Ranching Today With the Next 150 Years Top of Mind by Teres Lambert, for the Red Angus Magazine
Alec Oliver’s family has been ranching in the same area in eastern Oregon’s Bear Valley since the 1880s. When the ranch’s cattle are branded with “A2” each spring, the brand they wear carries history as well, as the brand was first registered and acknowledged in 1878. Pride in that history – coupled with a deep desire to keep the ranch moving forward and making it sustainable for generations to come – keeps Oliver motivated, innovative and dedicated. “Same soil for five generations and hopefully for more generations to come,” Oliver said. The family ranch, J.C. Oliver Inc., is a mountain valley ranch consisting of everything from meadows to sagebrush range to timberland located near the Strawberry Mountains. Bordered by forest allotments on the Malheur National Forest helps make one big continuous area, cattle can be moved by horseback and side-by-sides – no truck hauling required. The Oliver’s closest town is the tiny ranching community of Seneca. In addition to having the coldest average temperature in the United States, Seneca holds the record for the coldest day in the state: 54 degrees below zero in 1933. Area ranchers are familiar with temperature extremes. For example, in July 2013, the morning started at 30 degrees Fahrenheit and jumped to a high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
Oliver’s cattle are on a year-round grazing program. A majority of calves are marketed via Country Natural Beef, a cooperative 100% owned by the rancher-members.
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RED ANGUS Magazine | March 2023
Aligned with the philosophy of Country Natural Beef, Oliver works with Mother Nature to manage every part of the ranch synergistically. While cooler, dry summers are the rule, winters average 59 inches of snow. Transitions For years, the J.C. Oliver Inc. ranch was a commercial cowcalf, die-hard Hereford operation. When Oliver’s father shattered his pelvis in 2001 and worried he couldn’t continue to work on the ranch at the same level, the family transitioned.