Empire Ranch has been a working cattle ranch for 140 years. The ranch currently sits in the middle of the 42,000 acre Las Cienegas National Conservation Area has been administered by the Bureau of Land Management since 1988. The desert terrain is dominated by open grass lands and mesquite but also has many cactus.
More info on the ranch is online here ---> Empire Ranch Foundation or on the BLM site here ---> Empire Ranch BLM The cactus above is a Staghorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia Versicolor). Staghorn Cholla has a limited range and can only be seen in the US in southern Arizona.
The Prickly Pear (Opuntia) are much more common extending across much of the southern US, Mexico and Caribbean.
The Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus) range from the southwestern US through north central Mexico. The fruit is still evident on this cactus. It is not as popular as prickly pear fruit but can be eaten - usually candied since it is fairly dry and bitter.
Here is a corral at the ranch. I found I didn't have as many photos of the ranch as I would have liked because I was usually there in the morning and the lighting was ideal.
Even though it was getting cool as winter approaches, we did see one rattlesnake crossing the road. It probably would have preferred to stay on the road and warm up but there was some traffic along the road the day I took this shot.
The ranch had a working windmill to draw water for the livestock. I love photos of windmills but unfortunately didn't put in the time and effort to get closer for a better shot 🙁