Bert Johnston has spent a lifetime turning cattle operations into businesses that run as efficiently as they look from the highway.

Raised outside Denver, Johnston earned a degree in animal science from Colorado State University before heading into the field, where he chose long days in the saddle over an office career. His work carried him from Montana to New Mexico, first as a ranch hand, then a camp man, and eventually as the manager trusted to oversee some of the region’s largest and most complex outfits.

Johnston is one of the few in today’s industry who has lived every rung of the ranching ladder. He has fixed fence in below-zero weather, moved herds across country no pickup can reach, treated calves at all hours, and started colts. Just as naturally, he has designed grazing programs, managed multi-year infrastructure projects, overseen payrolls, and negotiated with land agencies. For owners, that means a manager who understands how every line item on a budget ties back to what happens on the ground.

Colleagues describe him as steady, exacting, and unflinching in his standards. He is not one to gloss over hard truths, and he has built a reputation for keeping operations productive, profitable, and compliant in an environment where margins are tight and oversight is constant.

For landowners and investors, Johnston represents a rare combination: a working cattleman who never stepped back from the physical labor, and a manager who never lost sight of the balance sheet. He knows how to translate the daily work of a ranch into long-term asset value—making him the kind of leader you want in charge when serious capital is at stake.