, repair fence, and invite the next generation in with real ownership. Bronson’s kids now run operating lines and buy cattle with breakevens in mind—a sign that beef remains a viable path for young producers willing to start small, trade work for pasture, and stack opportunity. Along the way, we talk failure as teacher, diversification as insurance, and the power of telling your story even when you’d rather just get back to work. Stay to the end for a craveable twist on dinner: New Mexico-style beef wellington wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in green or red.

If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves agriculture, and leave a quick review so more folks can find these ranch stories.

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We sit down with Tom Paterson, rancher and new president of New Mexico Cattle Growers, to talk stewardship, drought strategy, and how data and design make cattle calmer and beef better. From policy wins to local processing, we share a clear path to resilient ranching.

• law-to-ranch journey and Spur Ranch origins
• role and scope of New Mexico Cattle Growers
• drought, culling decisions, and infrastructure pivots
• Temple Grandin handling systems and hydraulic chutes
• breeding with EPDs for calving ease and moderate milk
• written protocols for vaccines, minerals, and breeding
• water development expanding wildlife habitat
• coalition policy wins and legislative focus
• mentorship, asking for help, and leadership growth
• local beef markets, state inspection, and processors

"Join our team. Join our team to protect rural New Mexico, to protect the men and women and children who live in rural New Mexico, protect them from the craziness that sometimes goes on, protect them from the additional cost burdens, tax burdens that make it more expensive for us to do our work. Work with us on rural health care, work with us on rural education, join the team." -Tom Paterson

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We trace how a ranch family in Curry County built a vertically integrated beef business, from wheat pasture yearlings to a fresh meat counter known for prime cuts, green chile brats, and face-to-face service. We compare grocery and direct beef, tackle pricing myths, and share what’s next, including USDA inspection and expanded local delivery.

• Family ranch roots and multi-state cow-calf, stocker, and feeding operations
• COVID catalyst for direct-to-consumer sales and retail launch
• Managing inventory, grades, and the ground beef challenge
• Customer education on antibiotics, hormones, and grass versus grain finishing
• Why grocery beef is safe and why food choice matters
• Building a premium, service-first butcher shop with specialty items
• Genetics, Simmental and Speckle Park trials to lift marbling and yield
• USDA inspection plans to unlock shipping and wholesale flexibility
• Hiring for character, training skills, and growing community ties
• Practical advice on risk, resilience, and saying no

Thank you for joining us for today’s episode
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

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Stay connected with us — follow @NMBEEF on TikTok and Instagram, New Mexico Beef Council on Facebook and visit nmbeef.com for recipes, nutrition info, a local beef directory and more.

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Start with 12 cows, add three counties of scattered leases, mix in a veterinarian, a range scientist, and two determined brothers, and you get a modern ranch story that’s as practical as it is inspiring. We sit down with Jim and Jovani Armendariz to trace their family’s path from their parents’ arrival in America to a 300-cow operation known for turning bare ground into healthy grass—and healthy beef.

We talk through the real economics of ranching: why leasing often beats buying, how scattered parcels drive up time and costs, and what it takes to build a reputation that opens doors to new leases. Then we get into the tools that changed their trajectory. Virtual fencing lets them run adaptive rotations without miles of wire, boosting forage diversity and carrying capacity. Water sensors cut 120-mile tank checks down to a glance at an app. The result is a sharper, soil-first approach where observation, timing, and animal health work together.

When COVID froze the supply chain, the brothers and a family friend launched A&G Family Meats to create cash flow and connect directly with customers. They share how they educate buyers on live weight vs. hanging weight, the typical 60–65 percent yield, and how cut sheets, bone-in choices, and dry-aging affect freezer pounds. We also dig into the balancing act between steaks, roasts, and ground beef, plus why social storytelling matters as much as marbling for building loyal local demand.

Along the way, you’ll hear about mentorship from their father, the confidence their kids gain working cattle, and the philosophy that drives every decision: if you’re going to do it, do it right. If you care about regenerative grazing, ranch technology, direct-to-consumer beef, or the grit behind American agriculture, this conversation will stay with you.

Enjoyed the story? Follow, rate, and share the podcast, and tell us which idea—virtual fencing, water sensors, or direct sales—you’d try first.

Thanks for tuning in to Behind the Burger!
Stay connected with us — follow @NMBEEF on TikTok and Instagram, New Mexico Beef Council on Facebook and visit nmbeef.com for recipes, nutrition info, a local beef directory and more.