Ag Report Hits the Airwaves on KDNK

Jock Jacober knows that many locals love the Roaring Fork Valley’s ample open space, the Snowmass summer rodeo series and the seasonal cattle drives through downtown Carbondale. Yet he doubts that most people associate these amenities directly with the ranching industry, and he’s launched a new show on KDNK Community Radio to drive home the role of ranching in local life.

Jacober, who founded and runs the Carbondale-based Crystal River Meats with his sons Tai, Forrest and Rio, started ranching in Boulder in the late 1960s before launching a sheep farm in Pagosa Springs and ultimately landing in Carbondale. His show, he hopes, will expose KDNK’s largely progressive and locavore listeners to the reality of local ranching.

Many people, Jacober believes, see nonprofit groups and small diversified farms as the face of local agriculture, but remain unaware that most of the food produced in this area comes from cow-calf ranching operations.

Early episodes of “The Ag Report” have broached subjects like the difference between a cow and a heifer (a heifer hasn’t had her first two calves yet) and the importance of federal grazing leases for local ranchers. This spring, Jacober is planning to break down the economics of the ranching business with a for-profit rancher as a guest, and also explore how much food could theoretically be grown in this area. The show, produced by Jacober’s wife Lynette O’Kane, airs on the second Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m., and past episodes can be streamed at KDNK.org.