Darling Creek Ranch receives Leopold Conservation Award for land stewardship

Dan and Sharon Anderson received South Dakota’s Leopold Conservation Award in 2026 for their conservation efforts at Darling Creek Ranch near Meadow, South Dakota.

The family manages a ranch featuring approximately 200 cows and 1,400 ewes. They built their current management system by experimenting with different methods, evaluating the results, and adjusting their practices over several years. The Andersons use a multi-species grazing approach where cattle and sheep graze together to utilize different types of forage.

They use electric polywire and high-tensile electric wire to manage livestock movement. To improve animal health, the family installed well water across their pastures, moving away from a reliance on surface water. This change increased conception rates for both their sheep and cattle by about 50%. The ranch operates on a flexible grazing schedule where any pasture can be used during any season to maintain plant diversity. This strategy helped native plants, such as winterfat, return to the land.

The family also treats their ranch as a business by holding monthly meetings and defining specific roles for family members. To protect their livestock, they use six Akbash guardian dogs and three border collies, which helped reduce predator deaths from 10% to less than 2%.