With meat prices near record highs, one Montezuma County rancher is working toward a unique solution: creating a nonprofit bison farm.
With a nearly $50,000 grant from the LOR Foundation, rancher Janna Neely is working to turn one of the more expensive meats into a staple at food pantries and food assistance programs in the county and on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation. Her nonprofit Farming Hands Initiative will start a herd with five to seven bison in the hopes of harvesting its first round between September and March 2027.
Neely estimated the first harvest could provide 300 pounds of meat to food pantries, like Good Sam’s in Cortez, as well as assistance programs like the Ute Mountain Women, Infants and Children program in Towaoc.
“Their meat is higher in some essential nutrients like iron,” she said. “That’s why I have a little bit of interest in the WIC program and supporting women and children in getting that iron intake.”
The initiative would also allow people who have never tried bison because of cost restrictions to get their first taste. One pound of ground bison meat costs $11.99 at City Market compared to1 pound of ground beef, which costs as little as $6.49 per pound.
“It’s less accessible,” Neely said. “Even at Walmart prices.”
Acquiring meat in general can be difficult for food pantries facing higher food costs, according to Nicci Crowley, the LOR Foundation’s Community Officer for Cortez.
“I volunteer weekly at Good Samaritan, and I know how difficult it is sourcing good protein for the people who come there,” she said.
She said a lot of people rely on the pantry, and that dependency has only increased in the past few years as grocery prices rose and the Trump administration cut finding for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
“Generally, during a two-hour window, we are helping 40 to 60 families,” she said. “People in our community – even people who are gainfully employed – are struggling to make ends meet.”
Eventually, Neely hopes the operation can grow as it gets on its feet, adding more animals and starting to fundraise, especially as the LOR Foundation, which has funded more than 400 different community projects in the Cortez area, prepares to leave in 2027.
“It would be fantastic if we could have a small fund that would continue to do some of the good that LOR was able to bring to our community,” she said.
Crowley said she supported Neely’s idea because it was inventive. She hopes to see more like it before the LOR Foundation moves on to other rural communities.
“With us only being here for another year and three months, I know there are more ideas out there in our community, and I’m just excited to hear from more people before we finish funding here,” Crowley said.
avanderveen@the-journal.com
