Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestocksuch as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, thoughthere are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called stockgrowers or ranchers. Ranching is also a method used to raise lesscommon livestock such as elk, American bison or even ostrich, emu, and alpacas.

Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly anysize. In the western United States, many ranches are a combination of privately owned land supplemented by grazing leases on land under the control of thefederal Bureau of Land Management. If the ranch includes arable or irrigated land, the ranch may also engage in a limited amount of farming, raisingcrops for feeding the animals, such as hay and feed grains.

Ranches that cater exclusively to tourists are called guest ranches or, colloquially,"dude ranches." Most working ranches do not cater to guests, though they may allow private hunters or outfitters onto their property to hunt nativewildlife. However, in recent years, a few struggling smaller operations have added some dude ranch features, such as horseback rides, cattle drives or guidedhunting, in an attempt to bring in additional income. Ranching is part of the iconography of the "Wild West" as seen in Western movies and rodeos.