If you’ve ever spent a Sunday morning watching Ree Drummond whip up a batch of chicken fried steak on Food Network, you’ve probably seen those sweeping shots of the Oklahoma prairie. It looks endless. Like, truly infinite. You see the wind whipping through the tallgrass, a few wild horses galloping in the distance, and Ladd—the "Marlboro Man" himself—out there in a dusty pickup. It makes you wonder, as you’re sitting on your couch in the suburbs, just how much of that dirt they actually own.
So, how many acres is the drummond ranch?
The number that usually gets tossed around is 433,000 acres. That is a massive, almost hard-to-visualize amount of land. To put that in perspective, it’s about half the size of Rhode Island. If you tried to walk across it, you’d be hiking for days and still probably wouldn't see the fence line. But like most things in the world of big-time ranching, the answer is a little more "kinda" than a hard "yes."
Breaking Down the 433,000-Acre Empire
Honestly, calling it "the" Drummond Ranch is a bit of a misnomer. It’s not just one big square of land with a single gate. It’s a massive network of various properties, some owned by Ree and Ladd, others by Ladd’s brother Tim, and still more by the wider Drummond family, including the estate of the late Chuck Drummond and other cousins.
The Drummonds have been in Osage County since the late 1800s. Frederick Drummond, the patriarch who moved from Scotland, started the whole thing. Fast forward over a century, and the family is consistently ranked as the 23rd largest landowner in the United States according to The Land Report.
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- Total Family Holdings: ~433,000 acres.
- Location: Primarily Osage County, Oklahoma, with some land stretching into Kansas.
- Usage: It’s a working cattle ranch, but they also host thousands of wild horses.
One thing that surprises people is that the government actually pays them to keep those horses. Since 2006, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has paid the Drummonds millions of dollars—some reports say over $24 million—to maintain wild horse populations on their private land. It’s a strategy to help control overgrazing in other parts of the West, and the Drummonds have the sheer space to make it work.
Why 9% of Osage County Matters
To understand the scale, you have to look at the local map. The Drummond family owns roughly 9% of all the land in Osage County. That is a staggering concentration of property. For a long time, the Osage Nation owned the entirety of this land—and everything beneath it—but through a series of historical shifts, much of that ownership moved into private hands like the Drummonds.
If you’ve seen the movie Killers of the Flower Moon, you know the history of this area is heavy. While the Drummonds weren't part of that specific dark chapter of the "Reign of Terror," they are the modern face of the land ownership shift that happened in Oklahoma over the last hundred years.
Is the Ranch Shrinking or Growing?
Recently, there’s been some chatter about pieces of the ranch going up for sale. For instance, the Drummond South Ranch, a parcel of about 8,418 acres near Hominy, was listed for roughly $18 million.
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Does this mean the Pioneer Woman is moving to the city? Doubtful.
Big ranching families buy and sell parcels like we buy and sell stocks. Sometimes a specific piece of land doesn't fit the current cattle rotation, or a specific branch of the family wants to liquefy some assets. Even if they sold 10,000 acres tomorrow, they’d still have over 400,000 left. It’s basically a rounding error for them.
Life on 400,000 Acres
You’d think with that much land, you’d never see your neighbors. And you’re basically right. Ree has mentioned in her blog posts that going to town (Pawhuska) is a whole "event."
The ranch functions like its own small country. They have their own mechanics, their own road maintenance, and a massive fleet of white pickups. It’s not just about the acreage; it’s about the infrastructure required to manage it. You’re dealing with hundreds of miles of fencing that constantly needs fixing. You have water rights to manage. It’s a business, first and foremost.
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The Reality of the "Pioneer Woman" Lifestyle
While the show makes it look like Ree spends all day baking cinnamon rolls, the reality is that the Drummond land is a high-stakes business environment. They run thousands of head of cattle. When the market prices for beef dip, or when Oklahoma hits a two-year drought, a ranch of that size becomes a massive liability.
- Cattle Operations: They primarily run cow-calf operations.
- Sustainability: They work closely with groups like The Nature Conservancy to protect the tallgrass prairie.
- Tourism: Between "The Mercantile," "The Boarding House," and "P-Town Pizza," the ranch’s fame has basically revived the economy of Pawhuska.
What You Should Take Away From This
If you're planning a trip to see the ranch, keep in mind that most of that 433,000-acre spread is private property and strictly off-limits to the public. You can visit "The Lodge"—the house where they film the show—during certain times of the year if you get a ticket at The Mercantile in town.
But for the most part, the Drummond Ranch is a vast, working wilderness that happens to be owned by one of the most famous families in America.
Next Steps for Your "Pioneer" Research:
- Check Tour Dates: If you're heading to Oklahoma, check the official Pioneer Woman website for "Lodge Tour" dates, as they are sporadic and depend on the filming schedule.
- Visit the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve: Since most of the ranch is private, the nearby Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (managed by The Nature Conservancy) offers a similar landscape and is open to the public for hiking and bison viewing.
- Verify Land Listings: If you are a high-net-worth investor looking at Drummond land, contact specialized ranch brokers in Oklahoma, as these properties rarely hit Zillow and are handled via private treaty.