The Range According to Bart
- kloot1
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
When I first met Bart Carmichael in Faith, South Dakota, in October 2020, the air had that clear prairie sharpness that always comes before winter. He had a ready grin and a mind that ran faster than my pen could keep up. Bart doesn’t just talk about ranching—he tells stories about it, and somehow every one of them ends with a laugh and a lesson.
My friend and colleague Joe Dickie, who wears more hats than a South Dakota wind can carry off, had met Bart earlier in 2019 while filming for the Amazing Grasslands series. Joe came back talking about this rancher up near Faith, SD—a man who could make you laugh one minute and teach you more about soil health in the next breath. Joe loves the cold weather, so he was the perfect guy to go back out and film Bart again, once in January 2021 and again in February 2022, to capture his winter grazing and bale-grazing work.
When I finally got to visit Wedge Tent Ranch myself—on the drive from Lemmon down to Faith—I saw firsthand what Joe had been describing. The place rolls between sage and grass, a big open bowl of country where the wind never takes a day off. But here, against all odds, Bart has found a way not just to survive but to thrive.
Scared to Death of Twelve Hours
Bart’s story of change begins with fear—twelve hours’ worth of it, as he tells it.
“When I first tried short-duration grazing, I was scared to death it wouldn’t last three days,” he told us, smiling at the memory. “I called Wayne Berry and said, ‘There’s not enough grass.’ Wayne said, ‘Will it last a day?’ I said yes. ‘Two days?’ Sure. ‘So you’re worried about twelve hours?’” That simple exchange was enough to get him started. Since then, Bart’s grazing days have nearly tripled, his harvest efficiency has doubled from 30% to 60%, and his ground cover has thickened even as his carrying capacity has grown.
.“People think you’re fencing cows into a small space,” he said. “Really, you’re fencing them out of the rest—so it can rest and recover. On any given day, we’re resting 95% of our place.”
Nine Minutes to Simplicity
At Wedge Tent Ranch, winter grazing isn’t complicated—it’s a matter of rhythm and attention. “It takes me about nine minutes to move a fence,” Bart said. “If you’re checking water anyway, roll it up, let the cows move. My banker came out once and timed me—nine and a half minutes. He said, ‘Who’d want to work eight to ten minutes a day like this?’” Winter in northwest South Dakota is a mix of wind, ice, and sudden change, but Bart has learned to make it work. “Running a tractor costs $150 to $200 an hour,” he said. “If I’m not running it, that’s real money saved.” His philosophy is simple: less machinery, more observation. Each move keeps the cows nutrient-balanced, the grass rested, and the ranch resilient.
Diversity: The Prairie’s Insurance Policy
For Bart, diversity isn’t a talking point—it’s the secret engine of the prairie. “There’s always something out there worth grazing,” he said. “Sub-shrubs like winterfat are 20% protein in the dead of winter. Even when the grass looks dormant, the roots are still alive.” That living mosaic has drawn new life to Wedge Tent Ranch. “There weren’t turkeys here when we moved in,” Bart said. “Now they roost in the trees. Deer live here year-round. We’re running more cows than before, but there’s more of everything else too. The whole system’s healthier.” It’s the same truth we explored in Do Cows Eat More Than Grass?—that diversity is nature’s design for resilience. Where scientists like Fred Provenza describe how animals use variety for nutrition and health, Bart shows what that looks like in practice: a living, self-healing prairie.
The Adaptive Mindset
“We moved here in 1993,” Bart said. “We started with four seasonal pastures. Now we’ve got 54 permanent ones, and we strip them into smaller chunks. We never graze the same piece of land the same way twice.” Working first with EQIP and later on his own, he built a permanent water system that lets him move cattle efficiently in any season. “My imagination wasn’t big enough when I started,” he admits. “I thought half-section pastures would be plenty. Now we’ve got 53-acre pastures, and every one has water.”
That kind of imagination—growing as fast as the grass itself—is the hallmark of an adaptive mind. “Every time you think you’ve got it figured out,” Bart said, “nature throws you something new, and you learn again.”
A Vision Rooted in Family
As we stood on the ridge at Wedge Tent Ranch, the wind cutting across the draws, Bart looked out over the land and talked about what comes next. “My ideal future,” he said, “is that we’d be big enough that one of my kids—or maybe two—could come back to help. And then I could retire and do something different. But I love what I do, so I don’t see that happening too soon.”
You believe him when he says it.
Closing Reflection
When Joe and I think back on our visits with Bart, what sticks isn’t just the impressive grazing metrics—it’s the man himself. The humor, the humility, and the unshakable belief that if you listen, the land will teach you. At Wedge Tent Ranch, Bart Carmichael has built more than a business model; he’s built a living conversation between grass, cow, and soil. He’s living proof that regenerative ranching isn’t about perfection—it’s about persistence, curiosity, and keeping things simple enough to let nature speak.
As Bart likes to say:
“Keep it simple. The land’s got the answers if you give it a chance to talk.”
Visit these “Growing Resilience Through Our Soils” information pages:
1. Podcast page for drought planning fact sheets, Q&As, news, podcasts, and more.
2. Video page to watch videos of other ranchers’ journeys toward improved rangeland/pasture.
3. Follow Growing Resilience on social media:
4. Our homepage: www.growingresiliencesd.com
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