Julie Sullivan

Julie Sullivan, founding mentor of the Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program in 2008, currently assists the program with mentor training and support, program design, the Manager Fellowship program, and apprentice support. She and her husband, George Whitten have been mentors with the program since its inception, and own and manage their 3rd-generation, cow/calf-to-finish cattle ranch in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The ranch is committed to restorative practices that result in soil health, functioning grassland ecosystems, and viable small-scale ranching.
For a decade, Julie was faculty for the field-based Audubon Expedition Institute at Lesley University Environmental Studies and Environmental Education program. She has taught workshops for Colorado State University, Colorado College, Adams State University, Fort Lewis College, PASA, Sandhills Task Force, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Oregon Farm Corps, and the Western Colorado Food and Farm Forum, among others. She assisted the Sandhills Task Force, Young Agrarians in Canada, and the Center for Ecological Farming in North Carolina to create livestock apprenticeship programs in their regions. Her writing has appeared in Green Fire Times, In Practice, Real Food and Health, and other publications.
She is fiercely dedicated to the next generation of agrarians, fully functioning ecosystems and creative solutions to the interaction of humans with their planet.

Plenary Panelist

Preparing to Wear the Hat: A conversation between generations

Ranch succession is a hot topic these days. Webinars and workshops abound, mainly focused on what the older generation needs to do to prepare for successful transition. But what does the younger generation need? What prepares them to take over someone else’s life work and legacy with humility, creativity and confidence? Come hear George Whitten, a 3rd generation family rancher in CO, and Christian LaBar, an entrepreneurial rancher who created his own business and has now joined the management of the Milton Ranch in Roundup MT, as they talk together about the process of letting go, giving over, taking on and being ready as ranches move from one generation to the next.

Panelists: George Whitten, Christian LaBar, and Julie Sullivan