Grazing Cattle on Sitkinak Island, Alaska: Sitkinak Ranch

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Jason Pyron and his wife Krista are first-generation ranchers in Alaska. They own and operate Sitkinak Ranch, located on Sitkinak Island.

Sitkinak Island is a 64,000-acre island located nine miles south of the coast of Kodiak Island, in the western Gulf of Alaska. Like 80 percent of Alaska, it's only accessible by plane or boat and is not accessible by a contiguous road system. Sitkinak Island has a moderate maritime climate known for cool, wet summers and mild winters compared to other regions of Alaska.

The maritime climate is ideal for ranching. Receiving over 70 inches of rainfall per year, these rangelands produce ample forage for year-round cattle grazing with no supplemental feed needed for the 500 cow-calf pairs that reside on the ranch.

Jason grew up in Idaho and has an extended family background in agriculture in the Lower 48 states. His grandparents were in the agriculture industry, largely row crop and dairy farmers, and agriculture has always been close to his heart.

Ranching on Sitkinak is a family affair and women play a significant role in ownership and management. Jason's wife Krista, his father Chuck, and sister Rachel are all owners and actively work on the ranch.

The cattle are handled in the spring with herds moving to higher elevation pastures and bulls culled for beef sales. In the fall, cattle are moved back to lower elevations where they are sorted, gathered and processed. The cattle winter in the lower elevations of the island where the snow melts first.

The ranch provides food security for Alaskans near and far, producing 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of beef every year. They sell beef directly to consumers within the state of Alaska through word of mouth and online sales, with custom exempt processing options available.

"In Alaska we have many communities that are food insecure," Jason said. "We need to continue to facilitate local protein production so our communities can thrive by way of quality food access and thrive economically as well."

The cattle are entirely grass-fed and provide a nutrient-rich protein source. Nutrient-density sampling of his beef has shown it to be exceedingly high in Omega 3 and Omega 5 fatty acids, which are essential to a healthy diet.

Jason strives to protect the rangeland and keep it functioning and sustainable for agriculture and for the environment, including salmon habitat. He worked with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to install fencing to keep the cattle out of certain areas on the range to promote plant health and productivity on winter range. He is currently working on culvert replacements and stream crossings of anadromous streams on the island to improve salmon access to spawning and rearing grounds.

"Working in a new landscape, I have appreciated having the technical expertise and guidance of long-tenured employees with NRCS," Jason said. "The financial assistance has allowed me to mediate the risk of installing practices that have a high up-front cost."

Jason and Krista are trying out GPS tags on some of the cattle to better understand basic demographics including winter movements, survival, and if/when they have mortality events. They tagged 20 heifers in 2025 as their first pilot year. There were some issues with getting enough sunlight in the winter to solar power the tags so they could send data, and there were a few kinks in the software interface. But overall they are optimistic about the future of GPS cattle tracking technology and will continue exploring different options on the market.

Jason is passionate about working landscapes and connecting people and families to the land that feeds them, as well as modeling transparency and accountability in the food chain.

"It is important that people know and see the diversity of Alaska's landscapes and understand the opportunities rangeland provides, not only in supporting wildlife and fisheries which are important to the state, but also opportunities for producing other healthy protein."