A Colorado ranching family recently went under a $6.7 million contract to buy the Muleshoe Ranch just north of Torrington, Wyoming, which includes 4,300 acres with three center pivots and strong water rights.
The seller’s decision to get out of cattle ranching reflects multiple pressures facing today’s beef producers. He’s well into retirement age, according to ranch real estate broker Cory Clark, while also struggling with labor shortages.
“It seems like it’s harder to find ranch help,” Clark said, identifying one of the factors driving the sale. Another motivator is beef prices are at an all-time record high.
“They look at the beef prices today,” Clark told Cowboy State Daily on Friday, describing how the seller decided to liquidate 350 head and make a complete exit from ranching rather than transition to another operation.
Prices for uncooked beef steaks are 198.43% higher in 2025 than they were in 1997, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the grocery store, a prime cut costing $20 in 1997 today costs $59.69.
Clark said the Colorado buyers moving to the Muleshoe Ranch were pushed out by development pressure along the Front Range and saw eastern Wyoming as offering expansion opportunities unavailable in their home state.
And while