Succession Stories | 5 | Back to Grass

About this episode

Sig Pugrud shares her journey as the sole successor of her family's ranch and her efforts in ecological restoration and community leadership.

Sig Pugrud's ranch sits on a high bench above Flatwillow Creek, in one of the least-populated counties in the United States. Her family homesteaded in Petroleum County, Montana in 1910, surviving drought, the Dust Bowl, the farm crisis of the 1980s, and generations of economic uncertainty with a combination of grit and creativity. As a child, Sig watched her parents gamble on emerging cattle genetics, hauling 4-H calves as far east as Ohio and Kentucky to stay afloat. Decades later, she would make her own high-stakes decision: taking her family's ground out of production and reseeding it back into grass. The move reduced the land's market value, but rebuilt the ecosystem surrounding it. Sig's story is a rare one in American agriculture. Despite having two brothers, she became the sole successor to her family's ranch at a time when women were rarely seen as rightful heirs. Now in her 60s, she is not only a steward of grasslands, but a pillar of her community — serving as a county commissioner, mentoring younger ranchers, and helping lead Winnett ACES, a nonprofit working to revitalize both land and small town. As she plans the next transition for her ranch, Sig wrestles with the…

People in this episode

Host: Megan Torgerson

Guest: Sig Pugrud

Topics covered

• agriculture
• land stewardship
• women in farming
• community leadership
• ecological restoration

Keywords

• ranching
• grasslands
• cattle genetics
• succession planning
• Montana agriculture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Winnett ACES

Places: Petroleum County, Montana

More episodes of Reframing Rural

• Bonus | A New Angle: "Megan Torgerson is reframing rural" & "Rural vs. Urban with Trevor Brown" · April 28, 2026 · 1h 2m
• The Tilt of the World with Joe Wilkins, Author of "The Entire Sky" · March 31, 2026 · 57 min
• Succession Stories | Bonus | Our Season Partner, Winnett ACES · February 25, 2026 · 1h 21m
• Succession Stories | Bonus | Megan's Family Succession Story · January 23, 2026 · 55 min
• Succession Stories | Bonus | A Roadmap to Farm and Ranch Succession Planning · December 16, 2025 · 1h 29m
• Succession Stories | 4 | The Messy Middle · December 3, 2025 · 56 min