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North of Interstate-80, the largest sand dune formation in the western hemisphere sprawls 19,000 square miles across Nebraska. These Sandhills are an eco-intersection. Boreal birch mixes with western pines above prairie grass and bison. And a national scenic river runs through it.
Over the past year, a group of Sandhills ranchers facing invasive redcedars have heard a welcome word from the university: “Timber!”
The 2022 Nebraska Grazing Conference will be held Aug. 9 and 10 at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney, Neb., with a program bridging grazing lands conservation and management.
About the ranch Sarah Sortum and Adam Switzer are siblings and fourth-generation ranchers committed to the stewardship of Switzer Ranch. They express a land ethic passed down from their parents, Bruce and Sue Ann, by implementing agricultural conservation practices and connecting others with nature. In addition to custom-grazing beef cattle on 12,000 acres of native prairie, the Switzer family also operates a nature-based tourism business. Calamus Outfitters offers lodging, event space, river float trips, and eco-tours of the Sandhills. “Our focus really started to shift from being solely ...