BLM Lower Sonoran Field Office Ranches

Ranches that are permitted to use grazing allotments administered by the Bureau of Land Management Lower Sonoran Field Office and have benefited from government assistance. The allotments administered by this office are hot and rugged Sonoran Desert. (Additional ranches are added to this list as information becomes available.)

Visit the Arizona Public Land Ranches Home Page for information about ranches in other regions of the state.

Government Assistance For Ranchers Program Key
ALLBAWPFECPEQIPEWPHPCHeritage FundLCCGPLFPLOFFAPLRPPFWPWHREFWQIG
AALB - Arizona Livestock Loss Board, Arizona Livestock Loss Board (federal/state)
AWPF - Arizona Water Protection Fund, AWPF Commission (state)
ECP - Emergency Conservation Program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (federal)
EQIP - Environmental Quality Incentives Program, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (federal)
The EQIP program absorbed the NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) after 2014.
EWP - Emergency Watershed Protection, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (federal)
The Arizona EWP Drought Program was discontinued in 2001 after a critical audit.
HPC - Habitat Partnership Committee, Arizona Game & Fish Commission (state)
Arizona Heritage Fund, Arizona Game & Fish Commission (state)
LCCGP - Livestock & Crop Conservation Program, Arizona Department of Agriculture (state)
Note: Open Space Reserve Grants became LCCGP Grants after 2002.
LFP - Livestock Forage Disaster Program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (federal)
LOFFAP - Livestock Operator Fire & Flood Assistance Program, Arizona Department of Agriculture (state)
LRP - Landowner Relations Program, Arizona Game & Fish Department (state)
PFWP - Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (federal)
WHREF - Wildlife Habitat Restoration & Enhancement Fund, Arizona Game & Fish Department (state)
This fund was created by a one-time $3.5 million appropriation by the Legislature in 2006.
WQIG - Water Quality Improvement Grant, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (federal/state)
Note: These grants were previously called Section 319 nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution prevention grants.
A Tumbling T RanchBeloat RanchJ-P RanchJones RanchQuarter Circle U RanchWard Ranch
A Tumbling T Ranch (A Tumbling T Ranches GP) - Dendora Valley Allotment
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2021EQIP$177,526
2022HPC #21-408$43,864Solar Powered Water System
2023EQIP$3,193
$224,583TOTAL 2021 - 2023
A Tumbling T Ranches is a family owned company that also operates nearby irrigated farms. One of the owners , Ron Raynor, is a board member of the Family Farm Alliance, which promotes irrigated agriculture in the West.
Beloat Ranch (Christopher & Kimmel Dalley) - Beloat Allotment, State Lease #05-000095
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2016-2021LFP$112,341
2022EQIP$5,080
2023LFP$25,518
$142,939TOTAL 2016 - 2023
The current permittees, Chris & Kimmel Dalley, acquired the ranch in 2015. They also received an additional $53,509 of LFP in 2014 & 2015 for the other desert ranches they owned in the area in 2013. They no longer own those ranches.
The Beloat allotment is located within the BLM’s Sonoran Desert National Monument.
J-P Ranch (J-P Cattle Co. LLC) - Florence Jct. Allotment, State Leases #05-002333, #05-083590, #05-000649, #05-003246 & #05-108150
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$224,717Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2008-2020EQIP$559,187(J-P Cattle Co. LLC, Navajo County)
2008-2011EQIP$317,815(Cory S. Johnson)
2009LCCGP #09-57$75,000Silver Creek West Irrigation Pipeline
2011-2019LFP$359,785
2023EQIP$8,001(J-P Cattle Co. LLC, Navajo County)
$1,544,505TOTAL 1999 - 2023
State grazing lease #05-002333 is located in the Sonoran Desert in Pinal County, while the other state leases are located near Snowflake in Navajo County.
Jones Ranch (Page Cattle Co.) - Jones (FS) & Arkansas Gulch (BLM) Allotments, State Lease #05-084130
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2015-2020LFP$31,018
2022APWIAP*$453,905Rebuild Livestock Fences & Waters Burned in the 2021 Telegraph Fire
2023APWIAP*$98,600Rebuild 2 Miles of Livestock Fence Burned in the 2021 Telegraph Fire
$583,523TOTAL 2015 - 2023
*Temporary program administered by the Arizona Dept. of Forestry & Fire Management.
Ranch owner Stephen M. Brophy is also the CEO of Arizona’s second-largest landowner – Aztec Land & Cattle Company.
Quarter Circle U Ranch (Rafter D Cattle Co., Inc.) - Buzzards Roost Allotment, State Lease #05-000071
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2006-2017EQIP*$117,207(Charles Backus - Pinal County)
2021LFP$18,224
2021ECP$7,734
2022LFP$37,818
$180,983TOTAL 2006 - 2022
* This assistance was received by the ranch’s previous owner the Quarter Circle U Ranch LLC.
Ward Ranch (Dustin & Lisa Feyder) - Ward & Gable-Ming Allotments, State Leases #05-086361 & #05-044784
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP*$27,400Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2006-2016EQIP*$91,546
2007LCCGP #07-30*$50,000LIvestock Water & Fencing
2009LCCGP #09-40*$63,481Livestock Management Enhancements
2016LFP*$2,806
$235,233TOTAL 1999 - 2016
* This assistance was received by the ranch’s previous onwers, which included the Saddle Back Cattle Co. LP, Centennial Cattle Co. LLC, and K Cross Cattle Co. LLC.
Note: Ranch ownership often changes in Arizona, because much of the state is too hot and dry for most operations to be sustainably profitable. The ranch owners shown in the tables above are updated when information about a new owner is acquired, but the amounts of government assistance that benefited the ranch's previous owners are maintained.
Background Information About Government Assistance Programs

Some of this financial assistance was justified as being primarily for the purpose of improving wildlife habitat or watershed health. But those projects also benefited livestock production on the ranches where they were implemented. Whatever improvements to local natural resource conditions that might have resulted were tempered by the increased livestock grazing they facilitated.

The assistance didn’t always go directly to the ranchers, but sometimes to local non-profit organizations that helped them complete application processes and minimize taxable income. This included the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, Coronado Resource Conservation & Development Area, Inc., Gila Watershed Partnership of Arizona, and the Upper Eagle Creek Watershed Association (UECWA).

Some of it also went to the local Natural Resource Conservation District (NRCD). Arizona’s NRCDs are regional subdivisions of the State Land Department, and are comprised only of local landowners, mostly ranchers, that work to obtain funding for agricultural “conservation” projects. They often work to obtain grants that directly benefit their members, including their governing supervisors. The local NRCDs also created the private nonprofit Arizona Association of Conservation Districts so they could apply for more types of assistance.

These aren't the only examples of Arizona ranches that benefited from government assistance. But it takes a lot of work to gather and compile this sort of information, because the agencies don't normally disclose it, so this web page will be updated as additional records are obtained. Also, the information provided about some of these ranches may be incomplete. But that just means those ranches benefited from at least the amounts shown.

Update

On June 21, 2024, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed HB 2865, creating a new state agency called the Natural Resource Conservation District Board, comprised primarily of local NRCD supervisors. It's tasked with providing administrative assistance to the state's regional Natural Resource Conservation Districts, which was formerly the responsibility of the Arizona State Land Department. The initial operating funds for the Board will come from the Legislature's regular annual appropriation of $650,000 to the state's NRCDs. The NRCD Board is also responsible for dispensing "conservation" and "education" grants from a new NRCD Fund to the local NRCDs and Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The monies in the fund can include state appropriations, grants and contributions - although the Legislature didn't make an initial appropriation to the fund. Most of the grants dispensed by the Board will likely benefit ranchers, as most NRCD supervisors are ranchers.

This page was last updated on Apr 28, 2024 @ 6:55 am.

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