Marley Ranch

The Marley Cattle Company is located in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert, with rolling grasslands and rimmed with high mountains, on the west side of the Santa Cruz River that has been the path of the Spanish Conquistadors and Father Kino. It is midway between Nogales, Arizona on the Mexico-Arizona Border and Tucson, Arizona to the north. The ranch has been in the Marley Family ownership for over 75 years. The Marley Cattle Company has 178 square sections within the Ranch boundary and has the capacity to run 1,600 cattle.

LOCATION

The Marley Cattle Company is located about 20 miles south of Tucson, Arizona on the west side of Interstate 19 at Amado, Arizona. The paved Arivaca Road is on the south side of the ranch. The east boundary of the ranch borders the community of Green Valley and about 19 miles to the west boundary, the ranch borders the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

LOCALE

The Marley Cattle Company is located in the southern central part of Pima County with the ranch headquarters located on the Arivaca Road on the north edge in Santa Cruz County. The ranch adjoins the small community of Amado on the southeast corner of the ranch. There are large ranches that neighbor the Marley Cattle Company and smaller horse properties along Arivaca Road. Major shopping and services are available in Green Valley and Tucson.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Marley Cattle Company is a large ranch about 20 miles wide (East-West) and about 15 miles North -South on the West side. The Batamote Road is the major ranch road which is a dirt road that serves as the division between the west side and the east side of the ranch. All the roads within the ranch are maintained by the ranch. The ranch is comprised of Deeded Land and 6 grazing leases of land within the ranch boundary. The Arizona State Land Grazing Lease is the primary lease. The ranch is watered from wells, pipelines, stock ponds and 2 irrigation wells. There are 28 major pastures with smaller traps and branding corrals scattered around the ranch. The ranch is predominantly rolling hills with large washes. The grasses are grama and love grasses with Mesquite and Palo Verde trees, Ocotillo’s, barrel and cholla cactus, with Hackberry Trees and some Arizona Sycamores in the canyons and washes. The Headquarters is on Arivaca Road on the south side of the ranch. There are shipping pens with scales at the headquarters.

LAND TENURE/CARRYING CAPACITY

17,265.07 acres Deeded Land

79,986.10 acres State Grazing Lease #05-1938

2,500.00 acres BLM Black Hills Allotment #AZ06119

6,370.23 acres Freeport McMoRan Sierrita Grazing License

1,819.08 acres Caterpillar, Inc. Grazing Lease

6,337.00 acres Pima County Land Adverse Use

2.00 acres AZ Land & Water Trust Lease

114,279.48 Acres Total or 178.56 Sections

The carrying capacity based on the State Land allowed use is 996.5 animal units (AU). The BLM carry capacity is 34 AU. 570 AU are allocated to the deeded land for a total of 1,600 AU during normal rainfall years. Actual use will vary depending on rainfall.

STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS

The improvements at the Headquarters on Arivaca Road in Santa Cruz County include a ranch manager’s double wide mobile home, 3 small ranch hand houses and a mobile home. There is a shop, hay shed, tack room, covered horse pens, shipping corrals with scale and a feed yard. There is an irrigation well and two domestic wells at the headquarters. At the Homestead on the I-19 frontage road in Pima County the improvements include an owner’s residence and separate bunkhouses that are currently non-habitable, and a guest house and residence occupied by ranch hands. Additionally, there is a tack room and feed shed adjacent covered horse pens. There is an irrigation well and two domestic wells at this location. There is also a dirt airstrip at the Homestead which when maintained can accommodate twin engine aircraft. There are 19 wells scattered over the ranch (10 solar equipped), 52 plus miles of pipeline, 60 dirt stock ponds, 28 pastures and several large working corrals and numerous small branding corrals and traps. The ranch is fenced on the perimeter.

WATER RESOURCES

There are two Grandfathered Irrigation Wells registered with the Department of Water Resources. There are 4 domestic wells, 19 stock wells, 15 of which are operating, 10 wells powered by Solar, 4 powered by generators and 1 electric, serving 52 miles of pipelines with storage and troughs and 60 dirt stock ponds more or less.

ELEVATION

Marley Cattle Company runs from 3,109’ ASL at the Homestead on the east side up to 4,700’ ASL on the Colorado Mountains. The ranch is primarily 3,200’ to 3,800’ ASL.

CLIMATE

The climate in this area has four seasons with mild winters and warm summers. The average annual rainfall is estimated to be between 14” & 16”.

TOPOGRAPHY

The rangeland slopes to the south and southeast on the east side and slopes to the south and southwest on the west side. The ranch is ridges divided by large washes with deeper canyons on the north end in the higher elevations. The rangeland has perennial grama grasses and lovegrasses. Shrubs found on the ranch are mesquite, cat claw, ocotillos and mountain mahogany. There are mesquite trees, hackberry trees, and willow trees along the drainages.

Cattle and equipment are not included.

BROKER’S COMMENTS

The Marley Cattle Company is for sale for the first time in over 75 years. The ranch is in the high Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona cow country. It is in a prime area with a large block of deeded land with direct access off the main highway. The Marley Cattle Company is a large Arizona ranch with opportunities for future higher and better uses. It is blessed with scenic mountains, climate and access.