Military members and veterans interested in becoming ranchers will have a new outlet in Monterey County to learn the skills of the trade, starting this fall.
A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense was awarded this week to a pair of nonprofit organizations that teamed up to train what one of them called “21st-century cowboys” who are interested in long-term careers in ranching, agriculture and land stewardship, according to Marc Del Piero, executive director of the Ag Land Trust, one of the nonprofits participating.
The grant will fund a three-year pilot program that will teach an initial cohort of 20 people skills in ranching, including agriculture, animal husbandry and running cattle herds.
The program in Monterey will be run by the nonprofit organization Boots to Roots on 2,600 acres of land owned by the Ag Land Trust adjacent to Camp Roberts, a California National Guard base that straddles Monterey County and San Luis Obispo County.
Participants will also learn and use new technologies to enhance wildfire fuel suppression, which Del Piero said was one of the program’s main goals.
The Department of Defense started a program in 2004 called Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration, or REPI, to offer grants to land conservation organizations like the Ag Land Trust. The goal was twofold: to ensure land near military bases did not get developed in ways that impacted training and operations, and to protect against hostile actors buying land near military bases, according to Del Piero.
The program was expanded several years ago to offer grants to help transition and prepare veterans and active-duty military members for civilian careers in agriculture and land stewardship, with an emphasis on developing techniques to better manage wildfire risk near bases.
Technology meets traditional ranching
Del Piero said the ranchers will learn to use new technology such as mobile electric fencing and water systems that include “cow collars” that can be controlled with a laptop.
The technology helps drive the cattle to areas they would not necessarily go, such as steeper terrain, and direct them to concentrated grazing spots. That will allow shorter cattle rotations, help the cows gain weight better and prevent overgrazing.
The cattle also prevent invasive grasses from becoming a fire risk and improve soil health, Del Piero said in an interview.
The Ag Land Trust has received grants under the program since 2014 to buy land near Camp Roberts. It was founded in 1984 to preserve land for agricultural use and prevent urban sprawl and now controls about 51,000 acres in Monterey County, according to the organization.
Boots to Roots was founded in 2025 to provide training, mentorship and career support to transitioning military members, according to its website.
The organization partners with ranchers and cattlemen to offer guidance and expertise on what it takes to become a rancher or work as a land steward, helping reduce wildfire risks.
Del Piero said the first cohort will begin sometime in the next month.