The V Heart Ranch is a productive well rounded Colorado Cattle Ranch, offering excellent water rights and recreation opportunity along with a profitable cattle and hay operation. Located in southern Colorado, the ranch consists of 1,750 deeded acres with the Conejos River bisecting the ranch and providing exceptional hunting opportunities for both big game and waterfowl. The V Heart Ranch is a tremendous resource for running an efficient cattle ranch. Improvements include two homes, a shop, well-situated corrals and barns. The ranch lands are irrigated with plentiful water rights from both surface water and well water allowing it to be largely drought proof, consistently productive and easily managed.
LOCATION
The V Heart Ranch is in the San Luis Valley two miles southeast of Sanford, or 18 miles south of Alamosa, Colorado. The ranch is 250 +/- miles South of Denver, 127 miles traveling north on highway 285 out of Santa Fe New Mexico, and roughly one-hour from Taos. The San Luis Valley sits at an elevation of approximately 7,600 feet and offers a four-season climate with mild summers and winters. The average high temperature in July is 81 degrees and the average high in January is 32 degrees. Small towns and wide-open farms and pastureland characterize the area that is generally agricultural in nature. The area is generally agricultural in nature and is bordered by high mountains and plateaus such as the stunning 13,000+ foot Sangre de Christo and San Juan Mountains.
ACREAGE AND OPERATIONS
The ranch consists of 1,750+/- acres of deeded lands with 806+/- acres of irrigated hay and cropland, including 140 acres under a center pivot planted to a forage mix. The balance of the ranch is comprised of unimproved pasture and riparian bottomlands accentuated with large stands of cottonwood trees along both sides of the Conejos River. The ranch produces alfalfa and grass hay with excellent production. Once the hay has been harvested, the meadows are kept for winter grazing that lasts into the winter season, after which time hay is fed. Cattle are grazed on the riparian and sub-irrigated areas during the growing season. Any excess hay is sold to dairy or horse hay customers (depending upon quality). Carrying capacity based upon livestock grazing and hay land production is owner estimated at 300 Animal Units.
WATER RIGHTS
The San Luis Valley is rich in its supply of water. Two natural underground aquifers recharge by runoff from heavy snowfall in the surrounding mountains offers plentiful irrigation and water well sources. Water rights in Colorado are important and are enviable assets. The V- Heart has an abundance of water supplied from mountain snow melt for all irrigation needs. Water is derived direct from the Conejos River under excellent decreed priorities. Irrigation water comes from the canals served by both the Conejos River and from strong artesian wells, including two 12-inch wells registered to 1850 and 1985 GPM, four 4-inch wells and 30 small artesian wells. There is also one 140-acre pivot sprinkler on the Ranch. (Please contact listing agent for water summary.)
IMPROVEMENTS
The ranch headquarters consist of a five-bedroom, five and ½ bathroom, 4,287 square foot owner’s home and a separate updated three-bedroom manager’s home. There is also a 19,410 square foot barn and a 6,384 square foot cattle shed with working cattle facilities planned out with pipe working pens, scales, water tanks, and chutes. A commodity barn, liquid feed storage and overhead bake bins have recently been added. An office, tack room, oil room, are in the 1,153 square foot workshop.
WILDLIFE AND RECREATION
Wildlife is abundant on and around the ranch, due to the habitat provided by the wetlands and the river frontage. Some of the best duck and goose hunting can be enjoyed right out the back door; mallards, cinnamon teal, Canadian geese and snow geese are some of the species you will find on the ranch. Big game hunting for elk and deer (Mule and Whitetail) can be found on the ranch. Fishing along the Conejos River is available with late season Brown Trout being the prized take.
The current owner maintains the hunting for friends and family. With 3.5 miles (on the meander) of both sides of the Conejos River plus another large wetland slough, the ranch has superb habitat for wildlife. Large swaths of open water intermixed with the wetland sloughs provide the perfect habitat for ducks and geese. The bottomlands and dense cottonwood groves next to alfalfa hay fields make ideal habitat for both Whitetail and Mule Deer. Elk have increasingly found the bottomlands as undisturbed protection and are occasionally seen on the property. Many other species such as coyotes, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, bears and others have frequented the property. V Heart is located approximately 1-hour from the ski areas in Taos and Wolf Creek Pass.
SUMMARY
This excellent ranch property has been well maintained and offers a “water rich” resource involving a quality combination of agriculture production and recreation opportunity. The V Heart Ranch provides sustainable income as well as a recreational lifestyle from the real estate investment.