Rob, Kate, Kyle and Dave Daley family operation. That being said, Daley is very pleased that his children made the decision to become involved. Kyle Daley and his younger sister Kate Daley and their youngest brother Rob Daley are all active in agriculture both at home and in their respective demographics. Kyle recently made the decision to return to the ranch after completing his degree, and he is also in the process of building his own enterprise. Dave attributes this to the opportunity he was given to explore first. “My dad and mom never said, ‘Come back to the ranch.’ It was ‘Get an education and see where it leads,’” Dave said, and that’s the advice he gave his children. Kyle will be the sixth generation Butte County rancher in the Daley family and Kate will soon begin vet school but is also managing her own cows. Rob, who is 17, is interested and involved in the ranch and cattle, as well as “all of the other things a 17 year old enjoys,” according to his father. Giving advice to current parents of up-and-coming young people who will play a critical role in the beef community, Dave says don’t set expectations that they have to return to the ranch. Letting young ranchers find their own way could make or break their decision to return. Remaining positive and not overloading them with the challenges of ranching can be important, but making them aware of what lies ahead is balancing act Daley says. “Growing up I knew that I loved the ranch, the lifestyle and the cattle, but I didn’t always know that I would return to the ranch,” Kyle said. He explored career options early in his schooling, but at the end of the day, he always found himself drawn to the ranch. Kyle says one of his biggest draws was the realization that the people who make up the ranching community comprise a very small and unique culture that few get the privilege to understand and be a part of. He says being a part of it is very fulfilling. Growing up, Kyle never really realized just how much his parents did to maintain their cattle and the land. He says of he knew that it was hard work, but now that he is gaining first-hand experience of what it takes to sustain a ranch on a daily basis, he holds a greater appreciation and a different
understanding than he did when he was younger. “Looking back, the fact that my parents balanced teaching full time, managing the ranch and raising three kids is absolutely amazing to me,” Kyle said. Kyle attributes his awareness of issues impacting ranchers to his involvement in CCA and the Young Cattlemen’s Committee. He’s informed on the plethora of issues that will continue to face the beef industry moving forward, but he’s faithful that staying involved in organizations like CCA will help. “CCA keeps producers current on issues in Sacramento and also provides us with a very important voice in the capitol,” Kyle said. The challenge of carrying on the family heritage in Butte County is enticing to Kyle and he said he looks forward to adding onto the story that began in the 1850s when his family settled there. “I firmly believe that agriculture is a primary, foundational industry that is vital to any society and should be treated as such by the public and the government,” Kyle said. “I want to do my part.” Kyle says going forward he suggests to his fellow young producers to follow a foundational suggestion for success in life: Form goals and possess the will to accomplish them. He says treating people as well as his grandfather does wouldn’t hurt either. BYRD CATTLE CO. Red Bluff seed stock producer Ty Byrd assumed that growing up in a rural area made him different, but he never really thought of himself as ‘the next generation of the beef industry.’ It wasn’t until his freshman year at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo when he realized just how great he had it growing up in agriculture. “I’m lucky to have a set of parents who supported me 110 percent in anything I wanted to do growing up,” Byrd said. Ty said his main goal as a young person was to excel at showing cattle. While the showring doesn’t necessarily fit the format of the current operation of BCC today, Ty is thankful his parents drove the wheels off two pickups from one coast to the other to give him that opportunity. And the lessons about beef genetics, hard work and discipline, which Ty learned in the showring, have helped turn BCC into a successful purebred operation where Ty and his father Dan Byrd work side by side to ensure Ty’s children can work on the operation in the future if they so desire. “I was blessed to have a father with both a keen eye for livestock and a knack for making his own luck,” Byrd said. “The lessons I soaked up from him every day gave me the base to build upon.” Today Byrd Cattle Company is a second generation family owned and operated seedstock business. The Byrd family works hard to ensure customer satisfaction by helping place their customer’s calves at a premium in both traditional and grass-based finishing programs. According to Ty Byrd, BCC has built a reputation for producing cost-efficient cattle that require minimum maintenance while excelling in a forage-based environment. “While we collect, analyze and provide important data, we realize all the data in the world won’t tell you about attitude, udder quality, mothering ability and the ability of a ...CONTINUED ON PAGE 46 July • August 2014 California Cattleman 45