About Us
In 2012, following retirement from their full-time jobs, Katie Blunk and Michael Horntvedt, returned to Jackass Ridge Road northwest of Freedom, Oklahoma, to take over the Blunk family ranching operation. They subsequently picked up the reins from Katie’s mother, Rose Blunk, who literally cleared the red cedar path and burned a trail home for them to continue with her conservation efforts. Today, the commercial Angus cow-calf operation focuses on elite gate to plate genetics.
Dr. Katie Blunk was born in Alva, Oklahoma, and raised on the operation northwest of Hardtner, Kansas. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Kansas State University in 1980. After 31 years as a field veterinarian for USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services in Reno, Nevada, she retired to return to the family ranch.
Michael Horntvedt grew up in northern Minnesota on a 1,000-acre farm in Lake of the Woods County, Baudette, Minnesota. Michael and Katie met in 2006, and later married in 2009 on the Lazy KT Ranch. After a successful career as a financial consultant in Reno, Nevada, and being no stranger to agriculture, he was equipped with the necessary skills and savvy to help keep the ranch operating.
Ranch History
Perseverance and conservation are a generational mindset at the Lazy KT Ranch and today are valuable traits giving the ranch a vibrant, productive and sustainable future.
Katie recalls stories of her grandparents who survived the Dust Bowl, and her parents who worked hard to conserve soil and water and battle erosion by building terraces. For years, the Lazy KT land had been leased out. Neglect and drought, along with overgrazing led to invasive cedar trees covering the pastures.
After Katie’s father, Dan Blunk, passed away in 1995, a concentrated effort began to restore the ranch by clearing eastern red cedar trees and using prescribed burning to rid the prairie of invasive species. This extraordinary effort was led by Rose (Katie’s mother). When Katie and Michael returned to the ranch in 2012, they continued her conservation efforts. Katie’s vision is to restore her family’s acreage to its former vibrance, with wildflowers and diverse prairie grass meadows. She and Michael recognized Rose’s perseverance to restore the prairie, her desire to honor the legacy of those who came before them, and her vision to preserve it for future generations.
Today, the trio’s efforts have restored the native pastures, increasing the forage outputs on the Lazy KT Ranch for an elite commercial Angus cow-calf operation.
About Us
In 2012, following retirement from their full-time jobs, Katie Blunk and Michael Horntvedt, returned to Jackass Ridge Road northwest of Freedom, Oklahoma, to take over the Blunk family ranching operation. They subsequently picked up the reins from Katie’s mother, Rose Blunk, who literally cleared the red cedar path and burned a trail home for them to continue with her conservation efforts. Today, the commercial Angus cow-calf operation focuses on elite gate to plate genetics.
Dr. Katie Blunk was born in Alva, Oklahoma, and raised on the operation northwest of Hardtner, Kansas. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Kansas State University in 1980. After 31 years as a field veterinarian for USDA-APHIS Veterinary Services in Reno, Nevada, she retired to return to the family ranch.
Michael Horntvedt grew up in northern Minnesota on a 1,000-acre farm in Lake of the Woods County, Baudette, Minnesota. Michael and Katie met in 2006, and later married in 2009 on the Lazy KT Ranch. After a successful career as a financial consultant in Reno, Nevada, and being no stranger to agriculture, he was equipped with the necessary skills and savvy to help keep the ranch operating.
Ranch History
Perseverance and conservation are a generational mindset at the Lazy KT Ranch and today are valuable traits giving the ranch a vibrant, productive and sustainable future.
Katie recalls stories of her grandparents who survived the Dust Bowl, and her parents who worked hard to conserve soil and water and battle erosion by building terraces. For years, the Lazy KT land had been leased out. Neglect and drought, along with overgrazing led to invasive cedar trees covering the pastures.
After Katie’s father, Dan Blunk, passed away in 1995, a concentrated effort began to restore the ranch by clearing eastern red cedar trees and using prescribed burning to rid the prairie of invasive species. This extraordinary effort was led by Rose (Katie’s mother). When Katie and Michael returned to the ranch in 2012, they continued her conservation efforts. Katie’s vision is to restore her family’s acreage to its former vibrance, with wildflowers and diverse prairie grass meadows. She and Michael recognized Rose’s perseverance to restore the prairie, her desire to honor the legacy of those who came before them, and her vision to preserve it for future generations.
Today, the trio’s efforts have restored the native pastures, increasing the forage outputs on the Lazy KT Ranch for an elite commercial Angus cow-calf operation.
Lazy KT Ranch in the News
