Ethan Young was born and raised on Ensign Ranches of Utah located in Northern Utah. Starting from the age of thirteen, Ethan worked on the ranch as a cowboy for nearly 12 years. During his young life, Ethan not only grew and worked alongside the cowboy crew, but was also around higher management, which included many conversations about the financial side of a working ranch. This experience helped him develop a broad view of the agriculture and ranching industry. Ethan developed a love of cattle and the care of the rangeland and inner workings of how to grow, maintain, and progress a large successful working cattle ranch. After high school, Ethan spent two years to serve a full-time mission in West Virginia. During this time of service, he discovered a love and need for education.
In December of 2017, Ethan graduated Brigham Young University- Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science, emphasis on Beef Production. While in school, he met his wife, Annie, who also shares the same passion of the western lifestyle and ranching industry.
During his college years, Ethan worked for a small family-owned pure bred angus farm, where he learned about high intensity management, sales of breeding animals, and irrigation. He also completed an internship for Agreserves Inc. in Sheridan, Wyoming, where he was more at home in a rangeland setting with a large acreage and cattle number. However, Ethan was among a foreign culture as far as “style” and environment. From his experience, he gained an appreciation that an operation can be successful under different management styles.
Once graduated, Ethan was offered a job back on Ensign Ranches where he managed a unit that consisted of 2,000 pairs on 30,000 acres of private summer ground, and about the same number of dry cows on 300,000 acres of BLM winter range. He developed a knowledge in water systems, range plants, grazing practices, animal behavior, and stockmanship. Ethan also handled communications involving ranch management, landowners, ranch owners, and other industrial companies involved in his unit.
The King Ranch® Institute of Ranch Management caught Ethan’s attention in high school as a worthwhile program. He set a goal to make it to KRIRM, taking time to not only earn his undergrad, but to also learn as much as possible and stretch his comfort zone, weaknesses, and knowledge in the work field before pursuing admission. Ethan and Annie are extremely excited and thankful to be in the KRIRM program.
Ethan holds the Tio Kleberg Endowed Fellowship as a graduate student at KRIRM.