2012 Fall Cattlemen's Edition
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2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition Featuring Lincoln County ® ROUNDUP WYOMING LIVESTOCK
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Featuring Lincoln County
Transcript of 2012 Fall Cattlemen's Edition
2012Fall
Cattlemen’s
Edition
Featuring Lincoln County
® ROUNDUPWYOMING
LIVESTOCK
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA2 Lincoln County ranches featured in this edition Rich histories Colorful history covers
Lincoln County
Lincoln County sits in the southwest corner of Wyoming and is rich with history. The county cel-ebrated it’s centennial in 2011, marking 100 years of farming, ranching and min-ing. Lincoln County cov-ers just over 4,000 square miles, with only 18,106 people occupying the area. Three main regions, the Kemmerer-LaBarge area, Cokeville and Star Valley, comprise the county.
Kemmerer Kemmerer’s history
stems back into not only agriculture, but in small business and mining. With fur trapping, ranching, rail-roads and coal mining all playing a role, the town has seen rich successes. In 1911, Kemmerer was selected as county seat, after Uinta County divided, creating Lincoln County. “Kemmerer has been a coal mining community for over 100 years,” writes Judy Julian in Images of America: Kemmerer. “Min-ing has played a major role in the past and present suc-cess of Kemmerer.” Early ranchers, settling in the area in the 1890s, were able to obtain more than 160 acres, according to Julian, and most raised cattle. “The earliest writ-ten account of sheep in the Kemmerer area came in 1852, when Kit Car-son drove more than 13,000 head of sheep from Fort Laramie to Califor-nia,” writes Julian. “The sheep industries in Wyo-ming began to take shape between 1875 and 1885.” Hams Fork Cattle Company, started in 1897 by Patrick Quealy, was not marked as particularly sig-nificant at the time.
“Quealy was convinced that he had found the ideal way to incorporate the cat-tle, coal, mercantile and land companies, all of which would complement each other,” adds Julian.
Colorful history Anna Richey, possibly the most famous area cattle rancher, was known as the Petticoat Rustler. Richey was the only woman in Wyoming to be convicted of cattle rustling. “After they caught her, they sentenced Anna to death, but they gave her nine months to get her affairs in order,” says Kemmerer sheep and cat-tle rancher Truman Julian. “She was irrigating and someone slipped a piece of Strychnine into her cof-fee.” The poisoning resulted in Richey’s death, an event that remains unsolved to today. Kemmerer was also home to a wide variety of stills for moonshine. “Kemmerer was the Moonshine capitol,” adds Truman. “Kemmerer moon-shine made it all the way to Chicago and New York. This was tough country.” Of the moonshiners, Joe Coletti was a kingpin, and Julian mentions that he was a distributer. “At one point, they found 3,000 barrels of moonshine in the back of a building, and they broke all their casks,” Tru-man recalls of a story his mother told. “People say whiskey was running in the gutters, and there were people with cups and pans scooping it up.” He adds that in every grove of aspens where there was a spring, it was almost certain that you could find a little moon-shine.
Cokeville Cokeville, which sits west of Kemmerer, began when “Syl” Collett and Robert Gee brought their families to the place in 1874. “On the 1880 census, there were 18 households in Cokeville,” says Cokev-ille historian Eva Clark. By 1910, the town had grown to include five saloons, a Mormon meet-ing house, a bank, hotel and a restaurant, according to the Cokeville Historical Society. “The ranches in Cokev-ille, like many others in Wyoming, started as cat-tle ranches and were grad-ually stocked with sheep,” writes Clark. “By the time of the second World War, they were mostly return-ing to the raising of cattle again.” Agriculture’s roots began in the area before 1900, as people began to enter the area in search of places to farm and ranch. “Julius Jacobsen, a young blacksmith of Nor-wegian birth, fitted up a shop in a building and spe-cialized in the making of sheep wagons,” Clark says.
“He started with a dollar and a half in his pocket, but by honest workman-ship soon built a flourish-ing business.” Sheep ranching began with Fred Roberts, who was devoted to raising high-grade sheep, and Beckwith, Quinn and Com-pany also started a horse ranch south of Cokeville.
Star Valley Star Valley has deep roots in agriculture. In the book Star Valley and Its Communities, Bessie Beachler notes that many cattle were driven into Star Valley from Bear Lake, where the land was used as summer range, prior to 1886. When the Home-stead Act was passed, the use of the area as summer range was halted. In the same book, Eldon Erickson says, “Star Valley has 110,000 acres of rich, fertile soil. Sixty per-cent of the acreage is used as hay meadows.” He also said, “No sec-tion of the United States can boast more acre-feet of water per acre than Star Valley. It has nine princi-pal mountain streams from which it secures its irriga-tion water.” The dairy industry in Star Valley is of historical importance to the area as well. “In the early days, it was hard to get any kind of supplies into or out of the valley, as they would have to be hauled in with teams and wagons or sleighs,” writes Bessie Merrit in Star Valley and Its Com-munities. “This made dairy products, light in weight for their value, a logical development in the val-ley.” The first creamery in Star Valley was at Osmon between 1889 and 1895. The county began making cheese in 1925. The Star Valley Swiss Cheese Com-pany made its first cheese on Aug. 26, 1926, shipping the cheese to Portland, Ore. “The dairy industry has been very instrumen-tal in developing the Star Valley,” writes Merritt. “A more prosperous and beautiful valley cannot be found.”Lincoln County today
Today, Lincoln County maintains it’s agricultural roots, with a number of sheep and cattle ranches, as well as several dairies, operating throughout. “Lincoln County is also one of the most diverse counties in the state of Wyoming,” pro-claims the county website, “with high mountain des-ert in the southern part of the county and the majes-tic Rocky Mountains, dot-ted with forests, moun-tain lakes and streams in the northern part of the county.” Saige Albert is manag-ing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
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1. Julian Land and Livestock2. Teichert Brothers Cattle Company3. Yellowstone Outfitters4. Crook Dairy5. W&M Thoman Ranches6. Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge7. Horseshoe Spear Cattle Company8. Willis Ranch9. Freedom Arms10. Cakebread Ranch11. Rollin Gardner12. Clark Ranch13. Barnes Ranch14. Hepworth’s Angus15. West Hills Ranch16. Peternal Ranch17. Nieslanik Ranch18. CallAir Aircraft Company19. Fred Roberts20. Cutter and Chariot Races21. Child Ranch22. Robinson Family Farm and Ranch
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A3
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Kemmerer – “My Grandfa-ther Julian started this,” says Truman Julian of the prop-erty his family raises sheep and cattle on. “They came over from England in the 1880s and started over here.” “He was about 10-years-old,” he adds, noting that his grandfather started working with sheep and later bought a band of sheep. The area in which the Julian’s run, rich with his-tory, ghost stories and tales of time past, is intermingled public and private lands and allows the family to effi-ciently graze both species.
Cattle and sheep “Trudy really likes the cattle,” says Truman of his daughter-in-law. “She likes the Angus, and I like the black baldy.” Crossbred cattle allow the operation to take advan-tage of the good genes from both breeds, says Truman. Usually, they wean calves at about 600 pounds, but he says this year, drought might make them lighter. They also feed the native hay that they raise, which has high enough protein content to keep the animals healthy. “It’s more natural, too,” he says. “The animals run on these developed plains.” “We raise high-end sheep,” Truman notes. “We select for twins, gain and grade of wool.” Because of the way they are raised, Julian’s mar-ket their sheep as natural through Mountain States Lamb Cooperative. Sheep provide lots of opportunity for a return on investment, and Truman says, “If an old ewe doesn’t raise a lamb, at least I’ll get some wool off of her – it gives us two crops. If the old cow loses her calf, you’re out of luck.”
Common grazing All of their species are grazed on private land, as well as common allotments. They trail their animals between private sections across public land. “It can be discouraging running on common allot-ments,” he says, “because we do a good job with managing and we take it very serious,
Sheep and cattle operation continues long traditionsJulian Land and Livestock
but not everyone else does.” “We have quite a bit of private ground, but it is so scattered,” Truman explains, noting that public lands con-nect their private tracts. “We can’t get by without using the public land. It is so important to us.”
On the range “My dad used to tease mother that a jackrabbit had to pack a lunch to make it across here,” says Truman, laughing. He also says, however, that sheep and cattle comple-ment each other in the range-lands and are able to survive. “They complement each other because they eat two different types of forage. The sheep like the forbes and the shrubs, and I never worry about the riparian area with them,” he says, adding that cattle prefer the native grasses. “Years ago, every-one had a bunch a sheep to go along with a bunch of cows, and it’s too bad that more people don’t do it today.” He also added that the steep canyons and terrain is better for sheep grazing and management, and in dry years, sheep can continue to survive by eating less palat-able food such as sagebrush. “Out here, sheep don’t last as long because the feed isn’t as tender and it wears down their teeth,” Truman explains, adding that they still have value for other pro-ducers who feed softer feeds. On top of grazing prefer-ences, Julian adds that sheep and cattle markets used to be complimentary as well. “Some years, cat-tle prices would be off and sheep prices would be up or vice versa,” he says. “It gave a person the chance to con-tinue running the ranch.”Working with wildlife
Truman also spends time working with hunters and the wildlife aspect of the opera-tions. “I put 8,000 acres in a hunter walk-in area,” he says. “I thought it would be good because it allows peo-ple the opportunity to hunt.” Accommodating hunters isn’t without its challenges, but he maintains the access.
He has also worked with several groups to protect fish species. “I put in some trout screens,” mentions Truman. “We also put in gated pipe. We spend a lot of money to help out, I have more control of my water, and we have fish now.” He adds that they are also able to raise more hay as a result of the efforts that are also helping protect fish spe-cies. The efforts working with wildlife groups are more practical than working against them. “What good is this coun-try for aside from grazing?” asks Truman. “It isn’t the good country that was home-steaded.” “If they would work with ranchers instead of try-ing to put us out of business, that we be good,” he says of
many environmental groups. Truman has also spent time in Washington, D.C. advocating for the industry and public lands, mention-ing that it is important that in working with the rest of the country, it is important that the agriculture industry learn about compromise. “We won’t get 100 per-cent, and we have to com-promise,” he says. “If we pick and choose what is most important, and let them think they are winning, we can get by.”
Labor issues One of the big issues that Truman sees as affecting the industry is labor. In the sheep industry, herders accompany each band of sheep and find-ing labor proves to be a prob-lem for Julian’s, as well as other operations. “Labor is still a prob-lem,” he says. “Western
Range started in the 1950s in California to help bring in H-2A workers, but they keep trying to get specialty provi-sions.” Changing laws are not only difficult to keep up with, but complying with impractical provisions is also challenging. Generations on the ranch “Trudy’s girls are the sixth generation to be raised on Rock Creek,” says Tru-man of his family, “and I’d like to see six more there, too.” In thinking about work-ing with the next generation, he has worked tirelessly to
protect the land and develop it for future use so his chil-dren and their children can continue the ranch. “I think rancher’s have an extra gene or something,” he comments, noting that keeping the family on the ranch and traditions alive are particularly important to members of ranching com-munities. “It’s pretty impor-tant to me, and I feel really strongly about keeping our traditions alive.” Saige Albert is manag-ing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to [email protected].
“We can’t get by without using the pub-
lic land. It is so important to us.” – Tru-
man Julian
Predators – With predators a constant concern, the Julian’s run guard dogs with each herd, as well as H-2A herders, to help protect the sheep. Saige Albert photo
Black baldies and Angus – Truman Julian and his family run both Angus and black baldy cattle to capture they benefits of both breeds. Saige Albert photo
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THE WYOMING LIVESTOCK BOARDis preparing for the 2013 Brand renewal and wants to
remind producers that it is very important to keep their
mailing address current. By law, the Livestock Board
must notify by mail at the address shown on the brand records, the party owning the brand that the brand must
be rerecorded and if the brand has not been rerecorded
within sixty (60) days from the expiration date of the brand
will be declared abandoned. Brands that are subject to
renewal expire on January 1, of the renewal year and the
60 day grace period expires March 1, of the renewal year.
If you are not sure of when your brand is scheduled
for renewal or are not sure if the Wyoming Livestock
Board has your current address, please contact the
Wyoming Livestock Board via phone, mail, email, or
fax at following address:
Wyoming Livestock Board
1934 Wyott Drive, Cheyenne, WY 82002-0051
Office phone 307- 777-7515
FAX 307-777-6561 or [email protected]
Attention Brand Owners
Cokeville – While it seems that many families don’t get along in business, Tim and Matt Teichert have been run-ning Teichert Brothers Cattle Company since 1994. “Matt was here and had
Building and expandingTeichert brothers weather tough times together
some cows. He asked if I wanted to go in with him because dad wanted to sell his cows and retire,” says Tim, “so I moved up here from southern Utah.” With the help of a few
hired men, their wives and children, the Teichert broth-ers are able to successfully run a cattle operation.Taking over the ranch
“Our grandpa came here in about 1928,” explains Tim of the operation’s beginnings. “They had a place in Ameri-can Falls, Idaho, on the bot-toms, but their ground was condemned. With the money they got, they came here and started.” The Teichert family ran a dairy through the Great Depression, also buying land. The brothers grew up on the land they now ranch. “Dad worked for the State Engineer’s Office, had the ranch and helped to raise nine kids,” says Tim. “When we were kids it was a Here-ford operation.” The operation raised reg-istered Herefords and had a bull sale each year, but when Matt and Tim’s father took control of the operation, they began to switch to running Red Angus bulls.
New beginnings Today, the Teichert Brothers run a commercial herd and registered herd. Their commercial cows are primarily Angus, Charolais and Hereford, and the reg-istered sector of the opera-tion features Red Angus and Black Angus. “The first couple years we were leasing dad’s place, we ran yearlings,” Tim says. “I was teaching physical edu-cation, health and English at the time.” They still each have a job in town on top of ranching, but a few hired men, their
wives and children help out on the ranch.
Cows and hay With herds that calve from February though May, the Teichert brothers keep busy. “Our purebred cows start calving the end of February,” explains Matt. “We can’t barn the commercial cattle, so they start later.” On BLM and Forest Ser-vice lands, they are able to spend time of the range for much of the year, beginning in April until Oct. 1 “Our range is in the hills to the west,” explains Tim, adding that it is adjacent to their deeded land. They are able to stay on spring range until the mid-dle of June before they trail the cattle through the town of Cokeville to summer range-land. “We run cows on the southern boundary of the Bridger Teton National For-est,” he says. Depending on when snow flies, they start feeding hay from the end of Novem-ber to Jan. 1. “We can handle a little bit of snow, but last year, we
got a lot of snow early, and it got really cold,” explains Tim. “We had to start feeding by the end of November.” To accommodate feed-ing their cows, the Teichert’s put up hay from meadows they own. “It’s all grass hay. We’ve also had pivots in barley and oats, and they do really good,” Tim adds, noting that some years they have enough to sell some, while other years they buy hay to supple-ment their crops. Continual expansion
The Teichert’s have been working to expand the land on the operation continually. “We’ve expanded pretty rapidly and have bought a place almost every year,” says Matt. Without ditches through the meadows, Tim explains they flood irrigate the land, noting it looks like a lake with two to four inches of water. On the river, they have also been working to reju-venate willows and get rid of cattails to improve habi-tat and grazing conditions. Additionally, they are plan-ning to install a bridge for easier access to lands across the Bear River. “We’re just trying to
make it better,” says Matt. “I like the land the best – even better than the cows. I like fixing it up to where we can produce more.” “I’m the same. I enjoy fixing it up to run cows,” Tim adds.
Abundant wildlife With lush hay mead-ows, coupled with flood irri-gation, Tim notes that there are ducks, geese, cranes and other birds that inhabit the hay meadows. “Our land adjoins the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge,” Tim adds, mentioning that the land also provides habitat for a variety of birds, deer and elk. “The only problem we have with elk is the sometimes get into the stack yards.” Wildlife Services and Partners for Wildlife have been valuable partners for the Teichert’s, helping them with funding and resources to put in to rehabilitating the lands. They have also partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to con-tinue developments on the land. “We’ve done about 19 water structures total,” says Tim.Addressing challenges
The unique nature of the valley creates some chal-lenges for the Teichert’s. “We have longer win-ters,” says Matt. “We’re also quite a ways from any mar-kets or auctions.” They sell their cattle at Riverton or Torrington, feed-ing them in Nebraska. But overall, Matt says, “The place that we bought is a dream outfit – the Bear River floods it, it’s easy to irrigate and we can turn cows out for fall feed. It’s really a pretty place. We think we are pretty lucky.” Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Live-stock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
“We’re just trying to make it better. I
like fixing it up to where we can pro-
duce more.” – Matt Teichert
As the Teichert brothers operate in Cokeville, they place a strong focus on family. “We’re a really close family,” says Matt. “That has been good. We’ve been lucky.” They grew up in a family with nine children. “Matt is the oldest boy, and I’m number seven,” says Tim, noting that they have two sisters and the rest of the family are boys. Tim and his wife Renae have three children: Bronson, 19, Janae, 11, and Tana, 9. Tim’s oldest, Bronson, is in his first year at Utah State University while his younger daughters live at home. Matt’s family includes his wife and 10 children. “I had five kids with my first wife. After we lost her to can-cer, I remarried a lady that also had five kids,” he says. “Six are married and two are in college now.” Matt adds that he has seven grandchildren, with four more due by the end of the year. “They are all good kids,” say the brothers of their fami-lies.
Family operations
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2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A5
Afton – Helping people expe-rience the best of what the West has to offer to customers and guests is a thriving busi-ness for the owners of Yel-lowstone Outfitters and its related operations Teton Vil-lage Trail Rides, Yellowstone Horse Rentals and Wagons West. Started more than sixty years ago as Petersons Hunt-ing and Fishing Camps, Yel-lowstone Outfitters is now a full-service guide busi-ness, owned and operated by Lynn and Marcene Madsen and their son Chad Madsen. The Afton based family also runs several related business, offering services like horse rentals, wagon rides and trail rides in Lincoln and Teton counties.
Hunting adventures The focus during fall for Yellowstone Outfitters is, of course, hunting. Occasion-ally, a hunter will fill a moose, sheep or deer tag, but the main focus of Yellowstone Outfit-ters is elk. Camp is located in the Teton Wilderness north-east of Jackson. It sits off the southeast corner of Yellow-stone National Park, between the Yellowstone and Thoro-fare rivers. The hunting is so good and the scenery so spec-tacular, guests usually have to book two years in advance to reserve a spot. “The Hawks Rest camp is one of the most remote camps in the lower 48 states. It’s a one day, 28-mile pack in from the Turpin Meadows base camp,” says Yellow-stone Outfitters office man-ager Marilyn Dahle. Marilyn is also the busi-ness’s public contact when everyone else is up hunting, which is most of the fall. “It’s a comfortable, fully equipped camp, complete with showers, tents and great food,” she says. Mother Nature’s
challenge Like other outdoor rec-reation businesses, Yellow-stone Outfitters has faced several challenges from Mother Nature, including wildfires. This summer’s fire in the Teton Wilder-ness hasn’t harmed the Yel-lowstone Outfitters camp or the hunting grounds, but it has affected how guides and guests are able to access the hunting camp. Several extra hours have been added onto the pack-in trip to bypass the active fire areas. Large predators like wolves and bears have also affected how Yellowstone Outfitters does business in the
backcountry. “Grizzly bears are a con-cern for our guides and hunt-ers,” says Marilyn. “There are a lot of bears up there. We haven’t had any mishaps, but we take all the precautions.” Guides are trained on how to keep guests safe and employ a number of bear-wise strategies, including keeping dogs in camp as a bear deterrent, using electric fence around the perimeter of the camp and proper food storage.
Summer trips As busy as fall is for Yel-lowstone Outfitters, summer is even more involved. The Madsen’s offer guided trout fishing trips to the Yellow-stone and Thorofare rivers, where the Yellowstone cut-throat trout is an angler’s pri-mary quarry. They are an Orvis-endorsed fly-fishing guide service, but guests can also choose to fish with spinning tackle. Anglers can choose a six-day trip on horseback, or anglers can customize a trip of a different length. Guests can also choose to leave the fishing gear at home and take a weeklong pack trip or a half-day trail ride. All trips offer trustworthy horses and spectacular scenery. The Madsen’s have also diversified their business to increase their viability and stability. Teton Village Trail Rides began offering guided horseback rides in May 2008. Based out of the Snake River Ranch in Teton Village, the business offers one, two and four hour rides along the ranch’s property. Sleigh rides are also offered in the winter. Marilyn says the trail ride business has seen ongoing success, even in a tough econ-omy. “True, people are cutting back on expenses, but families still want to take vacations, enjoy themselves and escape from their everyday lives,” she explains. “A family might not be able to justify the cost of an overnight, extended pack trip, but they can come up with the funds for smaller, fun events, like a one-day trail ride. Teton Village Trail Rides helps peo-ple enjoy their western vaca-tion on a budget.”
Horses and more Horses for Yellowstone Outfitters and Teton Village Trail Rides are supplied by yet another Madsen family business, Yellowstone Horse Rentals. Yellowstone Horse Rent-als rents horses to other hunt-ing outfitters, guide services
Outdoor adventures and even individual hunt-ers and anglers. Marilyn says they have a herd of more than 1,000 horses, with customers from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Grand Can-yon in Arizona. Yellowstone Horse Rentals also provides riding tack, packing gear and transportation for the horses if needed. “There are two ways to get into the wilderness, on foot or on a horse. We can supply the horses,” says Mar-ilyn. “All the horses available for rent are in good shape, well-mannered and guest-worthy. Many of the horses rented in the fall spend their summers packing kids or other novices around, so they can be trusted with people of all skill levels.”
Madsen’s serve outdoor needs in Lincoln County
Wagons West For those seeking a more authentic trip across Wyo-ming, there’s also Yellow-stone Outfitter’s Wagons West, a covered wagon excur-sion service. Guests ride in authentic covered wagons through the Bridger-Teton National For-est and Mount Leidy High-lands, taking in Wyoming’s scenery and wildlife. Once camp is reached, the wagons circle and chuckwagon meals are served. Guests can sleep in their wagons, in a tent or under the stars. Though Wagons West didn’t operate in 2012, Mari-lyn says they will soon begin booking trips for 2013. “It can be a great fam-ily trip with all the west-
ern flair— horseback riding, wagons and meals cooked in Dutch ovens,” she says, add-ing, it’s like going on safari in the West. Between all the busi-nesses, Yellowstone Outfit-ters employs around 25 peo-ple in its peak season, includ-ing members of the Madsen family. Marilyn says that’s what sets Yellowstone Out-fitters apart from other outfit-ters. “At its core, Yellow-stone Outfitters is a family owned and operated busi-ness. We offer three gener-ations of experience in the
outfitting and guiding busi-ness,” she explains. “The Madsen’s have also done an excellent job of rolling with the punches the economy throws at them by recogniz-ing the changing needs of their customers. That’s what makes Yellowstone Outfitters a thriving business today and down the road.” For more information on services or trips, visit yel-lowstoneoutfitters.com or call 800-447-4741. Teresa Mil-ner is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to [email protected].
“The Madsen’s have also done an excel-
lent job of rolling with the punches the
economy throws at them by recogniz-
ing the changing needs of their cus-
tomers.” – Marilyn Dahle, Yellow-
stone Outfitters
Trail rides – With thousands of acres of backcountry in Lincoln County and the surrounding areas, Yellowstone Outfitters also offers trail rides that range from one day trips to extended excur-sions. Courtesy photo
Wagons West – A particularly unique facet to the Madsen’s busi-ness endeavors is the opportunity for guests to take a trip in a cov-ered wagon, eat meals from a chuckwagon and sleep under the stars. Courtesy photo
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA6
SAIGE ALBERT, Managing EditorTRACY ALGER, 307-738-2399
JODY MICHELENA,CURT COX, 307-630-4604
ANDREA SUN, Circulation/AccountingDENISE OLSON,
APRIL JONES, 307-632-5118
DENNIS SUN, Publisher
800-967-1647
Member
Wyoming Renewable Energy Association United States Cattlemen’s Association
Wyoming Livestock Roundup
This publication is © 2012 by Maverick Press, Inc.
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Thayne – Shane Crook, fifth generation dairy farmer, carries on his fam-ily’s tradition in beautiful Star Valley. Surrounded by the Salt River Mountains, strad-dling the Wyoming – Idaho
Tradition continuesCrook family dairy
extends to fifth generation
“We drink the raw milk here ourselves,
so we keep everything very clean, and
we keep our cows very healthy.” –
Shane Crook, Crook Dairy
state line, the area was often called “The Star of All Val-leys” by early pioneers.
Long history Shane Crook’s great grandmother, pioneer Annie Crook, moved to the Wyoming side of Star
Valley in 1910. William and Annie Crook’s sons, Lyman and Newell, pur-chased the dairy in about 1950. Lyman’s son, Ronald Crook, purchased the dairy from his father and uncle in 1993, and Shane pur-chased the dairy from his parents, Ronald and Bar-bara Crook, in 2011. Shane enjoys life in Star Valley, and the intrica-cies of the dairy. In 1998, he earned a degree in agriculture and soil science from Ricks College – now Brigham Young University-Idaho. He then studied aero-space engineering at Utah State University, and earned degrees in finance and economics. His wife, Michelle, earned a mas-ter’s degree in economics. The young couple decided to settle in Star Valley, agreeing it’s a great place to raise a family. Much has changed in the dairy industry in Star Valley over the past 100 years.
Changing times Ronald explains, “Twenty years ago, there were 150 dairies – the larg-est with 30 to 40 cows -
and about 10 cheese fac-tories in this valley. There used to be eight small dair-ies on just the land we farm now. Then, they all took their milk to the cheese factory in Thayne. Now, all the milk is trucked to Idaho.” “It’s cheaper to pro-duce milk in other places because of warmer cli-mates and better access to feed,” he continues. “Many farmers here have sold out. Now we’re down to about 10 dairies in the valley.” Shane adds, “We are over three times bigger than the next largest dairy, milking about 175 head of cows and running about 400 total animals. We’ve started expanding, because we have to make it worth-while for the truck driver to haul the milk. This spring, we added 36 cows from another dairy in the valley, and we plan to buy more.”
Selling milk “When the dairy cows are milked, the milk is pumped into large tanks. The milk temperature has to go down to 40 degrees, and then stay below 45 degrees,” Shane explains.
“We can legally hold the milk three days, but the truck comes every other day to haul the milk to Idaho.” He continues, “We sell raw milk to Sartori Com-pany in Blackfoot, Idaho. They produce world-famous, award-winning cheese.” Sartori is an artisan cheese company, focus-ing on hand-making great cheese. Sartori’s SarVec-chio Parmesan earned Best of Show honors at the 2009 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, then First Runner Up in 2011. The company’s Limited Edi-tion Cognac BellaVitano recently took third overall in the 2001 World Cheese Awards. Every other day, a truck arrives from Sartori to pick up and transport milk from Star Valley. Back at Sar-tori, the truck driver tests milk samples for antibi-otics before unloading at silos. If there are traces of antibiotic in the milk, the entire truckload is dis-carded before entering the silos, and the dairy sub-
mitting the milk has to pay for the entire truckload of milk. “We don’t use rBST hormones,” says Ronald Crook. “We sign papers to that effect.” Shane adds, “That’s consumer driven. Pediat-ric groups say it’s fine, and that adding the hormone does not cause problems for anyone drinking the milk. Cows produce it nat-urally, but certain groups have made it seem like a bad thing.”
High quality Crook Dairy is a Grade A facility, meaning the milk is of highest quality, and can be used for fluid milk, cheese or any other dairy product. “We drink the raw milk here ourselves,” says Shane, “so we keep every-thing very clean, and we keep our cows very healthy.” He believes, “A healthy, happy, comfort-able cow is a productive cow.” Cows at Crook Dairy produce about 60 pounds of milk per cow each day.
Happy and healthy – Shane Crook emphasizes that, at Crook Dairy, cows are kept healthy and comfortable to ensure the highest possible levels of production. Echo Renner photo
Scott Vetter
Cell: (970) 381-2616
40014 Business Loop I-80
Mountain View, Wyoming
Phone (307) 786-2800
Toll Free 1-800-276-3481
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A7
If a cow is sick, she is milked separately. Her milk does not enter the tanks, but is used to feed the calves. She may be treated with antibiotics, but that milk never comes into contact with the milk headed for Sartori. “It has to be withheld for a certain time,” Shane explains, “Milk is withheld continuously once antibi-otic treatments have been administered, and for 96 hours after the last of three treatments.” Sixty days before calv-ing, the cows are pulled from the milk string and rested. Twenty-one days prior to calving, they are moved into the barn and watched more closely. After calving, cows and calves are given medicines and drenches, and sep-arated after a few hours. Increasing efficiency
and safety Tradit ionally, cows are milked from the side. Crook Dairy cows are milked twice a day from behind to increase the num-ber cows milked at a time. “It takes less space to milk cows from behind than s i d e - b y - s i d e , ” Shane explains. Every two
years, dairies are inspected according to federal regu-lations for cleanliness and high standards in the facil-ity, water, machinery and the milk. “The guidelines are very strict,” Shane describes. “They check everything and want to know if the cows are stressed or sick. They make sure the cows are clean. They ensure we have a good, safe food sup-ply.” In addition to the fed-eral inspection, Wyoming dairies are inspected every six months.
Family ties Crook Dairy is a fam-ily business. Shane Crook
owns the company and keeps records of each cow at the dairy. His wife, Michelle, takes care of the financial records. Prior to their purchasing the dairy, Ronald kept the dairy records, and his wife, Bar-
bara, tracked the financial records. Barbara has bottle-fed the calves for 20 years. She considers herself their surrogate mother. Shane is glad to call Star Valley home and says, “It is a good place to raise a
family. In fact, Donnie and Marie Osmond’s uncles had a dairy just across the road. You go away to school, and in the summer time you come back because you just can’t get the valley out of your system.”
Family operation – Crook Dairy is a fam-ily operation that began in 1910, when Shane’s great grandmother moved to Star Valley. Echo Renner photo
For more informa-tion, contact Shane Crook at 307-883-6444. Echo Renner is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup may be reached at 307-250-9723 or [email protected].
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Thoman RanchRanching family runs sheep,
cattle together
“We’ve always run sheep, and we have
more cows now than we used to.” –
Mary “Mickey” Thoman
Ranch Woman of the Year – Because of her involvement, as well as he dedication and passion for agri-culture, Mickey Thoman was selected as the 2012 Ranch Woman of the Year in Sublette County. Saige Albert photo
Protecting against predators – When their sheep are in summer ranges, the Thoman’s utilize electric net fencing to keep grizzly bears and wolves at bay. Mary also flies the herds to keep an eye on predators. Saige Albert photo
LaBarge – With a love of the land and her animals, Mary Thoman, known as Mickey to most, manages the fam-ily ranching operation, W&M Thoman Ranches, LLC. “We’ve lived on the river since 1953,” says Mickey of their ranch. “I was born and raised out of Kemmerer, and we ran sheep on the desert.” Mickey’s parents, who emigrated from Austria about 1900, homesteaded on land north of Kemmerer on the Hams Fork River. The family still summers some animals on the property. “They had a few short-horns, and they had sheep to start with,” she says. “They always had some sheep.” When the property where their ranch currently sits, which lies in both Lincoln and Sweetwater Counties, came up for sale, Mickey notes that they bought the place because
it was handy and a good loca-tion. They’ve been there ever since, running both sheep and cattle.
Big families “We’ve raised all of our family out here,” says Mickey. Mickey’s family reaches across the state. She was mar-ried to William J. in 1948, and they raised a family on the ranch. She has three daugh-ters, Mary A., Laurie and Kristy Wardell, all who live on and help with the ranch. Her two sons, Bob and Dick, have moved away, with Bob ranching in Riverton and Dick working in the oilfield. Mickey also lost two children. Daughter Cathe-rine drowned in a riding acci-dent when she was 22, and five years later, Bill Jr. died in a cube hauling accident on South Pass at the age of 25. The first three of their children were raised in sheep
camps. “I also have 21 grandkids and 12 great-grandkids,” says Mickey. “We are expecting two more this year.” For the grandkids on the ranch, Thoman School, which was established in 1957, pro-vides their education, since Green River and Kemmerer are both over 40 miles away and travel gets rough in the winters. The school is the last of the one-room schools in Wyoming. Mickey’s grandson Rex, 12, currently attends Thoman School.
Diversity Ranching has been a big part of the Thoman’s family life. “We’ve always run sheep,” comments Mickey, “and we have more cows now than we used to.” Their herd of Rambouillet sheep runs on rangeland year around, summering on the Bridger Teton National Forest north of Pinedale and winter-ing on the Rock Springs Graz-
ing Association ranges. “We lamb our sheep on the Big Sandy and haul them to range. Usually we sum-mer from July 1 until Oct. 1,” she explains. “Our pastures are mainly BLM allotments, and we have shares in Rock Springs Grazing Association.” Lambing occurs on the range at the beginning of May, and Mickey says, “People who shed lamb can lamb ear-lier, but we land on the range.” Her daughters also have a bunch of registered sheep they lamb in March. The cattle side of the operation runs Herefords, and Mickey says they are adapted to the land and able to take care of themselves. “We have Herefords, and we have been straight Here-ford for forever,” she explains. “I think they are thriftier cows.” The cattle winter on the desert with the sheep, spend-ing their summers on both sides of the Green River. With expansion of the
Seedskadee National Wild-life Refuge, Mickey says that they no longer have hay ground, instead just pasturing their cattle on the river. They also raise a herd of Thoroughbred-Quarter horses on the property.Predator problems
The location of their summer range comes with its own set of challenges. “There are so many grizzly bears it isn’t even funny,” says Mickey. “We got those allotments in 1978, and before that we were on the Wyoming range.” She explains that in 1997, some grizzly bears were let out on the river where they release the sheep each summer. “They let them out when we were shipping sheep,” she says, “and since then, it has been a nightmare.” They utilize Peruvian sheepherders and guard dogs, protecting both the herders and their sheep with electric fences each night. “It has helped the sheep a lot, because the bears used to get into our herds at night and scatter them all over,” Mickey says of the electric fences. “It would be a couple of days before we could gather them all up.” Mickey’s daughter Mary has an airplane that she flies to keep track of the cattle and sheep as well.
Continuing to ranch Despite the difficulty that accompanies the ranch, and most ranches in Wyo-ming, Mickey continues to be involved and continues to ranch. Mickey is one of the 33 founding members of the Green River Valley Cow-belles. She has also been a member of the Wyoming Stockgrower’s Associa-tion Board of Directors and Guardians of the Grasslands.
Her involvement spans a number of group and organi-zations, locally, statewide and nationally. Because of her involve-ment, dedication and passion for ranching, Mickey was named 2012 Ranch Woman of the Year in Sublette County.
Making it through Aside from predators, the Thoman’s have also faced flood, fire and condemned lands. “In the early 1960s, the ranch was flooded when Fon-tenelle Dam broke,” say her daughters. “In the 1970s, a careless camper started a wildfire that burned several hundred acres of trees and nearly destroyed ranch build-ings.” They continue that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice also condemned part of the family ranch in 1980. “No matter what, God can be found in the beauty of the outdoors and agriculture,” says Mickey. Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Live-stock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A9
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Cokeville – Beginning in 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Centered on a 20-mile stretch of the Bear River, the refuge is associated with wetlands and uplands and is managed as a satellite of the Seedskadee National Wild-life Refuge, which sits 75 miles to the east in Sweet-water County.Importance of the refuge “Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect wetland and riparian habi-tat associated with the Bear River that is important to a diversity of migratory birds,” says the FWS on their website. With less than five per-cent of Wyoming’s land area functioning as wetland, FWS marks making wet-land communities within the state as important to wildlife. “The heart of the refuge is the mosaic of wet mead-ows and cattail and bul-rush sloughs,” adds FWS. “Many of these wetlands were originally created and maintained by agricultural practices.” The area was also nom-inated as an important bird area by Audubon Wyoming.
“The heart of the refuge is the mosaic
of wet meadows and cattail and bul-
rush sloughs. Many of these wetlands
were originally created and main-
tained by agricultural practices.” –
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Cokeville MeadowsWildlife refuge strives to
provide habitat The wetlands associ-ated with Bear River are both natural and human made, according to FWS, with natural wetlands flood-ing as a result of high water events following spring snowmelts. Irrigation systems cre-ating runoff in the 1930s and 40s have also resulted in persistent wetlands, and diversion dams in the Bear River create irrigation opportunities that support hay production from the native meadows. New and expanding
Cokeville Meadows is a relatively new wildlife ref-uge, but the FWS marks it as a growing endeavor. The area was identified as the number one priority in the Bear River Focus Area Plan for the Inter-Mountain West Joint Venture. “While the approved acquisition boundary for the Refuge totalling 26,657 acres, only 9,259 acres have been purchased or protected through conservation ease-ments to date,” says the Refuge’s website. “Newly acquired lands are posted with boundary signs and evaluated for a variety of factors.” According to the FWS, land acquisition is ongoing from willing sellers only. Because it is newly
established, the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is currently not open to public use. “However, over the next several years, Ref-uge staff will begin pub-lic planning processes that may open Refuge lands to a variety of public uses, such as wildlife viewing, inter-pretation, fishing, hunting, environment education and photography,” adds FWS. While much of the ref-uge is closed, the Neth-erly Slough Wildlife View-ing Area provides informa-tional displays and wildlife viewing from a roadside area off of Highway 30.
Cooperative efforts With local ranchers and Refuge managers work-
ing together, a number of efforts are being pursued to increase the productivity and viability of the land. “Under Special Use Permits, local ranchers and Refuge managers mutually benefit by working coop-eratively to reach Refuge habitat goal and projects goals,” says the Refuge website. “Ranchers assist Refuge staff with irriga-tion of wet meadows and other wetlands, mainte-nance of ditches and other irrigation facilities, provid-ing food plots for wildlife and maintenance of vigor of wet meadow vegetation through selective haying.” Efforts for weed con-trol, conversion of mar-ginal cropland to perma-
nent native vegetation and other projects, includ-ing refuge cleanups, fence maintenance and construc-tion are ongoing as well. The website adds, “In exchange, ranchers receive hay, crop and grazing shares.” “This management regime maintains the vigor of wet meadows and other vegetation that critical for wildlife,” continues the FWS. Close efforts with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department have also pro-vided Cokeville Mead-ows National Wildlife Ref-uge to identify and achieve management goals and objectives, as well as to conduct annual wildlife inventories.
Refuge species FWS says the Refuge supports one of the highest densities of nesting water-fowl in Wyoming, with at least 32 water bird species affected. “It has excellent poten-tial for the reintroduction of trumpeter swans and
Diverse habitat – Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge pro-vides havitat for more than 32 water bird species, as well as numer-ous other game birds and wildlife species in Wyoming. Saige Albert photo
provides habitat for res-ident species, including greater sage grouse, mule deer, elk and pronghorn,” the organization adds. Other species on the refuge include White-faced Ibis, Black Tern, sand-hill cranes, black-necked stilts, American bitterns and a variety of waterfowl, marsh and shorebirds. Educational opportunities Despite the fact that the facility isn’t yet available for public access, Refuge staff is available to conduct both off-site education and off-site interpretive pro-grams for students or other groups on request. The Refuge office is located at the Seedska-dee national Wildlife Ref-uge and is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit seedskadee.fws.gov/cokevillemeados.htm or call 307-279-2800. Saige Albert is managing edi-tor of the Wyoming Live-stock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA10
Bringing it backOpal – In the 1870s, Bill Sears’ grandfather, James W. Chrisman, moved to the land north of Opal where the original home-stead still stands near the house. “Bill’s grandfather put together 13 ranches over two counties,” says Bill’s wife Alice. “He was in the legislature, he was a banker, he was a sheep-man and he was a cattle-man.” The original family brand – the flying W – is still held by one of Bill’s cousins. “We ran as a family operation into 1998, when we began exchanging our family shares that we ranch today,” Alice con-tinues, referencing three separate ranches. “Bill is the third generation, and he’s always believed he is a caretaker for the
Sears family continue to operate, improve ranches
“This is Wyoming – we do what we can
to stay in business.” – Alice Sears
ranches. He’s got a lot of history here.”Ranching beginnings
Bill was born and raised in Kemmerer and Opal, ranching through his youth and childhood. In his early days, Bill worked in the mines and drove semi trucks, but when his uncle needed his help, he returned to the ranch in the late 70s. “He’s grown up on the ranch,” Alice explains. “When his uncle died in an accident in 1984, Bill took over then.”
Horseshoe Spear Another old fam-ily brand was that of the horseshoe spear, which is the brand Bill now holds on the Horseshoe Spear Cattle Company. Horseshoe Spear Cat-tle Company was formed in 1998. They run a herd of Angus cross cattle.
“It’s a good English-based cross, mainly black-hided,” notes Alice. “The idea is to buy high and sell low, and I’m in the midst of buy-ing another 100 head of cows,” he explains. “I’ve done all kinds of things to make the operation work.” Each year, they begin calving at the end of March, in an attempt to avoid cold weather and blizzards. They then brand in early May.
New experiences Alice notes that there are a number of things that they have changed over the years in order to continue operating and improve the ranch. Last winter, for example, they wintered another rancher’s cattle for the first time. “It was something we had never done,” says Alice. “We had some excess hay, and we had a man contact us to winter his animals.”
For the future, she adds that it is something they may do again. “We’ll either buy more cows or winter someone else’s,” says Alice of the future of the business. “This is Wyoming – we do what we can to stay in business.” They have also had to seek new places to sum-mer their cattle. In most years, they turn out on upper BLM range or For-est Service allotments, but they decided to take voluntary non-use of the allotments for controlled burns. In search of new summer range, Bill stum-bled on Anadarko’s Com-pany Ranch. “We’ve worked with Anadarko for many years, and they like the way Bill treats the land,” Alice explains.The Company Ranch
“Bill and one of our neighbors, George Col-lins, are in a partner-
ship, and they are running the Company Ranch for Anadarko,” say Alice. “It is a very, very old histor-ical ranch, and it needed some work.” With the Company Ranch in need of some significant rehabilitation, they have begun working to restore it to its glory. “We’ve been working with the Game and Fish Department, the BLM, Anadarko and NRCS,” she comments. “We are trying to bring it back to full pro-duction and bring all the old water sources back.” In the work that has been done, Alice notes that there are signs of sage grouse showing up more frequently, and the wild-life corridors are being opened again. Work on the ranch includes removing fences and working with NRCS on a comprehensive ranch plan. “We are looking at every water source, spring and old pond to see what can be reworked,” says Alice. “They are also try-ing to bring the irrigation systems back.” They are also work-ing to reestablish hay fields and rehabilitate land where the Ruby Pipeline went through. “We inter-seeded, fer-tilized and fixed a lot of irrigation. Last year, we were able to get some hay off the land,” she contin-ues. “This year, we didn’t get any hay off of it, but we’ve raised some good pasture.” “When it benefits, everyone is going to ben-efit,” adds Alice. “It really has been a good project.”
Uncertainty In light of the chang-ing political climate, changes in the industry and changes in society,
Alice notes that the future of agriculture is very uncertain. “We are uncertain whether the climate is going to be conducive to passing on the ranch,” Alice says. “It’s the chal-lenges.” Bill marks labor uncertainty as being par-ticularly difficult. “Trying to get kids or young people to come and help is hard,” he notes. “They don’t want to do chores or feed horses.” With difficulty finding help and no children inter-ested in taking over, he worries about the future of the operation. Alice also adds that rules and regulations also make it very difficult to continue operating. “Every time we turn around, there is a new rule,” she says. “We have to stay on top of things, and they have changed so fast.”Holistic management
In order to maintain healthy rangelands and systems, Bill focuses on the ranch as a whole, con-sidering the cattle, range-lands and wildlife. “I’m a holistic man-ager,” says Bill. “I really like being able to leave some grass out there to graze.” “Bill isn’t a cow-boy, he’s a rancher,” says Alice. “He loves the land, he loves the animals and he’s got a lot of natural knowledge.” “It’s not how much money you have,” Bill comments. “It’s the time you are here – that is what is of value. I try to make the best of my time here.” Saige Albert is manag-ing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
AGRIBUSINESS DIVISION STAFF:
Growing Wyoming Agriculture
Cindy Garretson-Weibel, Director
307.777.6589, [email protected]
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307.259.3274, [email protected]
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307.777.2847, [email protected]
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307.777.6319, [email protected]
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307.777.2807, [email protected]
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307.777.6578, [email protected]
Wyoming Livestock Genetics
For more info, contact Scott Keith, Livestock Genetics Program Manager, 307.259.3274 or [email protected]
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© 2012-2013 American Angus Association
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A11
Beef, barley and hay, grown in the USAWillis family strives for
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Family affair – The Willis Ranch focuses on bringing together a strong family and working together to develop a high quality cattle ranch. Saige Albert photo
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Cokeville – Roland Willis’ family started out in Cokeville in the early 1950s, when his father decided to move from Laketown, Utah and purchase land south of Cokeville. “There wasn’t enough land to expand over in Lake-town, so when a parcel of the B. Q. Ranch came up for sale, we purchased it,” comments Roland. “Today, we raise cows, alfalfa hay, grass hay and barley.” In 1969, Roland and his wife Linda got their start pur-chasing the original ranch from Roland’s father, along with 120 Hereford cows. “Over the years, we started changing to black,” he says, referencing the Angus they now raise. Linda adds, “I think the Angus work better in this country, and they are more adapted to it.” Roland, Linda and their family run the extensive oper-ation. Currently, they have three boys on the ranch, and two daughters, Teresa and Trudy, who live away from the area. Jordan, Jed and James and their families play an integral role in the functioning of Wil-lis Ranch. Teresa, Trudy and their families play an active part in the ranch providing additional help when needed. Black Angus operation
At first glance, the opera-tion resembles many of those in Lincoln County, but the focus on integrating technol-ogy and efficiency to raise cat-tle sets them apart. “We start calving in March,” says Jordan of the commercial ranching opera-tion. They begin pasture calv-ing in areas closer to their headquarters. Following calv-ing, the Willis family moves cattle to pastures. “We summer on BLM and private lands. The cows enter BLM grazing May 11,” says Linda. “We come off Sept. 25, and we start feeding about Thanksgiving.” The operation, like others in Lincoln County, spends a large number of days feeding. Jordan notes that they usually plan to feed between 150 and 160 days. “We have put a lot into the cattle since we started,” says Linda. “It has always been a goal of our to always strive to make them better and use bet-ter genetics.” In attempting to contin-ually improve the herd, she adds that they are searching for better, higher quality cattle that produce and thrive in the their environment. “We are looking for cat-tle that sustain themselves and that will wean a big calf,” Linda continues. “That is why we like the black cattle – they work for us.”
Growing crops “We have also produced alfalfa and barley since the beginning, but not to the extent that we do now,” Linda
says. Roland adds, “We were the first really to produce alfalfa.” “We pioneered alfalfa here,” Linda says. “We plowed up the sagebrush to start producing. Older gener-ations didn’t think you could produce alfalfa in this climate, but it does well.” James, who is most pas-sionate about the barley seg-ment of the operation, says, “This is good barley coun-try, because we usually have cooler weather. It makes a good yield.” Though raising barley is challenging, James adds that the cool weather results in a heavy, plump kernel with a lot of meat. “In other parts of the country and state, most peo-ple’s barley is lighter, so this makes for better feed barley,” he explains. “It’s also a good rotation for alfalfa.” “I get more enjoyment out of watching the crops grow than working with the cattle,” comments James. The Willis Ranch’s bar-ley is sold to dairies for a feed product.
Successful ranch encounters challenges
Like many other ranches, short growing seasons and harsh weather are difficult for the Willis family to deal with, but they enjoy the challenge and have worked out how to handle the challenges. Jed says, “The window of opportunity to grow crops and be productive is narrow in this county, due to climate and limited natural resources” “The biggest challenge we have here is weather,” Roland notes, “but here, we have our pastures close, and we can keep tabs on the cows.” “We are prepared for a blizzard, if it comes,” Jed adds. “We get at least one bliz-zard a year during calving sea-son.” “It’s also fun to see if what we plan comes out,” Jordan mentions. “We try to do better, and we always have the odds stacked against us, it seems,” James continues. “We can learn something every year to try next year. It’s a challenge, and it’s fun.”
Being the best “In our crops and our live-stock, we try to be the most efficient as we can be,” Jordan explains. “We strive to have what we think is a good look-ing cow and what we think are good crops.” While they strive for the best cows and bulls across the board, Jordan adds that they have developed length in their cattle, as well as good disposi-tion and carcass merit. “We have seen some big improvements over what we thought was good years ago,” Roland mentions, specifically referencing weaning weight. “We used to think it was good to wean a 450-pound calf. Now we get calves between
625 and 650 pounds at wean-ing.” The reason they have been able to continually improve is because they have changed how they operate, as well as in the equipment and technology they utilize.Technological developments “We have become more efficient, and a lot of that is the machinery and technol-ogy that has changed,” Linda explains. As part of their increasing technological developments, the family utilizes GPS tech-nology in their field equip-ment, and they utilize elec-tronic identification tags in their cattle. “We can keep better files
and better records,” comments Jed’s wife Stephanie. Jordan explains, “I’ve got a handheld program that I use, and it keeps track of every-thing – all the cow informa-tion, the sire information, dates of birth, health com-ments and any other data we have.” “I don’t ever think that we can get too much informa-tion,” Linda adds. “We try to take advantage of new technology,” Jordan mentions. “We want to be the most productive and efficient we can be.” While the Willis fam-ily doesn’t see themselves as being in competition with their neighbors, but rather as com-
peting against themselves. “It is our goal to keep doing better and to keep improving,” Roland says of the operation.
Ranching for family Roland mentions that, while they enjoy raising cat-tle and watching the crops grow, “The biggest thing is that we try to keep our family together.” “We want to have a fam-
ily on the ranch for forever,” he continues. “Hopefully the boys will keep it going.” “The future of Willis Ranch,” says Linda, “is keep-ing our family tradition intact and passing the legacy on to our children and grandchil-dren.” Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Live-stock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA12
Freedom – In an area where settlers and explorers alike depended on guns for their very survival is the mod-ern day Freedom Arms fire-arm factory. Inside this Free-dom business, workers craft precision firearms for a new generation of adventurers, from handgun enthusiasts to big game hunters. Founded in 1978 by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull, Freedom Arms is a Wyoming based firearm manufacturing company, known across the country for powerful, precision revolv-ers. The company is just one of a few manufacturers in the world to offer hand crafted revolvers. Freedom Arms Presi-dent Bob Baker is a second-generation manager of the business. His father, Wayne,
When a customer’s abilities develop
beyond what other guns can handle,
that’s when they come to us.” – Bob
Baker, Freedom Arms President
Unique weaponryFreedom Arms crafts customized
firearmsstarted Freedom Arms more than 30 years ago, in part to give Star Valley youth employment options beyond traditional production agri-culture. Today, the Freedom Arms factory has 15 employ-ees and sells handguns around the world.
Quality products Baker says what sets his company apart from other manufacturers is their dedi-cation to a quality product. “We focus on quality, not quantity. Freedom Arms revolvers are very refined versions of what you can get from a large manufac-turer. We emphasize accu-racy, power and durability,” explains Baker. “When a customer’s abilities develop beyond what other guns can handle, that’s when they
come to us.” Freedom Arms special-izes in single-action revolv-ers. The hammer on each revolver must be cocked before it can be shot. Free-dom Arms makes revolvers for small rimfire rounds suit-able for target shooting up to the larger cartridges designed for killing big game.
Making revolvers A Freedom Arms revolver begins as a block of stainless steel, machined at the factory. Baker says parts are machined in batches, with more complicated parts being made in smaller batches. Once all the batches come together and the all the parts for a model are ready, the revolvers are put together by hand by Free-dom Arms employees. Then, the revolver is assembled and tested for accuracy and finally sent to the finishing room to be hand finished. The finished product has virtually invisible joints and incredible precision. For example, per the company’s standards, grips are fitted so that a feeler gauge less than the thickness of a man’s hair can’t be forced between the grips and the metal frame. Customers can find a few dozen guns available for immediate purchase on the Freedom Arms web-site. But most opt to have a revolver custom crafted to their exact wants, specifying
caliber, grip material or bar-rel shape and length. Preci-sion and customization take time, however. “It takes us anywhere from six to seven months to produce a revolver,” explains Baker. “But our customers are willing to wait to get just what they want.”
Handgun options Freedom Arms also sells a full line of accessories, including scope mounts, holsters, gun totes, bullets and reloading supplies. The Bear Track case is a protec-tive case designed for Free-dom Arms firearms. Like the revolvers, it’s handcrafted directly at the Wyoming facility. Revolvers start at around $2,000, depending on the model and customization options selected. That’s almost three times the cost of one from a big firearm manufacturer. But if you’re after big game and your life is on the line, the accuracy and power are well worth the price. “I enjoy the challenge of hunting with a handgun, but you’re also taking a risk,” says big game hunter Todd Grady, an owner of two Freedom Arms pieces. “The accuracy and ballistics of the Freedom Arms product is unmatched by anything else I’ve ever shot.” The Freedom Arms web-site displays photos and tes-
timonials from other big game hunters. Baker him-self has killed a grizzly bear with his company’s revolver. Moose, mountain lions, wil-debeest, water buffalo and even a hippo have all been harvested with the Wyoming product.Marketing Freedom Arms Freedom Arms markets revolvers to hunters, compet-itive shooters and even col-lectors. Baker says he attends numerous trade shows across the country, but most of their marketing and advertising is done through word of mouth. “Competitive shooters look to see what the shoot-ers winning the competi-tions are shooting, then look to buy the same gun. Many times, that’s a Freedom Arms revolver,” says Baker. In fact, about 80 percent of competitors in the Inter-national Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association shoot Freedom Arms revolvers, according to Baker. “Our customers are our best salespeople,” he says. “Positive comments and rec-ommendations from a fel-low competitor or hunter sell more guns than a brochure could.”
Unexpected fame Advertising for the com-pany has also come from an unexpected source, Wyo-ming author C.J. Box. Box writes a series of fictional novels about a Wyoming game warden. One of the main characters in the book, Nate Romanowski, carries a
.454 Casull, a Freedom Arms revolver. The .454 Casull is named for Freedom Arms co-founder Dick Casull. It was designed as a more pow-erful version of the .45 Colt and .44 Remington Mag-num, to be used for big game hunting. It, along with the Model 83, is the most pop-ular revolver in the Freedom Arms line. Baker says he was sur-prised when customers started commenting about the revolver’s role in the books. “When I first had some-one come up to me and ask about the .454 Casull and the book, I hadn’t read them yet, so I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. We get com-ments about that revolver from customers, even in Europe,” he notes. Even former Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal has his own Freedom Arms gun. Make that two famous Wyoming characters that carry the .454 revolver. For more information, customers can visit the com-pany’s Web site at freedo-marms.com or call them at 307-883-2468. The fac-tory does not offer tours, but Baker says experienced sales staff is always ready to help customer’s custom build a revolver to fit any need. Teresa Milner is a cor-respondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to [email protected].
The Willwood Herd
Angus Cattle
We have emphasized higher marbling to develop cattle that will reach the
choice quality grade at a younger age and with less feed. These cattle will
customers.
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A13
Angel AngusTerry & Jackie Angel
Betty or Cory Baker331 Normandy Rd.
Sinclair Cattle Co., Inc.
Bob & Kate Ballew
Ballou AngusRoger & Bonnie Ballou
Dudley & Jennifer Booth
Douglas & Carolyn Booth
Booth’s Cherry Creek Ranch
Booth’s Cherry Creek RanchShawn and Diane Booth
Bowman Cattle
Bryant Angus RanchRuth Bryant
Buline Angus
Curt & Diane Cox3011 Ridgecrest Dr.
Don Cox
Davidson Angus
Milliron D RanchJustin & Kristina Davis170 Missouri Valley Rd.
KJ Angus
Cross Diamond Cattle Co.
Wayne & Cheri Smith
Mike & Angie McConnell
Clay Creek Angus
Gengenbach Cattle Co.Randy & Mary Jo Gengenbach
Godley Angus RanchGary Godley
Grandstaff AngusCurtis & Cheryl Grandstaff
Gray’s Angus Ranch
Daniel Greet
RanchJ.T. & Beth Guest
B & D Cattle Co.
www.kenhaasangus.com
[email protected]@yahoo.com
th
Dan Ingalls
Jim & Jamie Jensen
Jensen AngusJustin & Renee Jensen
Bill & Chris Johnson
Chad Jones
xhranch@union-tel.comwww.xhangus.com
Deer Creek Angus RanchBill & Jo Ann Keith
Jay & Kimi Keys1030 Mountain View Dr.
Kilts AngusRussell & Sheila Kilts
Klein AngusBill Klein
Rafter T AngusKale & Kim Kretschman
Kretschman Angus
Malm Ranch Co.Andy & Gordon Malm
Jim or Jeff McClun
McConnell Angus RanchRoger, Ryan and Royce
McConnell
www.cowcapital.com
Martin & Kelli Mercer
Tom & Garcia Michelena993 Airport Rd.
Micheli RanchDale or Ron Micheli
Mitchem RanchStan & Karen Mitchem
7X RanchesWayne & Kevie Morrison
Neiman 77 RanchRyan Neiman
Nickel Cattle Co.Kevin & Jackie Nickel
Nolke AngusCalvin Nolke, Jr.
[email protected][email protected]
Redland Red Bank AngusDeb & Adam Redland
MR Angus RanchJuan Reyes or Jen Reyes-Burr
Colton & Tanna Rodeman
Double JR RanchJohn & Judy Rueb
Ted Seely
Neal & Amanda Sorenson
Dennis Sun
Wagler AngusKim & Elsie Wagler
Walker Angus RanchRamon & Verla Walker
Weaver RanchSusan, Maurine and Maxine Weaver or Sheldon Emerson3000 West Co. Rd. 70
Angus
www.beavercreekranches.com
Don or Darrell Wilkes
Waldon & Buttons York
www.weboangus.com
Wyoming Angus Association ~ “The Best in the West”
DIRECTORS – TERMS EXPIRING 2013Gary Godley
Wayne Smith
Buttons York
TERMS EXPIRING 2014Shawn Booth
Neal Sorenson
Kelli Mercer
TERMS EXPIRING 2015
Dan Ingalls
Brad Boner
Kale Kretschman
Teasa Nauta
Wyoming Angus
Association Officers
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA14
Thayne – In 2006, Steve and Jill Cakebread purchased land along the Salt River just north of Thayne. The prop-erty had been part of a fam-ily farm for nearly 100 years but was scheduled for devel-opment before they pur-chased it. Since then, they’ve con-tinued to add adjacent par-cels to the property. They’ve restored native grass pas-tures and fields, encouraged healthy habitat for Brown and Cutthroat Trout and other wildlife, developed an organic vegetable gar-den and greenhouses brim-ming with vegetables and herbs and planted hundreds of vibrant young trees. In 2011, they went into the cattle business, raising full-blood Wagyu cattle.
The Cakebread RanchOperation features
unique array of aspects The Cakebread Ranch now includes a cattle busi-ness, farm, fly-fishing oper-ation, greenhouses and gar-den facilities. In the near future, they plan to build a lodge and restaurant, and eventually add guest cabins. The place consists of 230 acres of irrigated and dry alfalfa, river meadow and grass pasture, with an early water right. The Cakebread family also owns Cakebread Cel-lars, producing high-end red and white wines. Steve and Jill’s vision for Cakebread Ranch is to produce high-end beef, fruits and vegeta-bles using sustainable prac-tices on the ranch, which is located just 45 miles south of Jackson Hole. Ranch staff includes
General Manager Chase Averill and six other employ-ees.
Ranching focus The ranch focuses on breeding and raising 100 percent full-blood Wagyu cattle from Japan and Aus-tralia, descended from his-toric and preeminent Japa-nese bloodlines. Their goal is to produce Kobe-style beef – often called “butter beef” for it’s flavor and mar-bling – available for dining in the ranch lodge, as well as in prestigious restaurants in Jackson. The word “Wagyu” refers to all Japanese beef cattle – “Wa” meaning Jap-anese or Japanese-style and “gyu” meaning cattle. Kobe-style beef often grades Prime Plus Plus, or off the USDA Meat Grading scale. Ranch Manager Jim Pigg says most of the Cakebread’s Wagyu cattle descend from the Tottori strain – one of the dominant black Wagyu strains – used in Japan as
pack animals for the rice and grain industry in the Tottori region. In Japan, these cattle were selected for their size and strength of topline. “We’re doing a lot of genetic research, and we feed the cattle well to find that perfect balance of milk, marbling and size,” Jim comments. “A lot of folks like the idea of grass-fed beef, but don’t care for the flavor or texture. These cat-tle are pasture-fed a magic ration.” Pasture-fed refers to a process of livestock graz-ing and feeding organic grain products in the pasture to improve beef flavor and marbling. While developing de-sired genetics, the ranch now runs 21 head of cattle. Soon, they’ll work their way up to 40 head, and eventually up to 160 head, according to Jim.
Farmlands Situated on five acres, the farm includes a wide variety of herbs, flowers,
“We’re doing a lot of genetic research,
and we feed the cattle well to find that
perfect balance of milk, marbling and
size.” – Jim Pigg, Cakebread Ranch
Manager
Able hands – Jim Pigg, ranch manager, and Chase Averill, gen-eral manager, are passionate about increasing the quality of the resources available on The Cakebread Ranch. Echo Renner photo
vegetables and a fruit tree orchard cared for with sus-tainable organic farming methods. Produce from the gar-den and hoop greenhouses includes a diverse array, ranging from lettuce mix, heirloom tomatoes and assorted hot peppers to kale, rutabagas and baby fennel. Todd Baron, head gar-dener, thoroughly enjoys his job. “The goal for the organic farm is to be self-sufficient, growing produce for the lodge when it’s built, as well as restaurants in Jackson,” says Todd. “We also have produce to sell locally, and plan to have a show garden.” Todd and one employee care for the farm on a daily basis. He and three employ-ees work together on Thurs-days to prepare produce for the Star Valley Farmer’s Market in Alpine. Some of the produce available from the Cakebread Ranch at the farmer’s market in late September included Swiss chard, lemon cucumber, pea shoots, micro greens, sun-chokes, purple plum radish and watermelon, as well as thyme, rosemary, sage and caraway seed. “This is the third sum-mer for the test orchard. We grow semi-dwarf apples, cherries and plums. Semi-dwarf seems to work best here because of our very short growing season,” Todd explains. He also tends a lavender test field. “We grow English lav-ender that we’ll harvest and sell to spas and wellness cen-ters. It’s a great cash crop, selling for about $10.50 a bundle or $38 a pound,” he explains. Todd says the farm may eventually offer classes and workshops focused on the farm-to-table concept and production at Cakebread Ranch.
Fly-fishing The Salt River and addi-tional feeder creeks meander through the willows and hay-fields, offering about four miles of private fishing for Brown and Cutthroat Trout. Ranch staff has worked to restore the river and creek banks to increase fish hab-itat. A professional fishing guide offers guided fishing trips on the ranch. “The Salt River here is mostly land-locked,” explains Jim, “with few Wyoming Game and Fish access points, so the river is not over-utilized.” Fishing at the Cakebread Ranch is set up on a “beat”
system. To ensure produc-tive fishing for each fisher-man, each beat is rested on a regular basis. A historic cabin built with square-cut logs serves as a riverside fly shop on the ranch to increase the fishing experience.
Lodge and cabins With the fly-fishing aspect of the operation flour-ishing, the Cakebread Ranch has broken ground for the lodge, which will seat about 40 people. “In the restaurant they’ll cook mostly with wood, using oak, hickory, apple and mesquite. They’ll use a large wood-fired pizza oven with an Argentine influence,” explains Jim. The beef raised on the ranch will be served in the restaurant. The Cakebreads are planning to build six to eight cabins on the north end of the ranch in a secluded area for guests.
Challenges “We are working toward an organic status, which presents challenges,” com-ments Jim, “like not being able to chemically amend soil, or chemically treat-ing weeds. Right now, we are using about 28 goats to help reduce weeds in small areas.” He says one of their largest challenges includes building the place from scratch. “We purchased pastures or parts of several differ-ent ranches and started with basically no infrastructure. We’ve accomplished quite a lot in a short time,” Jim adds. Ranch staff has amended pastures with native grass mix, planted 800 trees and built fence. Jim estimates they will have beef available for the lodge restaurant by 2014. Chase says the farm should be in full operation within three years, and the restau-rant operating within about one year. Jim says, “The Cake-bread’s are the most gracious and polite owners. They desire to have a strong lead-ership role in the commu-nity and to be strong local employers.” Steve and Jill Cake-bread, and their knowledge-able staff, are well on their way to creating a first class ranch representing quality and excellence. For more information, visit thecakebreadranch.com. Echo Renner is a cor-respondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup may be reached at 307.250.9723 or [email protected].
For Market Reports and Information, Visit our website at
www.billingslivestock.com or Call 1-800-635-7364
(406) 698-4783
(406) 670-0689
(406) 671-7715, (406) 245-4151
(406) 670-0773, (406) 855-1947
October 4 Thursday All Class Cattle SaleOctober 11 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle SaleOctober 18 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle Sale and Northern
Internet AuctionOctober 25 Thursday Annual Anniversary Cattle Special – All Classes SellOctober 27/28 Saturday/Sunday October Horse SaleNovember 1 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle SaleNovember 5 Monday Stock Cow & Weigh-Up SpecialNovember 8 Thursday Stock Cow & Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle SaleNovember 15 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle Sale and Northern
Internet AuctionNovember 19 Monday Thanksgiving Week Stock Cow Special and All
Class Cattle SaleNovember 22 Thursday NO SALE — HAPPY THANKSGIVING!November 24/25 Saturday/Sunday November Horse SaleNovember 29 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle Sale Featuring
Weaned CalvesDecember 1 Saturday Montana Simmental Influence Female SaleDecember 3 Monday Brusett Angus Complete DispersalDecember 6 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle SaleDecember 13 Thursday Feeder Special w/All Class Cattle Sale Featuring
Weaned CalvesDecember 15 Saturday Annual Northland Stock Cow & Bred Heifer SaleDecember 20 Thursday 2012 Year End Cattle Special – All Classes Sell
January 10 Thursday 2013 Kick-Off Cattle Sale – All Classes SellJanuary 14 Monday Northern Livestock Video Auction “Diamond Ring
Sale”
Visit the Billings Livestock Exchange Building. Easy access off the interstate to the
Hitts The Spot Cafe (one of the best in Billings) Open Mon. - Fri.Northern Livestock Video Auction Main Office Open Mon. - Fri.
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We are proud to be Montana’s Pioneer Market. Our market is active and our sales are well attended. Your cattle go into big clean pens with bunks full of feed and fresh clean water. Please call ahead to consign to any of these sales or to talk about the market. Be a part of
our extensive national advertising and internet promotion of your cattle! Bill 406-670-0689 Ty 406-698-4783 Dan 406-671-7715
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition A15
Afton - Rollin and Tami Gardner operate a family beef cattle and hay opera-tion south of Afton. Rol-lin’s great grandparents moved to Star Valley over 100 years ago and operated a dairy farm. “It was just sagebrush then. They cleared 10 acres a year in their spare time,” Rollin recalls. The ranch was later pur-chased by Rollin’s grandfa-ther, who suffered a stroke as a young man. When Rol-lin’s father Reed was 14, his Dad passed away, and he was raised by his grandpar-ents. After earning a mas-ter’s degree in dairy science from UW and a stint in the army, Reed returned and took over the dairy in the mid-1950s. Rollin is the oldest boy out of nine children.
Buying the farm “Our operation then wasn’t mechanized. When Dad ran out of kid labor, he had to do something differ-ent. Tami and I purchased the farm from my parents on January 1, 1990,” Rollin says. The young couple ran the dairy for 16 years before going out of the dairy busi-ness and going into the beef cow and hay business in 2006. Before purchasing the farm, Rollin attended UW, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science. In Laramie, he milked cows at the UW Experiment Sta-tion for over a year, and was the assistant superintendent or herdsman there for three years. After college, he was transferred to the UW Exper-iment Station at Afton. Tami grew up on a nearby ranch and farm. At a young age, her father taught her to ride horses and drive a team. She is a valuable part of their current operation. “I run the swather, baler, rakes, and I help rope when we brand. We rope and drag our calves to the fire,” she says, “I enjoy it. I could take my kids with me on the tractor. I took a car seat in the tractor, and they would sit there while I was haying. I liked having the kids with me. We made a decision I would stay at home instead of going to town to work.”
Hay and cattle Rollin explains, “We raise mostly hay now, with
Raising kids and cowsAfton couple
focuses on familya little barley and 50 head of mother cows. We are slowly building a cow herd.” The Gardner’s mar-ket about 1,200 ton of hay annually, mostly for horses. “Our neighbor across road has 1,300 head of horses, so we sell our hay to him,” he says. “We also feed about 80 head of horses here through winter, with a team.” “I broke the team, and they are mine,” Tami comments, proudly. “Dad always had a team and horses, and he taught me. We have a couple of wag-ons and a sleigh.” Rollin adds jokingly, “When it’s 20 below, she won’t come out. I have to feed with a tractor. One of our daughters and a son also drives.” “We bought a big square baler 10 years ago to do some custom haying. Our operation is similar to a lot of those in the area. This valley was mostly dairies, and then over time the dair-ies have dropped out. In that last two or three years alone, 10 dairies in the val-ley have gone out of busi-ness. Several of the guys who have stayed in agricul-ture have switched to beef,” Rollin explains.Irrigating in Star Valley “All our grass is irri-gated pasture. Our irrigation system is gravity flow, so we don’t have a big power bill. Dry Creek comes out of the canyon, and in the pioneer days, they built ditches and used it for irri-gation,” explains Rollin. “In 1969, the Dry Creek Irriga-tion District put an intake structure in the creek. It fills a 32-inch pipe, comes down canyon and forks into three laterals that come down to West.” Rollin says that the water drops 1,500 feet, cre-ating 80 pounds of pressure, which is enough to power a sprinkler. “It’s a community-wide system,” he adds. “We don’t have to pump water.” “Before 1969, they had water for the first crop of hay, but the second crop was iffy. They usually had water for grain. But, in a dry year like this, there is no way we could make it without the sprinkler sys-tems. All this ground here would be dried up,” he says. “We’ve never had to pump
water, and this system costs us $10 an acre.” The Gardner’s use one pivot they put in five years ago, side rolls and some hand lines to irrigate. He continues, “When the creek gets low, we have to go on rations. When water gets low we take turns shutting off. The lower the creek gets the more we shut off. There is no storage;; it’s all directly off of snowmelt.”Community involvement The Gardner’s under-stand the importance of being involved in the com-munity. Rollin served as secre-tary of the Western Region Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Association, director of the Dry Creek Irrigation Dis-
trict, as a member of the local conservation district board and the local RC&D board. He also served on the Select Sires Cache Val-ley Board for a time. Rol-lin’s father was instrumen-tal in starting Cache Val-ley breeding out of Cache Valley, Utah, which later joined up with Select Sires. Tami was involved with the Lincoln County Rodeo Queen Royalty in 2012. She also served five years as president of the young women’s group in their church, was a PTO member and 4-H leader. Tami comments, “Too many people think, ‘I’m too busy to get involved.’ If we just sit back, then our views are not being repre-sented.”
Raising a family Rollin and Tami have two sons and two daugh-ters: Jesika, Tyler, Justin and Saydi. They also have two grandchildren. Rollin says, “Star Val-ley is a great place to raise kids. We could have gone somewhere else, made more money and had more time off.” “Every one of our kids knows how to work. When our kids apply for a job and say they’ve been raised on a ranch or a farm, they are
moved to the top of the list,” Tami adds. “We have succeeded in raising kids who know how to work.” “Our kids used to take about 20 Holsteins to county fair, and peo-ple would ask me why we took so many cows,” she continues. “I’d reply, ‘We are raising kids, not just cows.’” Echo Renner is a corre-spondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to [email protected].
Cows and kids – The Gardner family has always placed and emphasis on raising good children. Pictured above are grandson Hayes, Rollin, Tami and daughter Jesika. Echo Renner photo
“All our grass is irrigated pasture. Our
irrigation system is gravity flow, so we
don’t have a big power bill.” – Rollin
Gardner
Winter feed – Raising hay constitutes a large part of the Gardner’s operation. They also feed nearly 80 head of horses during the winter using a team and wagon or sleigh. Courtesy photo
For More Information or a Catalog, Call:Dale (307) 782-3469 or (307) 780-8232
Ron (307) 782-3897
Selling 40 Herefords & 40 Angus Bulls
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Featuring Sons of These Leading Sires:
Wyoming Livestock RoundupA16
Cokeville – “The thing about us that is a little dif-ferent is we started from scratch,” says Cokeville rancher Kim Clark. The journey for Kim and his family hasn’t been easy, but it’s been one that has resulted in the creation of a successful operation in the southern end of Lincoln County. “I grew up on a small ranch, and right out of high school, I started working on ranches,” Kim explains. “I ended up working on a big ranch for an attor-ney that was running about 12,000 cattle, and it was a tremendous education.” In the position, Kim spent summers in Idaho and Wyoming, traveling to California for the win-ter. However, after he mar-ried and started a family, his children were grow-ing older, and he felt it was time for a change.
New beginnings “I was always gone, and my wife Jill was trying to take care of the kids,” he says. “I decided to find a regular job, so we could run a bunch of our own cows.” In 1991, Kim attended and completed training at the Law Enforcement Academy with the goal of working for the Wyo-ming Livestock Board in enforcement. On his first attempts to secure the posi-tion in 1992, he was turned
Starting from scratch Clark family builds cattle operation from ground
away for lack of experi-ence and instead continued working for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. “At the same time, we started putting together a little bunch of cows, even though we didn’t own any ground,” Kim says. “We leased some ground instead.” After being named Wyoming’s Peace Officer of the Year in 1998, Kim was hired by the Wyoming Livestock Board and has been working for the orga-nization ever since. “We also continued to build our ranch,” he says. “Essentially we just keep building up, growing and adding cows, and it works.”
Red and black Kim’s operation runs both pairs and yearlings, and he notes that both him-self and his wife hold down regular jobs at the same time. His daughter Stepha-nie works full time on the ranch. Stephanie’s husband Dru Haderlie also helps on the ranch, but he also works for the Wyoming Depart-ment of Agriculture. “We ranch going 100 miles an hour,” Kim says smiling. Both Red and Black Angus are run on the oper-ation, and Kim notes that because Angus are market-able cattle, it works well. “We are slowly moving to Red Angus,” he men-
tions. “They are super cat-tle, and we really like the Red Angus.” In breeding their cattle, Kim says they work to raise their own bulls and have developed an A.I. program. They also run a purebred herd – both Red and Black Angus – that they utilize. They family runs on leased BLM and Forest Service land that extends from Cokeville through Star Valley to Jackson. To support and feed their cattle, they also put up the native hay on their lands. This year, the Clarks also decided to purchase some additional hay to feed, mixed with some straw.
Marketing calves “We sell our steer calves in the fall and retain our heifers,” Kim explains of their ranch’s marketing
strategy. “The heifers are sent to a feed yard, then put on grass and bred.” They sell the open, spayed and some bred heif-ers, and return the remain-ing bred heifers to the herd. “Bred heifers are worth a lot of money,” he contin-ues. “We wanted to delve into that market, and we have some good places to go with the opportunity for tremendous weight gain. It has worked pretty great.”
Making it work With the weather and economic issues that are affecting agriculture every day, Kim sees some ben-efits to living in Cokev-ille and starting a ranching operation. “We’ve never been entirely droughted-out,” Kim says. “It’s been awfully dry, but we’ve always been able to raise a
crop.” This year, he says that frost has been more of a problem. “We got frost clear into July,” he comments, his resulting alfalfa crop has suffered. “Our wild hay that we got water on had a really good crop,” he continues. “Our range is extremely dry right now, but we are right on the edge of the mountain, and we seem to get enough moisture to make it work.”Working together to
develop And to make the oper-ation work, Kim says the help of his family is inte-gral. “I have a super crew,” Kim says, mentioning that Stephanie, Dru and their children Keegan, Kalob and Kelli all help on the operation. His wife Jill has also been important to the oper-ation. “When we first started putting this thing together, Jill got a job and paid for
the BLM permit that we bought,” he explains. As a family operation, they work together to make sure hay is harvested, cows are taken care of and the operation runs smoothly. “I enjoy ranching,” comments Dru, who notes he didn’t come from a ranching family. Rather, in seeing his children raised on the ranch, he has noticed a work ethic and level of responsibility that doesn’t develop in children raised in other environments. “I always wanted to be a cowboy,” he says, “and now it’s about our kids – they are the future of the ranch.” “It’s tough in this day and age, especially with this economy, to make ends meet,” Kim comments, “but every year, we seem to get our bills paid and make it work.” Saige Albert is manag-ing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at [email protected].
Close ties – As a true family operation, the Clarks focus on continu-ing their operation with family in mind. Saige Albert photo
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LaBarge – Eric Barnes has lived on the family ranch outside of LaBarge near Fontenelle Reservoir his entire life on land that his father acquired early in life. “Dad was working for the owner of this ranch, a man named Arnold Larson, When Arnold had to leave to take care of his place in Opal,” explains Eric. “He started leasing the ranch, but he wasn’t making enough money, so Arnold offered to sell it to him.” At the young age of only 21, Calvin Barnes, Eric’s father, began the
“I am very excited about the eagerness
of the younger generations in the fam-
ily being involved in the fall and spring
work and learning the ropes.” – Eric
Barnes
legacy that he left to his family of eight. “We’ve been in a part-nership on the ranch since dad passed away, and I’m one of the general part-ners,” says Eric. “I’ve stayed with dad through it all.”Called back to ranching
As the youngest of eight siblings, Eric felt strong ties to the land and his family. After his mother passed away when he was only 12, Eric was raised by his father on the ranch. “My sisters went to town to live with our older
sister,” says Eric, “but I stayed out here with dad as his right-hand man.” “My dreams are dad’s dreams, and dad’s dreams are something I’m hoping to fulfill,” he adds. He left the family operation for a short time on a bull riding schol-arship to attend Eastern Wyoming College in Tor-rington. “Dad needed help, and I decided to put bull rid-ing on the back burner and come home to help on the ranch.” Today, Eric contin-ues the legacy his father began, raising cows and putting up hay with his wife April, three-year-old son Timber and dedicated hand Kevin Megayhey. Making the land work
“We put up alfalfa and
the native grass,” says Eric. “On average, we get two to three ton per acre, and usually we can get two cuttings. This year, our second cutting has been short because it’s been cold.” “Dad was one of the first ones to try growing alfalfa in this country,” Eric mentions, explaining that his father removed the sagebrush from the land and worked with the Nat-ural Resources Conserva-tion Service to improve the soil. “Some of the land had ditches and water rights, but he put sprinkler systems in as well.” He adds that when they started, it was warmer and a second cutting was guar-anteed, but it seems their growing season is getting shorter.
“I try to keep the land productive,” Eric empha-sizes, mentioning that he is trying some new strat-egies to produce a better crop. “We’ve been trying some different grass mixes with our alfalfa.”Experimenting with
alfalfa
Following the lead of his father, Eric saw some varieties growing in some of the fields on their land that Calvin planted before he passed away and decided to increase the amount of grass in the mixture. To encourage the growth of the crop, they also irrigate with piv-ots and wheel lines, flood irrigating their native hay land in the river bottom.
Running cows
The couple also runs a herd of Angus cows that calves beginning in Feb-ruary. The ranch is a 350 cow/calf operation. “Our heifer calves develop a lot better if we start them in February,” remarks April, adding that they keep their replace-ments to sell as bred heif-ers. “We feel like with the direction the nation is going, as far as low cow numbers, there is opportu-nity in bred heifers.” They also run on BLM range, which has proven difficult in the drought year because grass is short. “Depending on the weather, we don’t have to
start feeding our hay until January,” he adds. “But if we get colder weather or run out of grass, we have to start earlier.”
Into the future
With uncertainty about public lands issues, they say, “If we can survive the public lands changes, that is a big stay-or-go issues for a lot of small ranches like this. We need the pub-lic lands grazing to work.” As long as the range is available and productive, however, the couple will continue to grow, develop and improve their opera-tion. Eric adds that he is trying to continue the leg-acy his dad set forth and accomplish the long-term goals the ranch has had since it’s beginnings. “We have all been raised to be good stewards of the land,” he says, “and we are trying our best to help the environment.” “I also like the chal-lenge of surviving out here with the skills and the tools that Dad taught me,” Eric comments. “That’s why I stay here.” Eric says, “I am very excited about the eager-ness of the younger gener-ations in the family being involved in the fall and spring work and learning the ropes.” Saige Albert is manag-
ing editor of the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup and
can be reached at saige@
wylr.net
ROUNDUPWYOMING
LIVESTOCK
Gathering cows - Eric Barnes works cattle on their LaBarge ranch. Courtesy photo
Wyoming Livestock RoundupB2
Auburn – Tyson Hepworth and his wife Stephanie are raising three children while operating a registered Angus operation. “We’ve been play-ing around with it in the last couple of years,” comments Tyson of their operation. “We actually started out as a dairy.” When his great-grandfa-ther started the operation fol-
Hepworths set high goals,
work for the futureBuilding and improvinglowing the Depression, he chose to start a dairy, which ran until 1992. His grandfather began to turn over the operation in 1992, and Tyson notes that his father switched to a beef cattle operation to make it feasible to continue to work in town, as well as operate a farm. In dispersing the dairy, Hepworth notes they started
a small herd on commer-cial beef – an endeavor that transformed into a registered Angus ranch in the last 10 years.
Running Angus
“About seven years ago, I came back to the ranch after college and thought we could get a better value out of run-ning registered livestock,” Tyson explains. “I like taking data, putting it together and seeing how we’re running.” “We start feeding hay about the first of November, because there is usually snow on the ground,” he notes. “We
feed from then until the first of June, when we kick out on pasture.” To facilitate the long feeding season, he adds that the majority of their land goes into producing hay. “We do quite a lot as far as feeding hay is concerned,” Tyson explains, “because we have too much winter. We feed longer than we are out on grass.” Unlike many operations in Lincoln County, Tyson notes that they don’t have any rangeland to run their cat-tle on, and rather, the Hep-worths operate on pastures in the foothills and in the floor of the valley. Beginning in September, they round up the cattle and begin to sort the bull calves. Those that don’t make the cut are castrated and weaned. “When we are select-ing animals, we start out with the feet and legs,” explains Tyson. “If they don’t have feet and leg structure to carry themselves, it doesn’t matter
“If they don’t have feet and leg struc-
ture to carry themselves, it doesn’t
matter what their genetics look like.”
– Tyson Hepworth
what their genetics look like – they can’t get where they need to and get the job done.” After considering phe-notype – feet, legs, size and growth – he adds that they look at the genetic data, including birth weights, weaning weight and yearling weight. “After we wean, we start getting ready to sell our females in the fall, and we start to get the bulls ready,” he continues. “We send our bulls to a feedlot in Mannan, Idaho, and that works well for us.” He adds that they will continue to send bulls to be developed in the feedlot, prior to their bull sales.
Making changes
Since beginning the oper-ation, Tyson hasn’t been afraid to make changes to meet their needs. “When we started out, we were calving in March and April, and we just weren’t meeting the marketing times for our bulls,” comments Tyson. “We didn’t have the size we wanted, so we moved our dates up.” Today, they calve begin-ning the first of February to achieve the ideal animal for the operation. While currently they don’t have a commercial sec-tor of the operation, Tyson says it’s something they are working to develop. “We did start in with a few Herefords last year,” he says. “We lease a small herd of Hereford calves, and we have moved into the breed for the extra marketing abil-ity and for the good cross that Herefords make.” With some of the cattle they cull from the operation
for genetic reasons, he says they have started a small com-mercial herd.
Future plans
As a young operator, Tyson notes that they have big plans for the future. “We are hoping to even-tually have our own produc-tion sale,” he says. “We’d like to market our bulls and keep growing.” He also adds they would like to look into an embryo program and to continue moving forward with their commercial herd. With plans to continue improving the operation, Tyson mentions he enjoys ranching and hopes to con-tinue working with his family for as long as they can.
Family focus
“I’ve always wanted to be at home and to work with my family,” says Tyson of why he returned to the ranch, adding he also enjoys meeting people through the seedstock end of their operation. But at the heart, Hep-worth’s Angus, LLC is a fam-ily operation, with his parents, Hal and Dixie, and his three children, Cashlee, Oaklee and Porter, helping. “Dad and Mom do a lot to help out, because I am gone a lot,” notes Tyson. Aside from running the cattle herd, he also drives a semi truck. “I’ve lived here all my life, and my dad grew up in the house I live in now,” he says. “I like to be at home, around my family and work-ing as a family.” Saige Albert is managing
editor of the Wyoming Live-
stock Roundup and can be
reached at [email protected].
Feeding hay – In the winter, the Hepworth family feeds the cows with a team and sleigh. As the snow begins to melt, they utilize a team and wagon to feed. Courtesy photo
Family – The Hepworth family focuses on the operation together. Pictured from left to right are Cashlee, Oaklee, Stephanie, Tyson and Porter. Courtesy photo
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Family – The Hepworth fam-ily focuses on the operation together. Tyson's parents Hal and Dixie, as well as his sister Heidi, all help out on the operation. Cour-tesy photo.
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition B3
Fairview – West Hills Ranch sits in the east side of Star Valley and is home to a herd of Salers cattle that Ryan Jarratt manages for the Hruska family out of Rock Springs. “Randy always wanted to ranch, so he bought this place and some com-mercials cows,” explains Ryan. “Jim Wilson got us some cattle and helped us get started in Thermop-olis,” comments ranch owner Randy Hruska. “It was a childhood dream.” Randy and his wife Pam have five chil-dren. He is in the retail hardware business and has been since he was 10-years-old in Minne-sota. Today, he continues in retail hardware, trust-ing the day-to-day opera-tions of West Hills Ranch to ranch manager Ryan Jarratt. Ryan, who has been at West Hills Ranch for just over two years, says he was hired after he had graduated from North Dakota State University. “I grew up around Sal-ers cattle, and I love it,” he says. “I love cattle, and I like the genetics side of it.”West Hills operation
Ryan says his year begins when they calve
New beginnings West Hills Ranch fulfills dreams
heifers at the end of March, with cows starting the end of April. By the middle of May, calving is complete and they brand and turn out to pastures. “We bring our cows in and synchronize and AI everything,” Ryan explains. “Then we turn the cleanup bulls in.” Each day, the cows are rotated to new pastures – a system called rotational-cell grazing. “We plan to carry on our pasture development and continue implement-ing a more intense system by running cows and herd bulls in one complete herd over the breeding season,” says the West Hills Ranch website. The cows remain on the range until October, when they bring in the cattle to sort and take data on the calves. “We will sell some steer calves – the bottom end – and we keep about the top 40 bulls to sell as registered seedstock,” he continues. “Right now we are building a reputation. It takes a while to build a consumer base.”
A different breed
After starting the operation with Black Angus commercial cattle, they made the decision to switch directions, sell-
ing out in 2006 and buy-ing registered Salers heif-ers in the spring of 2008. After starting in the business with Black Angus cattle, with advice from Jim and Willard Wil-son, the Hruska’s started utilizing Angus-Salers cross bulls. Today, West Hills Ranch runs registered Salers cattle, which they started in 2008. “Randy had some con-tacts that ran Salers, so he decided to run Salers steers and Salers cross cattle,” says Ryan. “They cover more range and get places better. He was also impressed by the maternal side of the cattle, and that is how he got started.” “They are a lot more docile,” adds Randy, “and they are a good cross with Angus cattle.” Randy also mentions
that they gain well, and they have had very good luck with the cattle. In building a strong herd of cattle, Ryan notes they focus on three main traits: structure, docility and birth weight. “We cull really hard for docility, as well as low birth weight Salers,” he explains. The West Hills Ranch specializes in offer-ing sound bulls that have not been pushed on feed, according to their website. They also offer their bulls a free choice diet of grass and alfalfa hay and a cus-tom mineral supplement to build sound seedstock.
Cattle challenges
Feeding is a chal-lenge, marks Ryan, add-ing that they don’t put up hay, preferring to buy alfalfa, because the chal-lenges of a short growing
season. “We feed about seven months out of the year,” he says, “depending on when we get snow and how the grass is, but in the past, I have started feed-ing as early as the first part of November.” He adds, “This coun-try is really good for run-ning yearlings because we can put on a lot of gain in the summertime, but in the winter, it gets a little tough. That is our biggest challenge – bar none.” The challenge of get-ting an operation off the ground, adds Ryan, are also present. “Getting the work out
to let people know we are here isn’t easy,” says Ryan. “But we will be here to take care of them in the future.” Ryan comments, “Right now we are try-ing to build a reputation, based on standing behind the cattle that we sell.” “We’re just learning,” Randy mentions. “We’ve never done this before, but we’re straightforward and we’re honest people.” For more information,
visit thewesthillsranch.
com. Saige Albert is man-
aging editor of the Wyo-
ming Livestock Roundup
and can be reached at
“Right now we are building a reputa-
tion. It takes a while to build a con-
sumer base.” – Ryan Jarratt, Ranch
Manager
Ranching in Fairview – Ranch manager Ryan Jarratt and Randy Hruska note that there are challenges based on the climate in Fair-view, but both enjoy running the operation. Courtesy photo
Childhood dream – Randy and Pam Hruska started West Hills Ranch in the early 2000s to fulfill a childhood dream. Courtesy photo
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Wyoming Livestock RoundupB4
Diverse operation Peternal family extends
beyond cattle
“Our cows aren’t rushed through the
chute, and we make sure things are
done exactly right.” - Shirley Peternal
Family ties – With a long history on the ranch, Bob and Shirley Peternal are working to pass the legacy of the land on to their son Steven. Saige Albert photo
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Kemmerer – Bob Peternal has lived in Kemmerer all his life, and now operates a small ranch west of town with his wife Shirley and son Steven. Bob’s grandfather started the family ranch that he now runs in 1934. “A long time ago, when my grandfather first bought the ranch, he opened the Union Meat Market in Kem-merer,” Bob says. “They raised and slaughtered beef and pork to sell in the shop.” After Bob’s grandfather died, his father and two uncles took over the ranch, and they acquired two additional ranches.
Diverse ranch
Peternal Brothers Inc.
also ran pigs and sheep, but Bob notes that his father sold the sheep in 1957. The Union Meat Market remained open until 1985. “My grandma died in 1979, and the brothers decided that they would dissolve the corporation,” Bob explains. “Each one of the brothers got a ranch.” On the property they now occupy, Bob’s father ranched for a number of years. Bob took over the operation of the ranch in 1990 after the death of his father. Bob hasn’t always been strictly a rancher, rather work-ing for Utah Power and Light for 27 years. When he retired early, he came back to the
ranch to have a few cows and put up some hay. “Our son has an ag engi-neering degree, but he decided that he wanted to be involved in the family ranch,” says Bob. Hams Fork operation
Today, Bob, his wife Shir-ley and son Steven run 300 Black Angus cows in the val-ley of the Hams Fork River west of Kemmerer. Steven’s wife Laurie, who also helps on the ranch, is a teacher. They have two sons Wyatt and Tucker. “About one-third of the cows are our sons,” says Bob. “We also put up around 600 or 700 tons of hay. It is all wild hay, so there is no second crop.” “We used to have some Red Angus, but black cows bring a better price,” Shirley notes. Because of the high alti-tude, Bob notes that feed-ing usually starts around Dec. 15 and continues through the middle of May before they turn out on BLM or private rangelands. “We feed hay half the year,” Shirley says. “The cows don’t care if it is Christmas or not;; they still want to eat.” Each cow eats about two tons of hay each year, explains
Bob, who notes that because of their crop they occasionally have to buy hay.
An average year
“An average year starts when we calve in the spring,” Shirley explains. “We don’t start calving until mid-March.” Heifers calve two weeks before the main herd and calv-ing continues through the early parts of May. “After May 15, we turn out to various allotments,” she says, noting that they have higher land in the moun-tains. “After we turn out, we start irrigating the fields, fol-lowed by haying which begins around the first of August.” In order to maintain a healthy calf herd, Shir-ley notes that they vaccinate calves twice each year. “It gets too cold at night and too hot during the day,” explains Shirley. “We give them a viral shot and 8-way combined with pneumonia in the spring, and then repeat the process in the fall.” At the end of October, they sell calves by private treaty. “We begin feeding when the snow comes, and the year starts over again with spring calving,” she says. “We make some adjust-ments,” Shirley adds, saying that, for example, last year they fed liquid supplements. “That was really costly, so this year, we are going to buy alfalfa to supplement our hay crop instead.”
Specific care
Because their cows are important and the lifeline of the business, Shirley says, “We are very particular about how our animals are handled.” By providing particular care for the animals, Shirley says their treatments are more effective, noting that shots, for example, are most effective when given correctly to ani-mals that are calm. “Our cows aren’t rushed through the chute, and we make sure things are done exactly right,” Shirley contin-ues. “We also keep intensive records.” In their records, the Peter-
nal’s note all details, from the demeanor of the cow to data about her calves. They also age and source verify their cattle through the Wyoming Business Council.
Beyond cattle
“We’ve had emus for a long time,” Bob mentions. “They were supposed to sup-plement the cattle market.” With emu marked as the next potential lean, red meat, the Peternal’s invested in the market and intended to sell the emus for profit, until the mar-ket fell out. “We had 50 emus at one time,” Shirley says. “We only have two remaining pairs.” Shirley used to decorate and sell emu eggs as well, but today she keeps the emus as pets to live out their lives. They also have llamas on the property. “More than half of our llamas are rescue animals,” Shirley says. “They patrol the area around the chicken and emu pens keeping predators away.” In addition to helping run the ranch, Bob also partici-pates on a number of local board and organizations, par-ticularly those related to con-
servation efforts. As a mem-ber of the Lincoln County Conservation District Board, the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts Area V Board, the Coalition of Local Governments and the Senior Citizens Board, as well as a Farm Bureau member, Bob stays busy.
Leaving a legacy
The Peternal’s son, Ste-ven, and his family currently live on the ranch property. He manages the operation. “Steven will take over the ranch,” says Shirley, “adding a fourth generation of Peternal ownership to the property.” “The reason we have stayed on the ranch is so we have the legacy of the land to pass on to our son – that is the main object,” she continues. “Some springs after a rough calving season, we wonder why we keep ranching, but we do it for the future genera-tions.” Shirley adds, “The land is a legacy that must be pre-served because once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.” Saige Albert is managing
editor of the Wyoming Live-
stock Roundup and can be
reached at [email protected].
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition B5
Cokeville – When Scott and Diane Nieslanik moved to Cokeville 15 years ago, both had a background in raising cattle, and they were looking to continue ranch-ing. “We ranched and farmed in Carbondale, Colo.,” explains Scott, “but we needed to expand. With urban development down there, we decided to get out.” Scott’s family farms, ranches and runs a dairy in the Colorado town, which sits just south of Aspen. “It was hard for us to leave because our family is down there,” Diane says. “But if we were going to ranch, we wanted to move to a ranching community.”
Cattle beginnings
On moving to Cokev-ille, the family ran a large herd of cows and was rais-ing three children under the age of five. “Cattle prices were low, and bank payments were high,” comments Scott of their first few years. “We looked at it and decided to put the ranch up for sale.” A neighbor wanted to buy the cows and range-land, but had no interest in the hay meadows, so the family took the deal, keep-ing the hay ground. Scott also worked to run another ranch in Border, while Diane irrigated their hay meadows. The Nieslan-iks sold their hay on the stump. When Scott’s employ-ers decided to sell, he returned to their property in Cokeville, and the cou-ple decided to build a house and develop their hay oper-ation.
Making a change
“The biggest change that got us to where we are today was getting away from the cow operation,” comments Diane. “It was huge, because Scott grew up with cows his whole life. It was a hard decision to make.” In order to stabilize their financial situation and develop a feasible opera-tion, they began to focus on growing and putting up hay, a process they were famil-iar with, but on a different scale. Diane adds, “The big-gest change for us was get-ting into the small bales.” “We’ve always sold hay,” comments Scott, “but when I left Colo-rado, I swore I’d never put up small bales again. We ended up buying small bal-ers because it’s a niche mar-
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hay markets in production
ket.” “We stumbled into a specialty market, instead of just raising hay,” Diane explains. “A local trucker started hauling hay, and he hooked us up with a buyer in Florida that raises race horses. We started tweak-ing our hay specifically for these horse producers.” Because the horse industry is more particular about the hay they buy and feed, Scott notes that they work to provide consistent, quality hay and to target each customer’s needs.Meeting consumer needs
“Everyone wants some-thing different, so we have different mixes for the dif-ferent people,” Diane says. They have transported hay across the country, from Florida to New York, and today, they load containers, which are shipped by train to customers. With their specialty hay being delivered across the country, Diane says it is important to get the hay quality exactly right. “One thing people don’t understand it that there is a lot of difference between good hay, decent hay and poor hay,” explains Scott. “It is how you put it up and how you raise it.” In order to achieve “perfect hay,” they have baled whenever conditions were right, whether that meant baling hay at eight in the morning or 11 o’clock at night. “There is a short win-dow of time to get it right,” Scott says. Diane also adds that the quality of their hay is important, and to empha-size their commitment to quality, they guarantee their hay. “If someone gets a bad bale, we take it back or give them their money back,” explains Diane. “It’s a lot of expense for trucking hay, and we stand behind our bales.” Additionally, when sending hay to customers, Scott pays careful attention to watch the quality of the hay that is loaded on trucks or in containers. “I know where I’ve stacked some hay I’m unsure about, and we don’t send the bottom bales,” he explains. “They go off to the side, and we sell them locally to cattle producers.”
Trial and error
In developing the oper-ation, the Nieslaniks note they have tried lots of tech-niques to find what is right.
“We’ve tried a lot of funky stuff over the years,” comments Diane, laughing. “I’m sure our neighbors think we are crazy.” For example, when they were having problems with pests and not seeing results from pesticides, Scott and Diane invested in lady-bugs. They also handpicked weeds from some of their fields with the help of local youth when herbicides were ineffective. “It’s trial and error,” says Scott. “The soil on each piece of ground is dif-ferent, and it’s been hard, but I’ve figured things out.” He adds that production has increased on the prop-erty from barely 1.5 tons of hay per acre to over four tons per acre in some fields. “I experiment a bit, here
and there,” Scott says. “We are always trying to keep on top of what people want.”Family and community
Beyond producing high quality hay, Scott and Diane have stayed in the agri-culture industry because of the family and commu-nity aspects of the industry. They have raised three chil-dren on their operation. Currently, Luke, 19, is attending the University of Wyoming studying agri-culture. He works on the farm at home during the summer. Daughter Jessica, 20, is married and seeking her engineering degree in Boise, Idaho. “We only have Hannah left at home,” says Diane. “She helps out in the balers and moving pipe.” “Our biggest thing was
“When I left Colorado, I swore I’d never
put up small bales again. We ended up
buying small balers because it’s a niche
market.” – Scott Nieslanik
Raising a family – Diane Nieslanik says they wanted to raise a fam-ily in a ranching community in an agricultural lifestyle. Their children, Luke, Jessica and Hannah, have all been an important part of the operation. Courtesy photo
we wanted to raise our kids on a ranch and in this life-style, because it raises good children who grow up to be good adults,” she continues. Scott adds, “It teaches them responsibility and work ethic.” By involving their chil-dren in every aspect of the operation, teaching them about safety and even the finances, the Nieslaniks have worked hard to instill a love of agriculture in their children.
“Making the crossover to a hay operation, going into a specialty market, find-ing clientele and taking care of them is the best thing we ever did,” Diane says. “We live a life that most people would give anything to live. This is the life we want to live, and we are living the dream.” Saige Albert is manag-
ing editor of the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup and can
be reached at saige@wylr.
net.
Small bales – Because their consumers are looking for small bales, primarily, the Nieslaniks have begun putting up only small bales, despite the extra labor involved. Saige Albert photo
Wyoming Livestock RoundupB6
Afton – Call Aircraft Company was created when Reuel Call of Afton resolved to build an air-plane suited for private or fam-ily flying in rugged mountain country. Call was an early avi-ation pioneer. Seeing an unmet need, he decided to fill it. In 1942, when Reuel Call, his uncle Ivan Call and his brother Spencer Call sat down to design an airplane that would perform well in high mountain country, they
Cow Country Plane Call Aircraft Company
fills unmet needs
could hardly have known his-tory was in the making. At that time, World War II was raging in the South Pacific and Europe. The trio barely had enough materials to build the first prototype airplane. After the war, sustained pro-duction went into full swing at CallAir when steel, surplus engines and parts were avail-able.
Passenger planes The CallAir A-3 passen-
ger plane was born from these modest beginnings. CallAir built about 50 A-3s, which became the mountain plane built for farmers and ranch-ers, coyote hunters and anyone needing to fly over the rugged Rocky Mountains. The A-3 operated with an extra wide gear, 186 square feet of wing area and a 125-horse-power engine. It was adver-tised to take off in 500 feet or less, climb 1,000 feet the first minute and cruise at 105 miles per hour, with a service ceiling at 17,500 feet. The plane could seat three average-size people.
WWII test pilot and Reuel Call’s cousin, Barlow Call, joined CallAir after the war. His flying skills showed the world what the CallAir could do. He used the plane for hunt-ing, herding wild horses, ferry-ing and measuring snow. He took off from remote mountain slopes and pastures and landed his plane on a dime. Like the CallAir he flew, Barlow Call is a legend. In 1947, Kenneth Arnold from Boise, Idaho purchased a new CallAir. While flying his A-3 searching for a downed aircraft near Mt. Rain-ier in Washington, he sighted a series of bright lights skipping through the sky. Arnold was the first to use the words “fly-ing saucers” when he reported his sightings. Arnold and his CallAir would become house-hold words among UFO enthusiasts.Snowmobile beginnings
The SnowCar was the pre-decessor to the snowmobile. It was a tri-ski, with two skis on the back and one in front, a steering wheel and mecha-nism. The cabin was enclosed and, in some cases, heated by the engine, much like an air-plane. SnowCars used air-plane engines, but the pro-peller, mounted on the back, pushed rather than pulled. Up to this point, anyone who wished to put skis on an airplane had to remove the wheels and attach skis to the axles. Reuel Call designed and
built a cradle that fit around the tire. The airplane was dropped into the cradle and secured by snap-over straps and bungee cords to stabilize the ski in flight. This sim-ple invention served as a great improve-ment for people utilizing air-craft during the winter. A 1950s ad for a CallAir SnowCar read, “For fast eco-nomical winter travel, buy a SnowCar.” At the time, a four-pas-senger 125-horse power model started at $1,985, while two-passenger models started at $1,550. The SnowCar weighed 450 to 550 pounds. Utilized by park rangers and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Snow-Car was also used by ranchers, sportsmen and others. A rebuilt SnowCar is on display in the Cal-lAir Museum in Afton.
Ag uses
In the 1950’s, CallAir converted it cabin plane into a crop-duster, or agriculture spray plane. The first of these, the A-5, rolled out of produc-tion in 1954. Over the next decade, about 170 A-5s and its big brother, the A-6s, were built. Reuel Call sold CallAir in the early 1960s. New owners
Doyle Child and Ted Frome replaced the A-5s and A-6s with the CallAir A-9, a larger version of the previous crop-duster, and sold about 850 of these planes. Later, they built a bigger spray plane, the B-1, and sold about 35 of these high-performance planes. CallAir employed hun-dreds of residents in Star Val-ley starting in the 1940s. Workers achieved high skill levels working with metals, wood, fabric, fiberglass and paints. The factory is still in operation today, owned by Aviat Aircraft, Inc. Aviat is engaged in the development, manufacture and servicing of sport and utility aircraft sold under the Aviat trade names of Husky, Pitts Special and the Eagle II. For more information log
onto aftonwyoming.net/index.
cfm?ID=25. Echo Renner is
a correspondent for the Wyo-
ming Livestock Roundup and
may be reached at 307-250-
9723 or [email protected].
“For fast economical winter travel, buy
a SnowCar.” – 1950s advertisement
for CallAir SnowCar
Mountain planes – The Call Aircraft Company, formed by Reuel Call, aimed to provide a plane that was suited for travel in the rugged mountain country of Wyoming. Echo Renner photo
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Cokeville – Despite the struggles livestock produc-ers face year in and year out to stay viable in ranch-ing, Fred Roberts is one of those producers who con-quers those challenges head on by carefully managing his commercial sheep and cattle businesses.
Where it all started
Roberts is the third generation of his family to call Cokeville home. His grandfather, Fred Roberts, migrated to the area from England in the late 1880s. “Back then, Cokev-ille was categorized as the sheep capitol of anywhere west of the Mississippi,” Fred says of his hometown. Once the elder Rob-erts settled in the area, he started in the sheep busi-ness, later passing the tra-dition on to his son, Lou. “My dad was really involved in the business and continued to take an active role until he was 88-years-old,” he adds. His father passed away at age 90. Fred is now the owner and manager of the operation and may be the last in his family to do so. His two children, Kyle and Lacey, both have interests outside the ranch.Managing a migratory
sheep operation
Over the years, the Roberts family has built up successful commercial cat-tle and range ewe opera-tions. While the cattle are based at the home place, the commercial range sheep operation is migra-tory, according to Roberts. The ewes are at the home place from the end of April until the first of July. Dur-ing the remainder of the year, the ewes graze pri-vate, state and BLM lands. Although most of the areas the ewes graze receive considerable snow during the winter, Roberts said he is typically able to graze the ewes with little supplementation. The wind blows hard enough that it usually blows the snow off the grass so the ewes can reach the plants beneath. However, this year is different. Roberts is already planning a feed program to accommodate the sheep through the winter months, since the drought has pre-vented new forage growth, and there is little to graze. “This year, we will be supplementing because there isn’t any feed out
“One of the biggest things I have
worked on is feed conversion, which is
extremely important during years like
this when corn is high.” – Fred Rob-
erts
Improving an operation Progressive management
keeps Roberts on top
there for them,” he says. Carefully selecting the ewes Roberts has nearly 7,000 head of Rambouillet Columbia crossbred ewes on his operation. He raises his own replacements, and those he doesn’t keep go to the same ewe lamb cus-tomer he has had for over 30 years. He purchases purebred bucks from rep-utable breeders in the sur-rounding area that perform well in the harsh environ-ment they live in. The ewes in the oper-ation have been carefully selected not only for their size and bone structure, but also for their wool. “I have big sheep, and I want a lot of frame and bone to them because that translates to lambs that feed well, and that’s what pays the bills,” he explains. The wool, which is considered the second pay-check in the sheep opera-tion, runs in the low 62s, which Roberts says is desirable for his operation. “They pay you more for a certain micron,” he says. Having a say in the
market
As a progressive pro-ducer, Roberts purchased shares in the Mountain States Lamb Cooperative many years ago because he wanted to have more control over how much he earned for his lambs. It is an investment he feels has paid off in a big way. “It has been one of the biggest positive influences on the lamb industry,” he explains. “It was a stabi-lizing factor in the market and has helped the mar-ket improve. The way the lamb market has been the last two years, I think our members are benefiting a lot from their membership. They are able to get their lambs killed and have a place to go with them.” “Looking at the overall picture, I think our mem-bers are much better off being members of the co-op than not,” he explained. By being a member, Roberts has to sell his lambs as a finished prod-uct. “I own them from birth until they are processed,” he explained. After weaning, some of the lambs are grazed on alfalfa fields until they placed in a feedlot. The lambs are finished in feed-
lots in California and near Riverton and slaughtered when they reach 165 to 170 pounds. Most of the lambs grade predominantly twos in yield, a fact Roberts is quite proud of.
Challenges
While he continually works to improve upon the genetics of the flock to keep a desirable product in front of the consumer, Rob-erts also fights predators and finding labor, which are the two biggest obsta-cles standing in the way. “Coyotes are a contin-ual problem, and except for the summer we can semi-control them,” he said. “Now we have wolves and bears where we summer the sheep. At one point, we had 20 wolves.” “This past summer
was the biggest loss I ever remember having. The wolf situation affects not only sheep and cattle, but wildlife too,” he said. It remains to be seen whether having a hunting season for the predator can be used as an adequate con-trol method. The cattle operation
In addition to sheep, Roberts also maintains a herd of commercial Black Angus cattle. The cattle run at the home place where they graze until Thanks-giving before being supple-mented through the winter months with hay. Roberts says the cows average 1,150 to 1,200 pounds and calve at the end of March. When the steer calves are shipped to west-
ern Nebraska around mid-October, they weigh 550 to 560 pounds. “I have done a lot of work on genetics over the years,” Roberts said. “We used to be a Hereford oper-ation and just sell calves, but through the years I have converted to an Angus operation.” “With the help of Gary Darnall of Darnall Feed-lot in Harrisburg, Neb., I have been able to improve the genetics in the herd. Gary is sharp on genetics and very proactive and for-ward-thinking,” he said. “With his help, I have been able to build a herd of cat-tle that produce calves that will feed and finish well and have eatability. One of the biggest things I have worked on is feed conver-sion, which is extremely important during years like this when corn is high.” Carcass data is col-lected on the calves, and Roberts spends a consid-erable amount of time ana-lyzing individual data to see how the calves per-formed and what improve-
ments need to be made. “It has been a major conversion for me mov-ing from being a cow/calf operator and selling calves to being a feeder,” he says. “Most years, we also feed out cull cows with Gary to add value before we sell them,” he adds. As Roberts contin-ues to stay on top of the game by being a progres-sive manager, his goal is to remain a viable operation. “There are a lot of challenges on the sheep side with predators and labor and on the cattle side with corn and fuel. We have exports driving the price in the cattle market, and you never know when something could happen, like another BSE cow, that could drive that price down,” he says. “The hard-est part of being a rancher is trying to deal with the things that we don’t have control over.” Gayle Smith is a corre-
spondent for the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup. Send
comments on this article to
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Thayne – In the 1920s, Thayne was the first place to hold cutter and chariot races right on Main Street of the Lincoln County town. “Chariot racing involves running two horses abreast with a chariot, that weighs about 65 pounds,” explains former racer Bill Johnson. “They run for 440 yards or one-quarter of a mile from
“A cutter has runners on it, and they
used to run on snow-covered tracks.”
– Bill Johnson, former cutter and
chariot racer
Starting traditions Cutter racing beings in
Thayne
the gates. It’s quite a rigorous activity.” The races have intrigued spectators for many years, with deep roots in history.
In the beginning
Cutter racing is one of the oldest equine sports, believed to have its begin-nings with the first Olympic games in ancient times. The 1959 epic film Ben-Hur gave
the sport its modern fame. When it began, cut-ter racing was simply a way to pass time during the cold winters of the 1920s. “Farmers used to come to town with their milk, and they’d sit around drink-ing coffee and start to chal-lenge each other,” explains All-American Cutter Racing Association Secretary Con-nie Wright. “They’d race their wagons with their work horses, and cutter racing originated.” “They started bring-ing their saddle horses and
lighter wagons so they could go faster,” she continues. “There is quite a history.”
First association
In 1948, the All-Ameri-can Cutter Racing Associa-tion was formed in Thayne. The association was the first in the world dedicated to cut-ter and chariot racing. “They have a world championship in Ogden, Utah every year in March,” says Johnson. “There were as many as 38 associations at one time, coming from California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.” The competition only continued to grow, as ranch-ers hooked their fastest horses to sleds, racing through the snow at speeds that reached up to 50 miles an hour. Over time, lightweight cutters, or chariots on skis, replaced old, heavy sleds.
In some cases, snow was trucked in for special events. As times changed, so did the equipment used. Rather than running with a traditional cutter, Johnson notes that they use chariots more fre-quently today. “A cutter has runners on it, and they used to run on snow-covered tracks,” explains Johnson of the change. “They started run-ning on a dirt track in the early 80s with chariots, which have wheels like small bicycle wheels.” Because chariot are faster due to less friction and the track is easier to maintain, chariot racing has taken over.
Modern racing
Cutter and chariot racing today has grown into a fast and furious sport. In each heat two to three teams run the straight, quar-ter mile race in only 22 sec-onds. The racing begins from gates, as are used in most
horse race events. The Afton track has a three-team gate, but usually runs only two teams abreast. Johnson says, “My dad helped to organize the events. I stopped racing about five years ago, but raced for 21 years. When I quit running, it was the first time since 1948 that our family hadn’t run.” Though its beginnings are in Thayne, the races moved from Main Street there to the town of Afton, and events are held in com-munities across Star Valley, as well as in Jackson and Saratoga. In Afton, rather than racing on Main Street, the events are held on a track at the fairgrounds. Racing is held every Saturday after-noon from Dec. 1 to the end of February. Today only about 16 organizations are left in the world, with between 10 and 12 teams competing at the weekly events in Star Valley. “It is not only a fun hobby, but it’s a tradition in Star Valley,” Johnson adds. “People do it to keep the tra-dition going to this day.” “The guys that are still racing are really trying to promote it,” comments John-son. “It’s really hard to get younger people involved. The older generations still run, but it’s a dying sport.” Saige Albert is manag-
ing editor of the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup and can
be reached at saige@wylr.
net.
Chariot races - Every Saturday from December until February, teams of chariot racers can be found on the track outside of Afton, keeping the traditions of the sport alive. Courtesy photo
2012 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition B9
Sheep ranching Child family remains in sheep
operation
“Mother Nature is our biggest chal-
lenge right now. There isn’t really any-
thing we can do about that, though.” –
Jon Child
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Cokeville – With lots of experience sheep ranching and a love for the animals they raise, Jon and Vickie Child hold strong as one of two remaining sheep oper-ations in Cokeville. “At first, we looked at getting into the cattle busi-ness, but it took so much more to get started,” Jon comments. “We thought, all we need to get started in sheep is to rent us a range, get a sheep camp, a couple horses and a pick up, and we’re set, so that’s what we did.”Humble beginnings
Before they were mar-ried, Jon notes that he and his wife Vickie learned from a Basque sheep rancher in Utah. Vickie mentions that the two spent over 10 years herding sheep. “Back then, we didn’t know about getting con-tract labor,” she says. “I would herd one herd, Jon would herd another, and one year, we had the kids herd a third group.” “We started in Nevada,” says Jon of their sheep ranching opera-tion, which he ran in con-junction with his brother. “Thirty-three years ago, we ran sheep together, and it was tough.” He adds that as young ranchers in the indus-try, many of the les-sons they learned weren’t easy. When Deseret Land and Livestock in north-ern Utah and Wyoming sold the sheep aspect of the operation, they rap-idly expanded and were on their way to extending the operation.Continual development
“We were running about 3,000 apiece then,”
Jon mentions, noting that they split the operation for a period, coming together to buy another parcel of land when Thompson Land and Livestock in Cokeville sold. Eventually, the broth-ers split the operation again, and while his brother returned to Utah, Jon stayed in Cokeville, running sheep on the range and raising his family. “We run a Rambouil-let type sheep, and we buy some Targhee bucks as well,” explains Jon. “They are hardier for this Wyo-ming climate – especially the desert.” He also mentions that the finer clip of wool makes them more desir-able and offers another sector of profit.Lambs and the range
The Child family runs their operation as a range sheep business, lambing in the middle of May on their spring range. “We come in on our spring range by May 1, and we get them sheared,” he notes. “Most of the time, the weather is pretty decent by then.” “It’s an all-range oper-ation,” Jon adds, also not-ing that they work their lambs and have sheds to accommodate ewes that won’t accept their lambs or to pair lambs with ewes. “We try to get a lamb on every ewe.” While running their sheep, they keep herders with each band, as well as guard dogs, to keep pred-ators at bay. Especially at the end of the grazing sea-son, Jon notes it can be difficult to keep predators away. “Now, the sheep
are really restless,” he explains. “The feed is dry and they are ready to come down, so they scatter. As they scatter, we have coy-otes, bears and wolves that hit and scatter them more.” However, with the help of the state predator boards and government trappers, Jon says they see some relief. They also fly their ranges in the win-ter to alleviate predator strains. Challenging business
Jon adds that Mother Nature and labor issues are also of constant concern. “Mother Nature is our biggest challenge right now,” Jon says. “Two springs ago, we had one of the toughest springs and winters in a long time.” He also notes that this year has been incredibly dry, adding another ele-ment of difficulty. “There isn’t really any-thing we can do about that, though,” he says. “We just have to get through it.” However, the Depart-ment of Labor and dealing with the H-2A program is also challenging, espe-cially with recent changes that have been made to the program, making it more difficult to bring in con-tract labor. “We rely on the labor so much,” says Jon of the H-2A program workers. “If we don’t have these men, we’re done.” Though they attempted to hire sheepherders off the street when they started, both Jon and Vickie noted that it created more prob-lems. Other challenges, such as bighorn sheep and pub-lic lands problems, have made it hard for sheep
ranchers to subsist in Wyo-ming, or even the U.S. in general, comments Vickie. “I hate seeing these challenges take the agri-culture out of Wyoming,” she says. “The sheep busi-ness is a dying industry. There are very few outfits left around here.”
Joys of operating
While it isn’t an easy
business to be in, Jon notes that they enjoy run-ning sheep and operating in the Cokeville area is a pleasure. “We have everything we need here,” he explains. “We have our best summer ranges that have a natural flow into our spring and fall ranges. We have win-ter desert, and everything is together.” He adds that the ranch-ing lifestyle is a good way
to raise a family, and all six of their children were brought up helping on the ranch. Jon and Vickie’s chil-dren Dustin, Shanna, Clint, Shawnee, Shaylyn and Jon Kelly still help on the operation, and he has two sons interested in con-tinuing the family busi-ness. “We like the sheep,” he continues, “and sooner or later, it’ll rain. We’ll get through the tough times.” Saige Albert is manag-
ing editor of the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup and
can be reached at saige@
wylr.net.
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Bedford – Over the last century, Americans have become increasingly re-moved from the produc-tion of their food. But one Lincoln County producer is working to change that through community sup-ported agriculture, offer-ing local, seasonal pro-duce directly from their farm to the consumer. Marion and DeeAnne Robinson run Robinson Family Farm and Ranch in Bedford. The fourth gen-eration agriculture oper-
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Robinson, Robinson Family Farm
and Ranch
It’s a simple enough idea, but its impact has been profound – know where your food comes from. Tens of thousands of families have joined com-munity supported agriculture opera-tions (CSA), and in some areas of the country there is more demand than there are CSA farms to fill it. The gov-ernment does not track CSA opera-tions, so there is no official counts of how many CSAs exist in the country. Kim Porter of the Wyoming Busi-ness Council says the CSA concept is going strong across Wyoming. In addi-tion to the Robinson Family Farm and Ranch in Bedford, Porter estimates there are probably another dozen CSA operations in the Cowboy State, includ-ing other farms in Star Valley and oper-ations in Pinedale, Sheridan and Yoder. Kim attributes the growing popular-ity in CSAs to people wanting to know where their food is grown and how it’s cared for. “People want to eat healthier, and usually a CSA operation provides rec-ipe ideas, and they can build a rela-tionship with a producer,” she explains. “They know they can ask questions and get ideas on how to prepare their food. They also have an idea of what they are getting or are going to get through-out the summer.” The advantages of CSA for agri-culture producers include the ability to directly market their product allow-
ing the producer to keep a great deal of their profit and improved planning the opportunities because most CSA oper-ations take orders in the spring and provide the product throughout sum-mer. Kim says this helps cover up front costs. The producer also gets to know the customer, or member, on a more personal level. Kim expects the CSA concept to continue to grow because of the unique producer-consumer relationship. “CSA business will continue to grow and thrive as our producers become aware of the opportunities and get bet-ter with season extension methods, such as high tunnels. Demand is crazy right now, and CSAs are not the only opportunities for people with gardens – there are farmers markets, farm to school, and more and more local res-taurants and grocery stores are inter-ested in purchasing,” says Kim. “CSAs offer a unique opportunity for a pro-ducer and a consumer to do a little more planning, but they do also share the bounty, as well as the risks of the garden.” LocalHarvest has the most com-prehensive directory of CSA farms, with over 4,000 listed in their grass-roots database. Research CSA oper-ations, farmers’ markets, family farms and other sources of sustainable grown food in Wyoming at their website at loc-alharvest.org.
CSAs in Wyoming
Community supported ag Robinson family offers
local produce, ag education
ation is housed on 110 acres. The Robinsons work with their members to produce like kale, collard greens, cauliflower, spin-ach, tomatoes, peppers, onions, summer squash and herbs, among other products. They also offer meat and egg shares. This concept of mar-keting directly from the farm to customers is known as community supported agriculture, or CSA.
The Robinsons are among a growing num-ber of agriculture produc-ers foregoing traditional markets in favor of partic-ipating in community sup-ported agriculture. Essentially, CSA is a partnership between farm-ers and customers. Cus-tomers buy shares in a season’s produce, shar-ing the risk and rewards of harvest with the farmer. Offerings can include everything from vege-tables and fruit to eggs, milk, beef or pork.
Beginnings
Marion Robinson started the operation after participating in the Wyo-ming agricultural leader-ship program, L.E.A.D. (Leadership, Education
and Development). He had returned to Star Valley after working in the corpo-rate sector out of state and was searching for a way to establish sustainability on a small acreage. “I didn’t think I could earn a living in agricul-ture. There aren’t many truly large corporate busi-nesses in Star Valley that needed my business skills. I believed in the tradi-tional model of get big or get out and didn’t know how I could make a go of it as a small farmer,” says Marion. “The L.E.A.D. program helped open my eyes to the many different opportunities there are in agriculture if you’re will-ing to work hard and be creative.” The Robinsons started their CSA program in 2006 with help from another producer with three acres of vegetables. That year, the farm provided pro-duce for 14 members, with some excess vegetables sold at the Jackson farm-
er’s market. Today, Robinson Fam-ily Farm and Ranch has 40 members, about half of which are work share. Work share members pay for their shares by put-ting in three to five hours of work on the farm each week. Marion says the work share option is win-win for the farm and his cus-tomers. “I’m as motivated by affordability as by sus-tainability. The work share option provides the member with healthy fresh produce and our farm with some much-needed labor. Other folks choose a work share just to learn more about gardening and veg-etable production.”Extreme gardening
Gardening at 6,000 feet in elevation provides some challenges, but Mar-ion says that fact alone hasn’t deterred him. He uses greenhouses and a little ingenuity to operate almost year-round. Marion starts some seeds indoors shortly after the first of the year, and
then transfers the seed-lings outdoors in the later months. He says he over-laps his younger, hot crops with larger, more estab-lished cold crops to get a jumpstart on growth and to maximize space. As a result, Robinson Family Farm and Ranch is able to offer its cus-tomers five months worth of vegetables – from June through October. The final offering is a bulk pickup of crops that store well, such as pota-toes, carrots and cabbage. “We often refer to what we do as ‘extreme garden-ing,’” Marion explains. “I’ve come to embrace the harsh climate. We don’t have as many pest issues, and our season is never too hot for cold crops like peas or lettuce like it can be in Utah or Idaho. It’s certainly labor intensive in summer, but we enjoy our slower months.”
Wider markets
In addition to distrib-uting products directly to members, Marion sells produce at both the Star Valley and Jackson farm-
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ers’ markets. When the harvest allows, he also sells to Jackson grocery stores and area restau-rants. Robinson Family Farm and Ranch has also worked with area schools to provide healthy snacks to school kids. Robinson Family Farm and Ranch sells chemi-cal-free produce, grass-fed beef and eggs from pastured poultry. Mar-ion can’t market his prod-ucts as organic, because he hasn’t completed all the steps to be certified organic officially, which is a lengthy and intensive process. Instead, he offers what he calls customer certification. “My niche market is a health motivated mar-ket. The next best thing to growing the produce your-self is a community sup-ported agriculture opera-tion,” Marion says. “We are customer certified.
We open our doors to our customers to examine our processes, equipment and methods. The best guaran-tee we can give to some-one is to let them partic-ipate in the growing pro-cess side-by-side with us.”Community oriented
Marion says he really enjoys the community aspect of community sup-ported agriculture. “It’s been rewarding to meet and get to know our members and teach farm-ing to our work shares. We get to rub shoulders with some really neat peo-ple through our business. We’ve gotten to know people in our area, and even people from Poland, Israel and Germany,” he explains. “I really like how com-munity supported agricul-ture puts the farm back in the community and puts the community back in the farm,” Marion continues.
What started as a dream more than six years ago is now a thriving, sus-tainable business for Mar-ion. “My whole value sys-tem has changed through
agriculture. I feel more secure financially than I ever have, even work-ing in corporate Amer-ica,” he says. “Our farm-ing model lets us control the inputs to our farm and
helps make us self-reliant and sustainable, and gives me a sense of security and pride I hadn’t known before.” For more information
on the Robinson Family
Farm and Ranch, contact
them at 307-880-7337.
Teresa Milner is a corre-
spondent for the Wyoming
Livestock Roundup. Send
comments on this article
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