We have been in the livestock business for close to 90 years
Traditional Farming Methods
Like many cattle operations our foundation came in the sheep industry. My grandparents purchased our ranch in the 1930s and the focus of our operation for the majority of my life was around our sheep operations, our farm and our feed lot. Although the background in sheep did not teach me much about cattle, it taught me a lot about hard work, feeding, range-land and pasture management. We shed lambed up to 2400 head of sheep, and finished lambs for over 20 years. We raised the majority of our own hay and part of the grains to shed lamb and finish the lambs for Mountain States Lamb Cooperative.
My father was less then excited when I purchased my first cattle in 2009. Our original cattle program was a small scale, grass fattened, boxed beef program using Aberdeen Angus Cattle. This project got my feet wet in terms of handling cattle and marketing beef. The boxed beef program was also a great experience in terms of connecting with customers and producing product the people really enjoyed. We developed a lot of repeat customers and were able to get a great start in the cattle business. Aberdeen cattle are cows with high calving ease and a good temper. They are very efficient feeders and can live off of grass or feed.
As time went on, the challenge of being able to scale a boxed beef program led us away from expanding that program to more of a focus on commercial Red Angus Cattle. In 2020, we purchased our first Registered Red Angus and really began to focus on improving our herd through AI. By 2022, we were up to running approximately 260 commercial and registered Red Angus mother cows. and utilizing embryo transfer. The focus has always been to produce quality females that are efficient and can survive and thrive both in the desert and at the elevations we run at in the summer time.
Farming
Cattle
Sheep
