Andrew and Sarah West are the co-owners of West Family Farms, a small cattle operation in Fort Collins, Colorado. They began their operation in the spring of 2024, thanks to a leasing opportunity with Poudre Valley Community Farms. They run 25 head of bred yearling Angus heifers on 85 acres of Fort Collins-owned property. They utilize intensive rotational grazing that benefits the cattle, the soil, and the plants. By rotating the cattle every day, Andrew and Sarah provide them with high-quality grass while also using the cattle to improve the soil and plant quality of the land. They are dedicated to ecological health, innovative farming practices, and entrepreneurialism, understanding that it is a privilege to be a part of the food system, care for the land, and raise livestock responsibly.

Plenary Panel Speaker

A Visionary Future: Supporting Young and BIPOC Farmers in the West 

Evanne Caviness is a proud rancher, policy organizing leader, and mother of 6th-generation Coloradoans who has been immersed in agriculture in the Southwestern U.S. since childhood. She works as the Associate Field Director for the National Young Farmers Coalition while co-managing Caviness Farms–her regenerative grassfed beef business–alongside her high school sweetheart and husband, Tyson Caviness.

Evanne is trilingual and holds degrees in English, Spanish, and Special Education from Northern Arizona University and Pima Community College. She spent four years as a high school special education teacher before having her three beautiful children. Evanne is passionate about inclusion and equity in agriculture, especially in supporting the needs of beginning farmers and ranchers from historically underserved communities. She currently serves on the state and federal policy committees for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, the Nourish Colorado Farm Bill Action Committee, and the Farmer Equity Office Coalition in Colorado. Evanne is also the Governor-appointed Agricultural representative on the Colorado Council to End Human Trafficking. Evanne is also a 2023 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Fellow and a previous member of Poudre Valley Community Farms, Secretary of Larimer County Farmers Alliance, and current member of Four Corners Farmers Coalition.

Plenary Panel Moderator

A Visionary Future: Supporting Young and BIPOC Farmers in the West 

Joseluis “Agua y Tierra” Ortiz y Muniz is an Indigenous, land-based native New Mexican living in the high desert of his maternal village of San Antonio Del Rio Embudo. Together with his family, they tend crops and livestock, and steward his ancestral lands within the Embudo River Basin. His roots in traditional agriculture were passed on inter-generationally and he maintains a traditional land and acequia based way of life on land his family has cared for since time immemorial. He has worked with volunteer, grassroots, community-based environmental and economic justice organizations. Working and learning in community were part of a journey of self-transformation and self-discovery. Today, he is the Community Liaison and The Project Director of the Sostenga Center for Sustainable Food, Agriculture, and Environment at Northern New Mexico College, where he works to provide land based agricultural wisdoms and demonstrates traditional farming methods. A proud father rooted in community, Agua Y Tierra is a training consultant for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and anti-racism, and is a very active community member. He is a board member of Seeds in Common an indigenous seed organization, the secretary for La Merced/Land Grant del Pueblo De Santa Cruz de La Canada, a member of La Cosecha del Norte, “a growing co-op,” and is the community elected Mayordomo for the Acequia Del Llano del Rio Embudo. 

Plenary Speaker

Hayden comes from Central Montana where she ranches with her husband and his family raising pairs on the Montana Prairie. Born and raised in rural Montana, she has both an understanding of agriculture and a passion for conserving the natural world around her. She graduated from Montana State University with an undergraduate degree in Natural Resource Management with an emphasis in Rangeland Management. Grazing management has become one of her deepest passions after spending 6 years with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and getting the opportunity to drink coffee around the kitchen table with countless producers who taught her more than the 4 years spent in a classroom. She now serves as Quivira Coalitions New Agrarian Program Northern Plains Manager where she continues to learn from the amazing producers in their mentorship program.

Roundtable Facilitator

Smarter Together: Peer-to-Peer Land Management Troubleshooting

Taylor Muglia (she/her) has proudly served as Colorado Manager at Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program since 2021, supporting over 85 apprentices in their personal and professional pursuits. With her own background in small-scale production ag raising sheep, pigs, and chickens, she enjoys helping other beginning farmers and ranchers find opportunities, resources, and connections within the agricultural community. When she is not working, you can find Taylor working a little more… in a flower/vegetable field, managing weddings at the Lyons Farmette, or studying to become a soil health coach.

Follow the New Agrarian Program by listening to the Regeneration Rising podcast!

Roundtable Facilitator

Smarter Together: Peer-to-Peer Land Management Troubleshooting