Robert, is a grain farmer who operates on the home farm at Clearwater. After graduating high school, Don Guilford went to work in the Alberta Oil patch for five years. In 1969, he met Diane Clemens from Pincher Creek. Her parents had a small ranch in the foothills and she worked as an accountant for a large construction company. They were married in November 1971 and three years later, in 1974, they decided to go back home and join the family partnership. The partnership consisted of Don and Diane, his parents Frank and Kae, his older brother Dave and wife Carol, operating under Guilford Farms. In 1985, Frank and Kae decided to slow down and sold their interest in Guilford Farms to the brothers, Dave and Don. The brothers split the Hereford-based cow herd and in 1986, Don and Diane established Guilford Hereford Ranch using the GHR prefix. Don Guilford purchased his first registered Hereford female fifty-one years ago in 1965 and the herd expanded from there. In 2001, Don and Diane decided to expand the cow herd and purchase most
of the hay thus providing extra grazing land for the added breeding herd (Don loved cows and hated haying). In 2002, the couple expanded into another breed - Angus. Don relates, “We wanted to expand our market, but adding more Hereford females was not the answer, as it would not change our market. We were looking for a breed that would complement our program and management practices. We felt that Angus cows, like our Herefords, would work very well at generating profit.”
"For the past three decades, their goal has been to produce fertile, feed efficient cows that can maintain themselves on grass and hay, produce a calf every year..." A friend working in the oil patch west of Edmonton called and asked Don if he was still looking for cattle. He had been by Ronan Angus, Ralph and Lorree Erdell, Mayerthorpe, Alberta and had seen a good group of cows and heifers there. The Guilfords purchased a package of fifteen bred heifers, sight-unseen, which started the basic herd; in addition, they selected a donor female from Crescent Creek Angus, Goodeve, Saskatchewan who produced several foundation daughters and a couple of sons used in the program. Since 1986, Guilford Hereford Ranch has grown to a land base of nearly thirteen hundred acres; all
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