Padlock Ranch in Wyoming: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Padlock Ranch is a family-owned cattle ranch based at Ranchester in Sheridan County, Wyoming, and it runs across the Wyoming-Montana line. Sand County Foundation reports it now runs about 11,000 head of beef cattle on roughly 475,000 acres, and the ranch won the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award and the 2013 Region V Environmental Stewardship Award.
| Location | Ranchester, Sheridan County, Wyoming, with units reaching into Big Horn County, Montana |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1943, by Homer and Mildred Scott |
| Sectors | Cow-calf; feedlot; irrigated hay and feed crops; natural beef; guest ranch stays |
| Scale | About 475,000 acres and roughly 10,700 to 11,000 head of cattle, per Sand County Foundation and the cattle industry's stewardship program |
| Why it is elite | 2013 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award and 2013 Region V Environmental Stewardship Award winner |
| Ownership | Scott family, with professional management |
| Official website | Padlock Ranch website |
History of Padlock Ranch
Homer and Mildred Scott founded Padlock Ranch in 1943 near Dayton, Wyoming, starting with 300 cows on about 3,000 acres, according to Sand County Foundation. The family added land through purchases and leases over the following decades, including leased land on the Crow Indian Reservation in Big Horn County, Montana, and the ranch now straddles the state line with roughly half of its land in each state.
Homer's eldest son Dan Scott led the ranch as president and CEO from 1969 to 2002, and the Scott family remains the owner. Wayne Fahsholtz is named in award materials as the manager who leads the operation today. The ranch has also opened its gates to educators: its owners and operators have presented at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Cattlemen's College and other industry events, according to the stewardship award program.
What Padlock Ranch Grows and Raises
Padlock Ranch is a cow-calf operation with a feedlot and an irrigated farm. Wyoming Livestock Roundup reported that the farm irrigates about 5,000 acres to grow dry hay, corn silage, hay silage and barley, mainly to feed the ranch's own cattle. The ranch has used composite breeding to build maternal cows and has range-calved first-calf heifers since 1996.
The land is managed in six units, each with its own manager who oversees grazing to protect riparian areas and improve wildlife habitat. The stewardship program describes more than 20 miles of pipeline for livestock water, cross fencing for rotational grazing and a shift toward year-round grazing instead of winter hay. Along the Tongue River the ranch removed rip-rap and re-channelized a two-mile stretch, and three parcels sit under Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust easements.
How Padlock Ranch Makes Money
Calves and cattle sales
The core business is raising beef cattle on a very large land base. The ranch describes itself as a commercial cow-calf and feedlot operation, with its own farmed feed supporting the cattle side of the business.
Natural beef through Country Natural Beef
Wyoming Livestock Roundup reported that some Padlock calves are raised as natural beef through the Country Natural Beef program, whose standards include animal welfare guidelines developed by Temple Grandin. A branded program like this gives a ranch another route to market beyond the commodity sale barn.
Guest ranch and recreation
Sand County Foundation notes that the ranch hosts guest vacations, including working ranch stays, hunting and fishing trips and photography trips. These stays use the same landscape and conservation work that support the cattle business.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Padlock Ranch
Grazing management doubles as water management. Padlock's published grazing plans leave plant litter on the soil surface to cool the soil and hold moisture, and the ranch treats good grazing as good water management. Operators of any size can copy the principle: rest, rotation and water development protect the forage base that pays the bills.
Scale works better with unit managers and long-term land protection. Dividing the land into six units with a manager each, putting key parcels under easements and joining a natural beef marketing group give the family steady control over both land and price risk.
Padlock Ranch reportedly spreads over roughly half a million acres across two states, which means that somewhere out there a cow is technically commuting to Montana for lunch. Readers who enjoy farm.FM for its farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes can imagine the group text among six unit managers trying to agree where the herd is meeting for the day. In real life, those six units and their careful pasture rotations are exactly why the grass keeps coming back.
farm.FM calls itself the nation's first satirical farm site, and between the headlines it spins Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers; a good place to start reading is this farm.FM columnist's archive.
How to Contact Padlock Ranch
Website: https://padlockranch.com/
No street address, phone or email was verified on the ranch's own site for this page. Contact the ranch through its website and confirm any visit, hunting or guest stay in advance.
Padlock Ranch Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Padlock Ranch - The ranch's own website
- Sand County Foundation: Padlock Ranch - Leopold Conservation Award profile with history and scale
- Environmental Stewardship Award Program: Padlock Ranch - Region V winner profile with conservation practices
- Wyoming Livestock Roundup coverage - Independent report on the ranch's farming and natural beef program
- Wyoming Stock Growers Association - State cattle producer association behind the Wyoming stewardship award
Padlock Ranch FAQ
Where is Padlock Ranch?
Padlock Ranch is based at Ranchester in Sheridan County, Wyoming, with land running north into Big Horn County, Montana.
How big is Padlock Ranch?
Sand County Foundation says it runs about 11,000 head of beef cattle on roughly 475,000 acres across Wyoming and Montana.
What awards has Padlock Ranch won?
It received the 2013 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award and was the 2013 Region V winner of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program.
Does Padlock Ranch take guests?
Sand County Foundation says the ranch hosts working ranch stays, hunting and fishing trips and photography trips. Check its website and confirm availability before planning a visit.
Padlock Ranch shows how a family can run a very large cattle operation while measuring success by grass, water and wildlife as well as calves. For more ranches and the state's farm economy, see the Wyoming farms guide and the other profiles in this section.