Benny Aja, president of the Coconino County Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation rancher, rises before dawn on the Aja Ranch near Williams to check water tanks, refill water tanks where needed, mend fences and move cattle across a landscape that his family has stewarded since 1944. The operation, once primarily sheep, now runs mostly Angus cattle on a mix of private and public grazing allotments. Each generation has improved the place — clearing junipers, building stock ponds and leaving it “turnkey” for the next, Aja said.

“I continue to strive to improve the quality of cattle I raise,” Aja said in a profile on the Arizona Farm Bureau website. “The steers are easy to sell, and with quality cattle, the heifers are more desirable for other ranchers to buy for replacements.”

Aja also chairs the Coconino Natural Resource Conservation District and serves on the Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Committee. He speaks from experience about the tension between Arizona’s booming outdoor-recreation economy and the working landscapes that sustain rural communities.

We visited with Aja during a recent Saturday morning “Rosie on the House” show on KTAR. Our focus was on multi-use, shared responsibility on public lands. Additionally, our commodity topic was beef.

 

Public Lands: A Shared Resource Under Pressure

Arizona’s public lands support both ranching and recreation, but the balance has shifted since the pandemic, Aja said. Off-highway vehicle (OHV) use has exploded, bringing fence cutting, erosion, soil compaction and harm to grazing allotments. Ranchers like Aja invest their own time, money and labor maintaining fences, water sources and grasslands on those same lands where the public hikes, hunts and rides.

“Ranchers serve as a tool for land management on behalf of the state,” Aja wrote in a 2019 op-ed for the Arizona Farm Bureau. Responsible grazing increases plant and animal diversity, reduces wildfire risk, restores habitat for wildlife — including threatened species — controls invasive plants, improves water quality and prevents habitat fragmentation from development. The water developed for cattle also benefits wildlife.

Grazing on public lands, he added, maximizes value for the state trust while ranchers, not taxpayers, pay for improvements. “I have a personal, vested interest to do that the right way,” Aja said, noting his commitment to future generations, including his grandchildren.

 

OHV Surge Adds New Stresses

Drought already forces tough choices. In 2021, Aja cut his herd to around 40% of normal carrying capacity as water sources dried up. He hauled water on four-hour round trips over rough roads. Now, unchecked OHV use compounds those pressures, he said, pushing cattle from prime grazing areas, degrading roads ranchers rely on and increasing repair costs that regulated industries such as ranching ultimately absorb.

Arizona lawmakers have responded with several measures. Aja, who sits on the OHV study committee created by HB 2130, noted that the 2024 law SB 1567 and the new 2025 decal requirement for OHV safety education mark progress. Landowner liability protections in HB 2130 and calls for more enforcement officers in SB 1377 also help, he said. Yet on the ground in Coconino County, enforcement remains stretched, and damage outside designated trails continues. There is still much to be done.

“Some of these changes are making a difference,” Aja said, “but we’re still falling short on consistent accountability.”

Next Steps: Education, Enforcement and Shared Rules

Aja sees the path forward in stronger education, more on-the-ground enforcement and practical rules that match the oversight applied to grazing and mining. Recreation should face clearer standards — designated trails, user-funded mitigation and stiffer penalties for off-trail damage — without shutting down access, he said. “Shared responsibility looks like everyday Arizonans — hikers, hunters, OHV riders — respecting the land the same way ranchers do,” Aja said.

Close gates. Stay on trails. Report damage. Partner with ranchers and conservation districts on education efforts that have already shown success in reducing conflicts.

He rejects the notion that more rules will kill the outdoor economy. “Preventing long-term damage protects access for everyone, including future ranchers and recreationists,” he said. Unregulated recreation already creates hidden costs — lost forage, fence repairs, liability risks — that working lands absorb.

The challenge is not unique to Arizona. Ranchers in Nevada, Utah, Montana and Colorado face similar pressures from OHV use, shifting federal policies and other factors such as wolf reintroduction.

The Value of Arizona Beef

Ranching remains one of Arizona’s largest agricultural commodities and the largest sector of American agriculture overall. Arizona cattle operations produce enough beef to feed more than 8 million people each year. A typical 1,150-pound steer yields about 500 pounds of beef; nearly the entire animal — 99% — is used.

The recently released 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans nearly doubled recommended daily protein intake, spotlighting beef as a top choice in balanced diets. A 3-ounce cooked serving delivers about 25 grams of protein — 50% of the daily value — along with iron, zinc and other nutrients. It would take 8 ounces of chicken breast to match the iron or nearly seven times that amount to match the zinc in one serving of beef.

Beef is a complete protein supplying all essential amino acids. There are 29 government-approved lean cuts, each with less than 10 grams of total fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol and 4.5 grams of saturated fat per 3.5 ounces. While USDA Prime offers more marbling for flavor and tenderness, mineral, protein and vitamin content remain similar across Select, Choice and Prime grades. Red meat’s color comes from myoglobin; other red meats include lamb, pork and veal.

Arizona and U.S. beef lead globally in efficiency. The United States produces 25% of the world’s beef with only 10% of the world’s cattle, thanks to improved genetics, nutrition and management. U.S. beef has posted the lowest greenhouse-gas emissions intensity worldwide since 1996. Major breeds such as Angus, Hereford and Brahman dominate, though more than 50 breeds exist.

A Call for Partnership

Aja, who recovered from a serious injury in 2022 thanks to 17 volunteer neighbors who stepped in to handle spring work, believes community is the best part of ranching. He urges the public to join that community. “Some of the best advice I have ever been given is, ‘we are one day closer to a big rain,’” he said.

In the meantime, proactive stewardship — by ranchers and recreationists alike — will keep Arizona’s working lands healthy for generations.

The conversation continues in Coconino County and across the West: how to manage public lands so they sustain both the outdoor economy and the rural communities that rely on them. For Aja, the answer starts with shared responsibility and respect for the multi-use landscape that defines Arizona.

For the full broadcast on Rosie on the House, we’ve embedded the show below.