“Don’t call it that,” Jon had bantered. “It’s not a desert. We have grass.”

Together, the Moon and Chispa ranches span 90,000 acres — one big chunk of the Means Ranch Co., a decades-old enterprise the couple owns. The original Y-6 ranch, established by forebears in the 1880s, was split once, but all land remains in family hands.

“This land here is diverse,” longtime Means Ranch cowboy Clay Miller says, “and unforgiving.”

Gravel ranch roads wind through the wide-open space, bending around the Davis Mountains and leading to catch pens or camps housing ranch employees. To the naked eye, it all looks the same.

Framed plat maps line the walls of Jon’s office, but the self-proclaimed “map freak” doesn’t need them to describe the landscape or find his way. He knows the pastures like the back of his hand. He knows where and why the fence lines were drawn — shifted so a water tank could be shared with the neighboring Y-6 — or a property line bumped over to enable cows to access land on the other side of a mountain. Ranching revolves around the landscape.

Typically, the Means cow inventory is 1,200 head, but extreme and lengthy drought has thinned those numbers. They have managed to maintain most of a herd, a feat for the conditions. Jackie says, with their landscape and climate, running the ranch takes constant management and the diligence of “operating on the margins.”

Probably some faith, too, that they’ll get a good rain at the right time. While resilient in the face of drought, their 40 types of native grass still need some moisture to grow. Summer rains are the key.

Thirty to 40 years ago, the ranch would have an average annual rainfall of 10 inches. But Jackie cannot remember a year in the last 25 when they got that much. Multiyear stretches of drought have plagued the land, challenging natural resources like water and forages.

Rotational grazing and water conservation are necessities.

“We use every inch of this ranch as best we can,” Jackie says.

Jon says they’ve been deliberate with pasture use, careful to not overgraze and allowing time for the land to heal from extreme drought. A standard stocking rate is approximately 60 acres to one cow, but when necessary, they will supplement with range cake.

The Meanses don’t rely on groundwater for the cattle, and they’ve learned how to disperse what they have to water the herd. When Jon’s grandfather was growing up, the ranch (Y-6 and Moon Ranch, combined) only had six water wells. Today, the Moon Ranch has more than 150 miles of pipeline running water to troughs for cattle.

Over the years, windmills have been replaced with solar panels on all 22 wells. They have added covers to the water storage tanks, a conservation effort to prevent evaporation. In their own front yard, there’s no watering the grass. It’s artificial turf.

Their conservation efforts have expanded to include birds and wildlife, too.

By participating in various conservation programs, the Meanses have improved sustainability on the land. Nature didn’t establish any, but the couple planted multipurpose trees that offer shade for cattle and a habitat for birds. To keep the wildlife around, they feed the quail and deer.

Jackie says they want to make sure the land works for native wildlife, as well as for the cattle.

“How else would we use it?” Jon asks. “I think they go hand in hand; the land needs the cattle, and the cattle have to have the land to survive.”