The Red Hills are prime cattle country.
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Bill Barby, winner of the 2024 Leopold Conservation Award, raises cattle on 3,700 acres of mixed grass and sandsage prairie in Clark and Comanche counties. His ranch is home to imperiled species such as lesser prairie chicken, Arkansas shiners, whooping cranes and hundreds of native plants.
Kansas Reflector photo by Erin Socha
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Bill Barby’s burning regime and rotational grazing of cattle has resulted in pastures full of healthy, warm-season native grasses. Barby said the changes to the landscape after burning resulted in a “night and day difference.”
Kansas Reflector photo by Erin Socha
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The Red Hills span two million square miles across Comanche, Clark and Barber counties and northern Oklahoma. The distinct red color is from iron-rich soils.
Kansas Reflector photo by Erin Socha
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Bill Barby’s ranch relies on solar power because of its remote location.
Kansas Reflector photo by Erin Socha
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Red Hills rancher Bill Barby talks with plant biologist Maggie Wagner of the Kansas Biological Survey on Sept. 13, 2025. Barby has welcomed ecologists and researchers onto his property to study native wildlife populations.
Kansas Reflector photo by Erin Socha
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Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com .
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