Women in Simmental Country
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hree hundred purebred Simmental and Angus cows and an annual bull sale; a natural beef business and two children, a golf course, gravel enterprise, and screened “Simmental” manure sales. These diverse components make up Mitchell Cattle Co. and it is redundant to say that proprietors, Ian and Anja Mitchell, are a very busy couple! The Mitchell family is rich in pioneer history. In 1933, Ian’s grandfather, T.D. Mitchell, purchased the ranch property near Barriere (north of Kamloops, British Columbia) from a logging company. Ferries had to be built to cross rivers and trails cut to the alpine mountains just in order to move cattle to and from pasture. Ian’s father, Bob, imported two Fleckvieh cows in 1971 and began using AI to bring Simmental genetics into the Hereford cowherd. The result of these efforts was the first fullblood Fleckvieh born in North America on the Mitchell ranch in 1973. Ian and Anja have carried on the family tradition of innovation. Mitchell’s Mountain Beef was founded in 1987, decades before the local and natural food movements became mainstream. The couple’s first foray into marketing ranch-raised, hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef came with a contract through Gerry Kaumeyer of the Loblaw’s grocery chain in Ontario. When that contract ended in the early 1990s, the Mitchells decided not to go back to using growth-promoting hormones because the marketing advantages without implants outweighed the decreased rates of gain in their Simmental calves. Today, demand for Mitchell’s Mountain Beef is strong enough that two animals per week are sent to the provincially inspected slaughter facility located 15 minutes away. Mitchell beef is retailed by the local AG Foods store and Thompson Rivers University, purchased by many long-term farm gate customers, and served by several local restaurants. Running cows in the mountain ranges of British Columbia would intimidate even the most experienced 28
Anja Mitchell cattleman. Weaning time is dictated by snow or wolves that drive cattle down from high-elevation summer pastures. So how did a town girl born in Germany end up raising cattle and kids in this challenging environment? In 1984, at the age of 15, Anja emigrated to Barriere, BC with her family. Even though her parents weren’t farmers, she was always interested in cattle and horses. As a child, Anja had spent many hours helping on neighboring German farms, and she said she was going to be a farmer someday. Anja met Ian when he returned to Barriere after the death of his father, Bob. At only 18, Ian gave up his veterinary medicine studies and took over management of the ranch. Anja began spending her spare time helping him. “Knowing that all good things were imported from Germany, he made sure I stayed close by…and the rest is history,” smiles Anja. Anja has certainly fulfilled her dream of becoming a farmer. Today she wears many hats on the ranch ¬– wife, mother, cook, bookkeeper, and salesperson – but her first love is working outdoors. She is very hands-on with the cattle and enjoys riding and working with horses more than Ian, who was raised with them. “I also help with