2013 Fall Cattlemen's Edition

Featuring Albany County 速

Wyoming Livestock

ROUNDUP

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Albany County In the southeast corner of Wyoming, Albany County is home to the University of Wyoming, Wyoming State Vet Lab and a number of farms and ranches.

Albany County is the eighth largest county in Wyoming, with 4,274 square miles. Of that land, 67.91 percent is privately owned, while the state of Wyoming owns eight percent, and 24.7 percent of the land is federally owned.

Strong agriculture industry While education is easily Albany County’s largest employer, the agriculture industry thrives in the county.

Estimates by the Western Rural Development Center in 2009 showed that 3.48 percent of the county was employed in the agriculture and natural resources industries.

The same report showed that 67.9 percent of the county was farmland, a total of 1.86 million acres. On those acres 448 farms averaging 4,143 acres in size were spread across the county. Over 82,000 acres were harvested as cropland in 2009, and nearly 150,000 acres are irrigated in the county.

For the year, total farm sales amounted to $35.94 million. Of that, livestock sales totaled over $32.26 million, and crop sales resulted in $3.68 million in income for agriculturalists.

The county’s largest agri-

culture products are wheat, hay, sheep and cattle.

Ag challenges While agriculture thrives in the county, producers note that the high elevations and harsh weather can be challenging.

“Winter weather is our biggest challenge,” comments Janet Talbott of Talbott Club Calves and Cowlick Cattle.

“If we get lots of snow in the mountains, we have a really good year because we have irrigation water. If we don’t get snow, we are dry.”

She also notes, “I think this corner of the state probably has more wind than the rest of the state.”

Additionally, the high mountain plains don’t produce as much grass as lower areas that are more protected.

Nancy Bath of Bath Sisters, LLC, says, “In this country, it takes 40 acres or more to support a cow.”

Other producers continue that the high elevation necessitates more testing for their cattle.

“Our cattle will run from 7,000 to 9,000 feet,” says Maxine Weaver of Weaver Ranch.

Many cattle in the county run at similar elevations.

To combat brisket disease, which results when the pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) of cattle increases due to lack of oxygen at high ele-

Agriculture remains strong in southeast Wyoming

vations, ranchers PAP test their cattle and strive for lowtesting animals.

“We PAP test all of our bulls,” says Maxine. “Our buyers are concerned about a low PAP score for higher elevation ranches.”

Good country At the same time that the county sees challenges, Janet notes that there are some benefits to the high elevation.

“It doesn’t get as hot here during the summertime as the rest of the state,” she comments. “We don’t suffer in the summer.”

Les Dunmire of Dunmire Ranch also sees benefits in the wind and rocks in Albany County.

“We can sell the wind,” he says, noting that the family has several wind farms on their operation. “With the wind turbines that we have on our hills, the wind has gone from being a detriment to an asset.”

The Dunmires also have gravel pits on their property, and a number of ranchers across the county are able to find an additional enterprise in selling the rocks on their land for landscaping.

“Albany County is a good place to raise kids and cattle,” Janet summarizes.

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

Albany County ranches featured in this edition 1. Dunmire Ranch 2. Bath Brothers Ranch 3. Monaghan Ranch 4. UW Farms 5. Weaver Ranch 6. Red Mountain Ranch 7. Kennedy’s Vale Ranch 8. Johnson 99 Ranch 9. Burns Rodeo Company 10. Brown’s Creek Angus 11. Dalles Ranch 12. Cook Ranch 13. Arlowe Hulett 14. Biddick Ranch 15. Margaret Page Ranch 16. Newkirk Ranch 17. Bath Sisters, LLC 18. Vee Bar Ranch 19. Harris Ranch 20. Robbins Ranch 21. Vista Grande Ranch 22. The Feed Store 23. Wyoming State Vet Lab 24. Talbott Ranch

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Wide range of ranches – In the 2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition, ranches across Albany County were featured. This map shows the approximate location of each ranch or their headquarters.

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2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Rich histories Albany County ranches come with colorful backgrounds Since before Wyoming became a state, people began moving to Albany County and claiming their piece of land to homestead.

Today, Laramie historians and genealogists Dicksie Knight May, Rita Parker and Shirley Lilley are working to collect and consolidate the records of Albany County ranches.

“We are trying to collect all the histories of these ranches,” explains Dicksie.

“We want to go from the original homestead owners to present day.”

In collecting ranch histories, the pair has discovered colorful stories and tales of hard times.

Early ranches In Albany County, Dicksie and Shirley marked 10 operations that can be identified as the largest and earliest ranches.

“The Swastika Ranch was probably the largest ranch is southern Albany County,” she says. “They had lots of land.

In the early 1920s, the Swastika Ranch sold for $77,000.”

The sheer size of the Swastika Ranch gave it a huge presence in Albany County’s ranching history. It spread across south Albany County and into Colorado’s Larimer County.

Also in southern Albany County, the modern Flag Ranch and Williams’ Double X Ranch were two of the largest original Albany County operations.

“Williams’ Double X Ranch was owned by the Hansen family,” Dicksie says.

“We think it was the first homestead in what is now Wyoming. At the time, it was a part of the Dakota territory.”

The Double X Ranch is still owned by the Hansen family.

After scouring records, she says it is the earliest homestead application she is able to find.

In western Albany County, Dicksie pointed to the Willian Sitoris and E.J. Bell place as one of the largest.

The Prager Ranch and Bell Ranch dominated northern Albany County, and the Diamond and Dixon Ranches were among the largest in the Rock River area.

To the east, Iron Mountain Ranch, which also had large land holdings in Laramie County, dominated, and the Bath and Carrol Ranches held large amounts of land along the Little Laramie River.

Notable ranchers The characters that make up Albany County’s early ranching history were also colorful.

“George Hutton was among the first homesteaders here,” says Dicksie. “His place became the Swastiska.”

When Hutton homesteaded in 1870, he built an elegant ranch house, raised livestock and sold hay. The Swastika Sheep Company soon followed in 1912.

Charles Motley was also an interesting man known

for the unique animals on his property.

“Motley raised elk,” Dicksie notes. “He also had a miniature donkey, striped ducks and a wall-eyed rabbit, along with Hereford cattle, sheep and horses.”

According to stories from ranching families, Dicksie says, “Motley would take milk cows up to the mountains north of Medicine Bow and would pick up some elk calves that were a few hours old and put them with the milk cows.”

Later, he would bring the calves home to raise.

“He trained them how to drive,” laughs Dicksie. “He would hitch them to a wagon and drive into town. It was a sight to see.”

The barns built for Motley’s elk are still in existence on property now owned by the Ray Garson family.

Women ranchers It was not only men who became an integral part in Albany County’s early ranching history.

“Elizabeth Fee was the first woman to have a homestead patent in Albany County,” says Dicksie. “Elizabeth and her family came to Laramie when it was only a city of tents. She was born in Ireland in 1811.”

She was married to Thomas Fee in Ireland, and the couple came to the U.S. in 1862 and to Wyoming in 1872.

After her husband died in 1873, Elizabeth signed her homestead property over to one of her sons, Larry.

The rest of her sons also had homesteads along the Little Laramie River.

Raising children With early ranches and homesteads spread across Albany County, a number of early schools dotted the landscape.

“Isolation, vast distances and weather conditions were all factors that contributed to the founding of many rural schools,” writes Dixie Mathisen in Cowbelles Ring School Bells. “Often children of one family were the only school-age children living in that immediate area. It was important to these people that their children had a better education than they had received.”

As a result, hundreds of schools were spread across the county.

Teachers in these early schools were paid $40 to $50 per month and frequently lived with family.

Moving forward The historic ranches of Albany County are remembered today by the many structures that are still standing.

Each year, a tour of part of historic Albany County is conducted, and locals have the chance to see some of these historic buildings and learn of their colorful histories.

Dicksie continues to work on collecting the stories from these ranches.

With 79 complete, she suspects that there are several hundred more to write and says, “With each his-

tory I research and write, more information about more ranches keeps showing up.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

“With each history I research and write, more information about more ranches keeps showing up.” – Dicksie Knight May

Original homesteads – The Mandel Ranch is also the site of one of the earliest homesteads in Albany County and may be one of the original homestead houses. This original building, built with the help of soldiers from Fort Sanders, still stands on the Kemp property today. Courtesy photo

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Family ranch, blessed lifestyle Dunmires operate expanding ranch for future generations Rock River – After the Dunmire family purchased their ranch in the Rock River Valley 25 years ago, they have continued to grow and expand with the goal of continuing the operation for the next generation.

“We are still expanding,” says Les. “We are building this operation for our kids and grandkids.”

Les and Shelly emphasize that Dunmire Ranch is a family business, noting that they run it with their family to support the family.

Ranch origins After his father was diagnosed with Leukemia in the late 80s, the family decided to sell the Iron Mountain ranch his father owned. Les and Shelly were living and working on the operation at the time.

A short time later in 1988, the Dunmire family purchased the property they now live on in Albany County.

“I like the Rock Creek drainage,” Les explains. “I like the water, the mountains, the protection and the trees. There are a lot of positives about this place.”

After looking at a number of different places, the family decided to settle in the Rock Creek Valley and continue the ranching lifestyle that they loved.

Operations Today, the family runs Angus cows with a few black baldies.

“Our situation is a little different than most,” Les explains. “We calve in June and carry our calves over to yearlings.”

The cows calve on green grass and are run with their mothers until the end of October.

“Then, we pull the calves off, and they are wintered in Wheatland,” he says.

“It is a little easier and more cost effective to winter our babies over there.”

The following May, calves return to the home ranch.

“Calves get a ride over to Wheatland and a ride back. The cows walk wherever they have to go,” says Les. The cows are trailed home the first of November until the first part of May, when they return to grass.

Yearlings are sold off of grass and delivered in late September after summer grazing.

Hay and forage While Les notes that the family used to put up over 5,000 tons of hay each year, they now choose to leave half of that feed as standing forage.

“We graze a lot of standing forage. We don’t windrow it. We just leave it stand and graze it with the cows,” he explains. “We can graze most of our mature cow herd in most winters without any hay.”

While they do supplement with cake, Les says it’s pretty unusual to not feed hay to a cowherd at an elevation of 7,500 feet. He attributes later calving dates to helping reduce the nutritional needs of the cattle during the harsh winters.

“Our bred heifers do start getting hay around March, but in a normal year, the cows winter with just grass and cake.”

By grazing standing forage, rather than using machinery to harvest the crop, Les notes they save over $100 per cow in the winter, which helps to support the families living on the ranch.

“Our operation is pretty simple,” he explains. “We wait for green grass to calve, and we try to get the calves out of here before the snow gets too deep. We let the cows find their feed and winter on their own. It makes sense financially for us.”

“We think our scenario is very typical of a lot of ranches in Wyoming,” Les continues. “We are a family-

run operation. We stay home and take care of business. We enjoy the lifestyle but run the ranch as a business.”

Diversifying “When we moved here 25 years ago, people told us that there are things that make the Rock Creek Valley almost uninhabitable,” Les says. “They cussed the wind, and they cussed the rocks.”

However, the Dunmires have turned those challenges into profitable opportunities.

“The wind has gone from being a detriment to be an asset, and the rocks are the same,” he comments.

“We’ve turned them into something that helps our bottom line.”

Two gravel pits and a several wind farms have been constructed on the ranch.

“My grandfather always said kiddingly that if we could figure out a way to sell the wind and the rocks, we’d be in good shape, and we’ve been able to,” Les comments.

“We’ve been blessed.”

Additionally, the Dunmires lease the hunting and fishing rights on their property to Tyler Sims, a local outfitter.

Family concentration After college, Les and Shelly’s daughter Heather and son Garrett moved back to the ranch.

In 2001, Ryon Alexander moved to Rock River and began working on the operation. Heather and Ryon married in 2003.

Today, Heather and Ryon live on the ranch with their children Mikayla and Lo. The family shares in management, ownership and operation of the ranch.

Tim Cooper and Brad Strauch have been on the ranch for a number of years and are considered part of the family. They are integral in the ranch’s day-to-day operations.

Ryon and Tim are involved in much of the cattle management activities and make day-to-day decisions to help the ranch run smoothly. Tim also runs his a small herd of his own cattle on the operation.

Between irrigating thousands of acres and keeping the equipment running smoothly, Brad is a crucial member of the ranch team.

“It’s a family operation,” Les says. “Tim has been with us since he was 11, and I’ve known Brad all his life. They are like family to us.”

Sustainable operation In addition, Les and Shelly work to continue their ranch for their children’s future.

“This ranch gives the grandkids and our kids an opportunity to ranch,” comments Shelly.

By starting their children out young with a few bred heifers, Les notes Garrett and Heather slowly built they own cowherds, paid for college and jumpstarted their future. He has continued that tradition with is grandchildren.

“My grandkids are running their own cows,” he says. “They only have a few, but if they keep the heifers, the calf crop will pay for their college education.”

Because Ryon and Heather both grew up on family ranches, they are passionate about ensuring their children are exposed to the same work ethic and family values they learned on the ranch.

“Our hope some day is that our children will come back and continue the family traditions of this ranch,” says Heather. “If they choose to come back, this ranch will be here.”

She continues, “We believe strongly in this lifestyle.”

At the end of the day, Les notes that Dunmire Ranch is a family-centered operation.

“We’ve been in a position where we have been able to buy other places and expand for the kids and grandkids,” Les says.

“Hopefully, this ranch is designed to be able to keep the next generation ranching.”

“I feel that I am blessed,” Les says. “I am able to do what I enjoy doing.”

He continues, “I don’t think there are very many people who can honestly say they enjoy doing their job. I feel I am very lucky to say I enjoy what I do for a living.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments and questions on this article to saige@wylr.net.

Additional enterprises Along with raising cattle, the members of the Dunmire Ranch family keeps themselves busy with a wide array of other activities.

“In the winter, my son-in-law Ryon Alexander and Tim Cooper break colts,” says Shelly Dunmire. “They are so good with horses.”

Ryon and Heather also raise working dogs that are used on the operation and sold throughout the state.

Ryon also builds and sells saddles in the winter months.

The family is very active in their community, as well.

Les has been coaching basketball for 20 years, and this year marks his 21st year as the Rock River High School boy’s basketball head coach.

Garrett serves as the assistant coach for the Rock River High School boy’s basketball team.

Heather has also coached high school volleyball and junior high boy’s basketball for 10 years, and Shelly is involved in 4-H and the Parent-Teacher Organization at the school.

“We are all members of the Albany County Stock Growers, the Wyoming Stock Growers and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,” adds Les. “We have a volunteer fire department that everyone belongs to, and everyone helps out,” he continues. “Everyone takes their turn.”

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2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Conservation goals Laramie Rivers Conservation District works on urban-rural interface Laramie – The Laramie Rivers Conservation District (LRCD) was established in the 1940s following the formation of the Soil Conservation Service. Today, the district continues their hard work to protect and develop the natural resources in Albany County.

“The Laramie Rivers Conservation District was formed by ranchers that lived along the Big and Little Laramie Rivers and the people who were irrigating there,” comments LRCD Director Tony Hoch. “In the 1980s, we expanded the district to conform to the boundaries of Albany County.”

Agriculture efforts The organization serves the ranch community with a wide variety of needs, particularly those relating to better utilize the land.

“One of our big things is our rural cost-share program,” says Tony.

“We have done a lot of cost-share projects, like cross fencing, developing upland water and installing solar pumps in remote places to get better distribution on rangelands.”

The LRCD is integral in helping to develop intensive grazing and rotational grazing strategies on ranches.

To accomplish their goals, LRCD works closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“If someone has an Environmental Quality Incentives Program grant and they need help with their match, we can help with that, and we have cost-share programs to do things like close water gaps and develop upland water,” he continues.

One of their newer, big efforts focuses on rural subdivisions.

“The Barnyards and Backyards project is something that we are working on,” he notes. “It is one of our major initiatives.”

The project looks to help traditional agriculture survive and improve.

“At the same time, we are trying to help these landowners moving into rural subdivisions to be the best stewards of the land that they can be,” Tony explains.

Community partnership LRCD also works to promote conservation efforts in town as well.

Tony says, “We understand that a good portion of our mill levy comes from people in town, so we try to stay high profile in Laramie.”

LRCD works on a number of projects within the boundaries of Laramie, including school and community gardens and cleanup projects.

“We have school gardens at every elementary

school in Albany County,” Tony says.

He continues, “We also did a big river restoration project in 2009-11 on the greenbelt in town.”

The project helped to restore the river that runs through town and involved over 20 organizations and 1,000 volunteers over three years.

“The project cost over $1 million and was a great opportunity,” Tony says.

“We facilitated it, and it all came together smoothly.”

Emerging projects Recently, LRCD purchased an old refinery that sits in ruins on the west side of town.

“The building was a refinery in the 20s, and we purchased it a little over a year ago,” Tony explains.

“We are going through the processes with the Department of Environmental Quality to get the environmental contamination cleaned up and the buildings demolished.”

Because the building

is in ruins, he emphasizes that the project is important for both public safety and economic development.

“We are very interested in conservation projects that enhance economic development,” Tony comments.

Continuing efforts Several programs LRCD has operated for many years also continue to thrive.

“The living snow fence program is alive and well,” he says. “We are always looking for places to put up more trees.”

Another effort of the LRCD that focuses on educating people about conservation is their annual conservation expo.

“We look at soil, weather, energy and wildlife – all the main things we work on,” Tony explains. “We work to bring together business, economic development agencies and the public to get a lot of ideas on these topics.”

The next conservation expo will be held on March 8, 2014 at the Albany County Fair

“Conservation crosses ownership and political boundaries. The things we work on are projects that everyone agrees on.” – Tony Hoch, Laramie Rivers Conservation District Grounds.

Tony mentions, “Our list of projects is endless.

I could go on for hours.”

Urban-rural interface While many conservation districts are associated with activities in rural communities, Tony says that working with urban populations is rewarding.

“Conservation crosses ownership and political boundaries,” he explains.

“The things we work on are projects that everyone agrees on.”

The result, Tony says,

is increased opportunities for conservation efforts.

“We still have a dominantly rancher-oriented board,” Tony says. “A lot of our best ideas for the work we do come from our rancher board members. They have to innovate all they time, and they are helping us to come up with really good, innovative projects.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@ wylr.net.

Completed projects - After completing projects, the Laramie Rivers Conservation District hosts tours to showcase the work being done and encourage others to consider projects on their own lands.

Courtesy photo

Volunteer work - Volunteers work on a number of projects completed by the Laramie Rivers Conservation District. Courtesy photo

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Ranching traditions Bath Brothers Ranch has a rich past and a bright future Laramie – The original Bath family arrived in the Laramie area in 1868 and was forced to turn their stock loose the first year because of the harsh winter. They found the cattle in 1869 near the Laramie River and chose to settle the area where their livestock thrived.

Over 145 years later, decedents of the Bath family are still ranching and haying the land of their ancestors.

Randy Dunn, the seventh generation to operate the ranch, and his family continue the tradition of raising quality cattle and horses.

In addition to running his cow/calf pairs, Randy also is a part of the Come to the Source horse sale, which boasts Blue Valentine and Driftwood bloodlines.

Rich history The Bath family is credited as being influential in

the settlement of Laramie.

In 1869 when the first railroad came through the town, the Bath family constructed the first woodenframed building, hotel and brewery in the town.

They are also credited with building the first Episcopal Church.

“There were five brothers and two sisters in the Bath family,” Randy explained. “I am part of the Al Bath family.”

“The Bath Brothers Ranch has a long and strong tradition of raising goodusing horses and reputation cattle,” explains Randy, “and our family has always raised cattle and horses.”

Horse tales However, the family had some of their high quality horses stolen early in the ranch’s history.

“In 1878, the Baths and the Carrols, another ranch-

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ing family in the area, had 128 head of horses stolen from them by the Indians,” Randy recalls. “They tracked the horses all the way to what was the Red Cloud Agency in Ogallala, Neb., but they could not get the horses back. About 20 years later, the government sent them $20 a head for the horses, quite a bit less than what they were worth.”

In the 1930s, the government contracted the family to provide remount horses for the troops. Randy still has the book listing every horse purchased by the military, the breeding of the horse and how much it sold for. Each horse proudly sported the Bath brand.

Randy mentions that his family brand, the running M brand, is one of the oldest recorded brands in the state.

“The brand was purchased from Judge Kirkendall, the judge who tried the man who shot Buffalo Bill Cody,” Randy says. “The brand was originally from South Dakota but was purchased in the 1870 and registered in Wyoming.”

Seven generations later Seven generations later, Randy and his wife Laurie now run the Bath Ranch.

Randy says that one of his daughters, who has decided to stay on the ranch, marks

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the eighth generation working the family ranch.

Randy runs cow/calf pairs on the ranch, working both black and red Angus, and also produces hay to feed the cattle through the winter.

The Bath Brothers Ranch also calves twice a year, the first batch in the spring and the second in the fall. He says this has given the ranch more options in the fall when they decided to keep or sell the calves.

High input costs have limited options in recent years.

Horse sale In addition to the cattle, Randy also raises horses with Blue Valentine and Driftwood bloodlines.

The Blue Valentine bloodline came to the family from a partnership between Randy and Chip Merritt, while Driftwood was purchased from Randy Johnston in South Dakota.

“When Chip’s dad passed away, his family brought the horses over to Laramie, and we began to run our horses together,” Randy explains. “After a while, we talked about having a sale but did not have enough horses for one. We partnered with Dick Van Pelt, another rancher in the area who had purchased a lot of horses from us and started the Come to the Source sale.”

This sale is one of the very few places horsemen can purchase these horses.

Randy notes that world class riders Guy Allen, Mickey Gene and Frank Thompson have ridden their horses.

“We just had our 16th sale,” he continues. “I think

Branding time - Randy Dunn of Bath Brothers Ranch drags a calf during a branding at the Dalles Ranch. Courtesy photo

it is impressive that three guys could stay together and put on good sales for 16 years.”

Not all work Although running the ranch consumes most of Randy’s time, he still makes sure to have some fun. He and neighbor Mike Dalles formed a partnership they described as an NLC. “We have an NLC, which stands for Non-Liable Company,” Randy says as he began to chuckle. “We tend to play pranks on our neighbors, and we do not want to be held liable for them.”

While a young couple who had just moved to the valley were out celebrating their bachelor and bachelorette parties in Colorado, the two ranchers snuck over and decorated the 25 head of roping steers the couple had left on the ranch.

“We painted them, put glitter and bells all over them and striped their horns,” Randy laughs.

“They were from Colorado, so we striped one of their steers brown and gold, and another steer was decorated with green and gold with ‘CS?’ painted on his side.”

He adds that his grandchildren who were visiting from South Dakota were right there with him decorating the steers.

“It is all in good fun,” he says. “It does not hurt anyone or does not cause any damage to anything besides our wallets when we are buying supplies. The young couple reciprocated the gesture, and now we are working on our next project.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

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2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Monaghan Ranch Angus commercial cattle operation focuses on production Laramie – The Monaghan Ranch isn’t a typical ranching operation.

“We are a cow/calf and stocker operation,” explains Chip Adamson, ranch manager at Monaghan Ranch, “but we do things 180 degrees different from others.”

The ranch was started around 1870, and in its 140 years, only four different owners have been responsible for the property.

“It was started by two men named Homer and Sargent,” Chip explains. “By the 1880s, Robert H. Homer had the sole proprietorship of the property.”

Today, the Deline family of Denver, Colo. owns the ranch, and Chip operates the property with the help of a co-worker.

Running cows Monaghan Ranch runs purebred Angus cattle.

The cattle operation on Monaghan Ranch is very different from many others, explains Chip, in that they begin their year with calving in the summer.

“We synchronize our heifers, and they start calving about June 10,” says Chip. “The cows start calving about July 1. It seems that everything we do is opposite of everyone else.”

He works to establish a 30-day calving period for the heifers and 45-day period for the cows.

“We run our calves over to the next summer to yearlings and market them in September the following year,” Chip continues.

A difference in timing In September, Chip notes that when other ranchers are weaning, they are breeding their cattle.

Cattle are artificially inseminated in the middle of the month. Cleanup bulls are PAP tested to ensure they are capable of running at high altitude.

In a typical year, the cows receive a cake supplement starting in the fall, and they begin feeding hay at the beginning of December.

Weaning is set for the middle to end of February.

“When we are weaning, I look for a good stretch of nice weather,” he says. “We don’t want to wean in the middle of a snow storm.”

Calves are fence-line weaned, making the process low-stress for the animals.

After weaning, Chip notes that the cattle don’t get much hay.

“Once we wean, the cows are back on cake and range,” he explains. “We continue to feed the calves until there is green grass.”

Taking records Each cow utilized on the ranch has an extensive set of records associated with it, which helps with selection, says Chip.

“We keep individual records on each of our cows,” he explains. “We keep track of all the cows and have ratios on them, so we can tell what is doing well and what is not.”

In addition to the commercial cattle herd, Chip notes that they have a small herd of registered Angus.

“We don’t sell the bulls from the herd,” he comments. “They are raised for our own use.”

Making changes Monaghan Ranch hasn’t always run the way it does today.

“We used to calve in February and March,” explains

Chip. “This is a 45,000 acre place, and to expand the cattle herd with only two guys, we actually started calving twice a year.”

The routine utilized a February and March calving period, as well as an August and September calving.

“At that time, fall calving was a lot more economical for us,” Chip says. “We kept pushing it up because the September calves never seemed to catch up.”

They inched their calving dates up to the beginning of July, eventually, and they have continued a summer calving regime ever since.

Summer benefits “There are so many positive aspects to summer calving,” Chip mentions. “I don’t tell anyone else they should do it, but it works well for us.”

He particularly highlights the decreased labor required.

“Our cows calve in three- to five-section pastures,” he explains. “They get looked at once a day in the morning. We go out, tag and band the bull calves and record them.”

The summer calving, he says, necessitates that even heifers are only checked once, despite the large pastures they calve in.

They are also able to

decrease the amount of hay required per pair because cows are only in their first trimester during the winter months..

“We can get each pair by on one to 1.25 tons of hay,” says Chip.

Marketing Because of their calving schedule and the fact that calves are held over to yearlings, Chip notes that they have more marketing options.

“We sell based on market conditions,” he says.

“Heavier cattle are more valuable, but summer calving is very flexible.”

“We have the option of weaning them and selling them, or we can sell in May if the grass market is strong,” Chip continues. “Our other option is we can sell them over the summer.”

For the last several years, however, he notes that the ranch has sold private treaty to the same buyer.

“We raise all-natural cattle, and our buyer likes them,” he says.

Unique aspects “There are a few other things that we do differently,” says Chip.

For the wildlife on their ranch, rather than opening hunting to the public or contracting with an outfitter, Chip says they work with charitable organizations.

“We work with Hunt of a Lifetime, which is similar to Make a Wish, Wounded Warriors and Colorado Outdoor

“We run our calves over to the next summer to yearlings and market them September the following year.” – Chip Adamson, Monaghan Ranch Buddies,” he explains. “A lot of these programs bring in physically challenged people who might not have the experience otherwise.”

They have also welcomed inner city students from Milwaukee to the ranch to experience hunting.

“The Deline family is interested in conservation and in wildlife,” says Chip.

“They are a very nice family and great to work for.”

Monaghan Ranch has worked with the Laramie

Rivers Conservation District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop habitats for fish and birds and to conserve riparian areas.

“We are always looking to improve,” says Chip. “We can always improve the grass and the genetics of the herd, and we are always working to improve our cattle.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr. net.

Albany County challenges On the Monaghan Ranch, manager Chip Adamson notes that they see many of the same challenges that others in the area see.

“This is winter country,” he says, “and it is an arid environment. Our challenges are pretty typical of everyone else in the area.”

Moisture marks a major challenge, he says.

“Our biggest challenge is probably dealing with drought conditions,” Chip explains. “We have used rotational grazing for years, and we stock a little lighter than a traditional operation.

As a result, he continues, “Last year when it got bad, we thought things went well. However, we needed a good year to recover.”

This year, he adds, they were fortunate to see a little rain almost every afternoon from July through September. September rains, he said, yielded nearly four inches of moisture on the property.

“This was more of a recovery year,” he continues.

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A8

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Agriculture for education Dave Moore celebrates 40 years at UW Laramie – Dave Moore has been with the University of Wyoming for 40 years. Dave just completed his 17th year working as the university farm manager after acting as the beef herdsman for 23

years prior to that.

As a herdsman, Dave saw a lot of estrous synchronization research and melengestrol acetate (MGA) studies.

“We also did a lot of

the initial work with the scours vaccination for cattle and on oral electrolytes,” he explains. “We also did bovine viral disease (BVD) research, which, back in the day, was very new stuff.”

Seeing Red – UW Farm Manager Dave Moore poses for a photo with Red, one of the ranch horses purchased by the university 30 years ago. Kelsey Tramp photo

Thursday Thursday Thursday Sat & Sun Thursday Monday Thursday Monday Thursday Monday Thursday Saturday Monday Thursday Monday Thursday Saturday Monday Thursday Monday

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Early experience Dave had experience with ranching and Laramie before he became a herdsman.

“When I was a kid, I summered over on the X Bar ranch near Laramie, so I pretty much grew up in the area,” the Wheatland native says. “I started working in the hayfields when I was 10.

I have Laramie in my blood.”

Although he considered the Laramie area a second home, he did not attend UW for his bachelor’s degree.

“I received my bachelor’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University and came to UW in the fall of 1973 to get started on my master’s degree in animal nutrition,” Dave says. “In 1975, I took the superintendent job at the Torrington farm and was there for a year and a half until the Animal Science Department Head Paul Stratton called and offered me the job as herdsman.”

In his free time, Dave enjoys working with the small herd of cattle he runs

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“When I first came to the farm, the main farm was located down by the territorial prison. The dairy farm was where the beef unit is now, and the beef unit had just barely been built.” – Dave Moore, UW near Chugwater on a close friend’s ranch.

Changes over the years “When I first came to the farm, the main farm was located down by the territorial prison,” Dave recalls.

“The dairy farm was where the beef unit is now, and the beef unit had just barely been built.”

Dave said that the dairy used to milk 65 cows and would haul the milk to campus where it was used to feed the students in the dorms.

“They also made cheese, ice cream and butter and sold it at the dairy store down on Lewis Street two or three nights a week,” he adds.

“Over time, the processing equipment became obsolete, and the cost to replace them was astronomical, so the dairy closed down.”

He adds that UW also had chickens when the farm was at the territorial prison, and the eggs were sold to members of the community.

In 1996, the Cliff and Martha Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena was built at the livestock center, and Dave was asked to oversee the events taking place there.

“This was a sizeable edition for UW, and they asked me to watch it for a few months until they hired someone to take over. That was 17 years ago,” he chuckles. “Taking care of Hansen is a side job, but it still keeps me pretty busy.”

Not counting rodeo team practices, Dave said the Hansen Arena once hosted a record 227 weekday events and 38 weekends of activities.

“Every week, we have the rodeo team practicing in the arena, the equestrian team, 4-H kids, ranch horse team and a Laramie County Community College horse class,” Dave explains. “I always leave Friday nights open, so I have time to get prepared for whatever event is happening that weekend.”

Life as the manager “I never know what I am doing to do on a daily basis,” says Dave, describing his usual day as a farm manager. “I have oversight of pretty much everything here, but I am not as hands-on as I used to be. I try to minimize my involvement because we hired people to manage the beef herd, and I leave them alone to do their jobs.”

As farm manager, Dave

is in charge of ensuring the farm runs smoothly, buying all of the feed and supplies needed and whatever else needs his attention.

Dave also takes care of Red, one of the ranch horses that UW purchased 30 years ago. Despite his advanced age, the farm manager keeps the horse at a healthy body condition.

“Right now, we are getting ready for winter,” he says. “We are getting the corrals and fence fixed. I just finished working on a skid steer, but this is more maintenance than anything.”

“The winters are not as bad here as everyone lets on,” he continues. “The wind is what gets people more than anything else. We haven’t had a true winter in so long that I don’t remember what it is like.”

Busy location Even in the winter, the farm is especially busy with student labs and experiments being conducted by the faculty. Dave says that feed efficiency studies using GrowSafe are usually underway at the farm.

“We have two GrowSafe systems, one for sheep and one that was just installed this spring for cattle,” Dave elaborates. “The systems are used in the two producer ram tests that we conduct annually for white-faced and black-faced rams.”

“Down at the Sustainable Agriculture Research Experimentation Station (SAREC), the cattle GrowSafe system is used more heavily,” he continues.

“We usually ship our steers down to SAREC in the late fall after we wean and keep the heifers back at the farm to feed as replacement heifers.”

Dave also keeps busy with the ranch the university was gifted near Wheatland known as the McGuire place.

“We are working to get the grazing and watering systems developed up there,” Dave explains. “The way it is now, our water sources are limited, and we are not able to utilize the ranch like we should. We are working to see what needs to be done to make it a more ideal area for grazing and research.”

Kelsey Tramp is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr. net.

A9

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Strong women Weaver Sisters continue ranching operations Tie Siding – Agriculture was bred into Susan, Mourine and Maxine Weaver from their beginning.

“We had the best childhood ever,” comments Mourine. “We loved our 4-H heifers, and we loved being around the cattle.”

The Weaver sisters were raised at their father Adrian’s veterinary clinic in Laramie and on Weaver Ranch, which straddles the Wyoming-Colorado border.

Long history During the days before Wyoming became a state, Noah and Adeline Weaver, great-grandparents to Susan, Mourine and Maxine, owned the general store at old Tie Siding.

The family also established a general store in Laramie, where their son Adrian was born in 1889. The Weavers built a livery stable and a small hotel at Tie Siding a short time later.

“Our grandparents homesteaded on the Colorado side of the state line in 1886,” says Maxine. “At the same time, David Weaver homesteaded on the Wyoming side of the state line.”

Continuing to acquire land for the ever-expanding operation, Adeline continued to purchase property at Tie Siding between 1904 and 1931. The Stevenson Ranch

was acquired in 1958, and the family began to run registered black Angus cattle in 1960.

The ranch continued to run a commercial herd until 1990.

“When dad started, most people had Herefords,” says Maxine. “He bought his first registered Angus in 1960, so we could work with cattle that didn’t have to deal with burnt udders, bad bags, cancer eye and dehorning.”

Seedstock Angus cattle Today, the Weaver sisters carry on the long traditions of cattle ranching in their family.

“We have all worked off the ranch at some point, but we are all back now,” says Maxine. “We are the fifth generation on the ranch.”

They continue to buy and sell property to acquire the land that is best suited to raising their ideal bull.

As a black Angus seedstock producer, they strive for bulls that are able to perform at high elevation. Each year, the registered Angus bulls are sold as virgin two-year-olds during their February sale.

“We feel like their feet and legs stand up better as two-year-olds,” Maxine notes.

“We let them mature naturally before we sell them.”

“With our two-year-olds, our main thing is calving ease and high elevation,” says Maxine. “Most of our buyers

are from Wyoming and the West Slope of Colorado. They want bulls that are PAP tested at 7,500 feet, where tests are more accurate.”

To accommodate the needs of producers, bulls are PAP tested as yearlings, and the scores are listed in their sale catalog. Heifers are tested every several years.

In addition to selling bulls, the sisters sell two-yearold bred commercial heifers at their yearly sale.

In their heifers, the Weavers are looking for a moderate-sized cow that exhibits maternal traits and correct conformation. The heifers not selected as replacements are sold.

A year in the life The Weaver sisters begin their year in January preparing for their President’s Day Bull Sale.

Following the sale, they spend the next month delivering bulls.

“Before the sale, our replacement heifers go to Sedgwick, Colo.,” says Maxine. “They calve the heifers the beginning of March and the cows start the beginning of April.”

Lyle and Deb Linman manage the Weaver’s Ranch at Sedgwick, Colo., which enables the sisters to personally deliver bulls. The Linmans are also partners in the

Sisters working together – The Weaver sisters work together on Weaver Ranch every day. Susan, the oldest, and twins Maxine and Mourine strive to produce a top-quality product and carry on the family’s traditions. Saige Albert photo

cattle business.

“Then, we ultrasound test the bulls around May 1,” says Susan. “Ultrasound is a newer technology that we really use to get more carcass information on our bulls. We are able to get marbling, rib eye and backfat information.”

Beginning in June, bulls are moved to summer pastures.

Bulls are summered at Tie Siding between 7,500 and 8,000 feet of elevation.

Recently purchased property north of Centennial will allow bulls to summer at up to 9,000 feet.

Heifers are also brought to Wyoming and Virginia Dale, Colo. for the summer but are kept separated by at least a road and a couple of fences.

“The beginning of October, we will start watching the weather and decide when we want to take the cattle home,” says Maxine. “Some of the

heifers will be dropped off at Virginia Dale, Colo., and the rest are brought back to Owl Creek Canyon outside Fort Collins, Colo.”

Eventually, all the heifers end up at Owl Canyon for the winter.

For the winter, the cattle are left on pastures until the grass is depleted or snow gets too deep.

“We put them out on pasture with a protein supplement, and then we feed hay if we get ground-covering snow,” she continues.

Joys of ranching Mourine, Maxine and Susan all appreciate the ranch lifestyle for different reasons and aim to continue in the industry.

“I like being my own boss,” says Mourine. “Ranching isn’t a job – it’s a way of life.”

Mourine also notes that she enjoys working with her children Sheldon Emerson

and Darby Luckey, who are partners on the ranch. While both are also involved in separate ventures, they are still a part of ranch activities.

Maxine adds, “I enjoy seeing the results of what we do. For example, we pick a breeding program and plan three years ahead to see an end result.”

She notes that being a part of the industry, making progress and making a difference is important.

For Susan, the oldest of the sisters, the cattle and the people keep her in ranching.

“We like the cattle, but the people in the industry are great,” she notes. “Growing up, we really loved raising cattle, and we still enjoy it today.”

Mourine adds, “Agriculture is a great way of life.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

A10

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Outfitting cattle and hunters Red Mountain Ranch optimizes grass, wildlife resources Laramie – What started out as a high school project turned into a business for third generation rancher J.T. Nunn. For the last 13 years, J.T. has been operating Red Mountain Ranch running cow/ calf pairs and his outfitting business, Bar-Nunn Hunting.

“I have always loved to hunt, and the outfitting business actually started when I was a freshman in high school when my ag teacher Jack Corson got me started on two different projects,” J.T. explains.

“One was a breeding beef project that turned into the herd of cattle that I have on the ranch, and the other was the hunting enterprise for an FFA project.”

“I have to give a lot of credit to Jack. He pushed

me to go out and take a chance to do things,” he continues. “I was capable of doing these things, I just needed the confidence to go out and do it.”

Growing up in agriculture “My grandfather ranched just south of Lander for as long as I can remember,” J.T. says. “My dad grew up on the ranch before attending the University of Wyoming. After he graduated, he purchased a ranch north of Laramie.”

J.T. worked for his father on the ranch through high school and college.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in rangeland ecology and watershed management and a minor in business.

“Most of my experi-

ence has been hands-on,” J.T. explains. “I think college teaches people how to figure things out and how to work through situations, but a lot of the technical information I got out of college, I had already learned from working on the ranch.”

One of the things he learned from the ranch was a strong work ethic.

“My dad taught me that there is no time to be sitting around when we should be working,” he says. “He instilled a strong work ethic in me because of that.”

Running pairs J.T. and his father now work together running cattle. J.T. says that some of the cattle belong to his father and himself, while others are leased or run on

shares.

“We calve twice a year,” J.T. elaborates.

“The first calf crop is in February and March, and we send them to graze on our forest permit in June.

We calve again in May. None of our cattle are treated with hormones or antibiotics, and our May calf crop was just certified as Micro Beef.”

J.T. says his days are devoted to his ranching operation, while nights are spent focusing on hunters and the outfitting business.

Balancing act “The biggest thing is being flexible,” J.T. explains. “I think the best thing to do is make a general plan of what needs to be done in the next two weeks but not stick ourselves on a strict schedule that will set us up for failure. The recent rains have stopped us from haying when we normally would have been. If one thing can’t happen that day, we just move on to something else and keep going.”

“We also try to make sure we are getting things done when we have some downtime, so they don’t pile up in the end,” he adds, “but it never seems like there are enough hours in the day.”

Working through challenges The shortage of time is not the only challenge that Red Mountain Ranch faces during the year. Promoting their outfitting business and the weather is an obstacle that constantly has to be dealt with.

“The biggest challenge that I have with BarNunn Hunting is keeping up with the internet mar-

“The biggest thing is being flexible. I think the best thing to do is make a general plan of what needs to be done in the next two weeks but not stick ourselves on a strict schedule that will set us up for failure.” – J.T. Nunn, Red Mountain Ranch keting,” J.T. states. “I am not a computer expert, so I hired a friend to do our marketing, so we are competitive in advertising.

Internet marketing is constantly changing, and it is important that we show up on page one of Google where potential clients can see us.”

Although approximately 90 percent of their hunters are repeat customers, J.T. says it is still important to be visible to potential clients.

The weather is a constant battle for both the ranch and the outfitting business. Rough weather can lead to harsh or unsuccessful hunts and also decreases the outputs of the ranch.

“The income of the ranch is based on the products that we produce,” J.T. explains. “For example, every rainy day that a hay cutting is down, the quality decreases. It goes from being horse quality hay to cow quality and down from there.”

“The challenge is figuring out how to get through the weather and optimize the outputs,” he adds.

J.T. says that in the end, the honest, hardworking, dependable workers that return yearly to work on the ranch make everything work.

Working together J.T., his wife and their

HARDEST WORKING, SMOOTHEST RIDING FEATURES

two boys, Garret and Colter, work together to keep the operation running.

“My wife takes care of all of the meals and food for the hunters,” J.T. explains, “and I take care of all of the emails. My dad helps out some, but he is not as hands-on as he used to be.”

“Our sons help out where they can, and they like to go on the hunting trips with us,” he continues. “I think it is important to teach them the same work ethic my dad taught me. I think they learn better at a young age on how to do things and can learn how to take care of business first.”

“We keep them as involved as they want to be, but we make sure they don’t get burned out on it,” he adds.

J.T. says his boys would rather take a hunter out into the field than play football. Colter, the younger of the two boys, always keeps the mood light on hunting trips and has the hunters rolling in laughter.

“Colter is the public relations person,” J.T. jokes. “Garrett is a lot more serious around the ranch and hunting camp and a perfectionist.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

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A11

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

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A12

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

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A13

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Way up north Kennedy’s ranch in isolated northern Albany County Laramie – “Grandpa came out to Wyoming from eastern Nebraska in the early 1900s,” says Kelly Kennedy of Kennedy’s Vale Ranch. “During those years, if a person came out and started a homestead while they were off to service, those years in service also went towards proving up on their homestead.”

On preparing to serve as a soldier during World War One, in 1919 Kelly’s grandfather, Bill Kennedy, started the homestead and boarded a train to go to war.

“The story goes that before the train pulled out of the depot, another train pulled up alongside, and the man aboard said, ‘The armistice has been signed.

Get off, boys. You’re going home,’” Kennedy says.

“Grandpa never went off to service.”

After heading home to Nebraska, Bill came to Wyoming to help run the property he had homesteaded, and the Kennedy family began what is known today as Vale Ranch.

Modern property Vale Ranch sits in the northern-most part of Albany County, some 90 miles from Laramie. The ranch is located about halfway between Rock River and Wheatland.

“I grew up out on the ranch,” says Kelly. “We started with Herefords in the beginning, and then we went black. We also had some Charolais.”

While they have switched to almost straight black Angus today, he adds that they run a few black baldies, as well.

“We have quite a few Hereford-Angus cross anymore,” he explains. “The black baldies produce better. Their crossbred genetics are really good.”

With his son Nick, wife Alexa and daughter Holly, Kelly says the family runs cattle across four counties.

“My brother Craig is still up on the main ranch

with our father, William Eugene,” he says.

Cattle operation Each year, the ranch activities start at the end of March with calving.

“By the end of May, we brand and sort the ranch herd and trail them to Chalk Bluffs,” Kelly says. “We used to trail all the way to Rock River all at once, which takes three days, but anymore we trail to Chalk Bluffs, leave them a month and go on.”

Steers are trailed to Rock River where they summer, and the heifer pairs are run on the main ranch until fall.

“About the first to middle of October, we sell the steers and trail the cows back to the ranch,” he explains. “We’ll preg test and split up the cows again.”

Running-age cows are pastured separately from the old and young cows.

“We put our cows on grass until February, and we don’t feed a lot of hay,” Kelly says. “That is what makes our place work – they can eat grass for so long.”

Cattle are fed from February to May, and Kelly says, “Then we start calving, and the cycle starts again.”

Cattle focus Kelly notes that they are building their herd because the calf market is doing well.

“We have been saving our replacement heifers recently,” he says. “With our harsh climate, we have to select for heifers that are a little smaller. We don’t want big replacements because they won’t do well grazing out on their own all winter long.”

He utilizes an extensive record-keeping system to keep track of how the cows perform and selects replacements that are wellsuited to their land.

Challenging terrain Because of the location

of the ranch, Kelly notes that they see some unique challenges.

“The elevation is a challenge,” he says. “Our ranch sits at around 7,150 feet, and we have a lot of rough country where we graze the cattle all winter long.”

The nature of much of their ranch means there are no roads.

“Whenever we go check the cows or need to bring them salt, it is all done on horseback,” Kelly notes. “In the winter, everything is packed in.”

Occasionally, Kelly also notes that they utilize their small airplane to check cattle. All the cows are freeze-branded on their hip, making them easier to identify from a distance.

Elk also provide a challenge, and since the ranch sits right next to the national forest, he says it

can be difficult.

“Elk are one of our biggest challenges,” Kennedy explains. “They tear down fences and eat a lot our winter feed.”

Alternative enterprises In addition to their cattle, several miles outside of Laramie, Kelly and Alexa Kennedy also own Aspenwood Stables.

“We bought this place, so the kids could go through high school and college in town,” says Kelly. “It takes an hour and 45 minutes to get to Laramie from our place if the roads are good.”

Until they reached high school age, both children were educated at the Cozy Hollow Rural School near their property.

The stable, which has the capacity to house up to 50 horses, also provides a separate source of income for the family and adds diversity to their ranching operation.

In diversifying and starting his own operation, Nick purchased a cen-

“We have quite a few Hereford-Angus cross anymore. The black baldies produce better.

Their crossbred genetics are really good.”

– Kelly Kennedy, Kennedy’s Vale Ranch ter pivot near Wheatland where they grow alfalfa.

“We run a lot of the cows on land near Slater and Chugwater,” explains Kelly. “We are kicking around the idea of buying more farmland in Wheatland.”

Family life The family is also involved in a number of organizations outside the ranch.

“I was on the Albany County Stock Growers Board for a few years, and Nick and I are on the Sybille Fire Department,” he says.

Alexa is currently president of the Albany County Farm Bureau, and Nick and Holly stay involved in the Wyoming Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher

program.

“I’m on the Laramie Rivers Conservation District Board and the Farm Service Agency board, as well,” Kelly says. “We keep busy.”

Currently, Holly is serving as Miss Rodeo Wyoming, and she will compete for the Miss Rodeo America title this December.

“Ranching is the very best environment to raise kids and develop a work ethic,” Kelly says of ranch life, “but there are challenges for sure. It’s not the money or the hours that keeps us in it, but we love the cattle.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr. net.

Black baldies - While the ranch's cattle are primarily black Angus, Kelly and his son Nick run a herd of black baldies. Kelly says he likes the crossbred genetics of the cattle. Saige Albert photo

A14

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Johnson 99 Ranch Six generations of ranchers continue on family land Laramie – The Johnson 99 Ranch traces its roots back five generations to when Orville Johnson’s greatgrandfather Andrew immi-

grated to the United States from Denmark in 1868.

Andrew worked on the Union Pacific railroad laying the track and fell in love with

the area. Andrew returned to Denmark, where he married his sweetheart and convinced his brothers to travel back to the U.S. with him.

Six generations strong – Lindy Johnson says that the grandkids are always eager to help work cattle.

Nine-year-old Aurora could not wait to help work cattle. Courtesy photo

However, misfortune met the brothers as they worked on the railroad. Indians captured one of the brothers when a section of railroad was attacked. When the man never came back, Andrew’s remaining brother returned to Denmark.

However, Andrew chose to stay. He began to purchase property in the area, and when Orville’s grandfather James was old enough to help, they purchased the land that is now a part of Johnson 99 Ranch.

Five generations later “It was not always the Johnson 99 Ranch,” Orville explains. “When my dad was younger and in partnership with his father, they called it James Johnson and Sons Ranch. Then, when my dad, brother and I were in partnership, it was Vic Johnson and Sons Ranch.”

“When my brother and I took over, we decided to make a name that would go on for generations, not someone and sons, so we decided on the Johnson 99 Ranch,” he explains. “The 99 came from

“It can sometimes be difficult working with family, but the main thing is making the younger generation feel like part of the operation.” – Lindy Johnson, Johnson 99 Ranch the 99 brand that my greatgrandfather used and the one we still use today.”

Five generations later, Orville and his wife Lindy run the Johnson 99 Ranch with their two daughters and their children.

Family place “It is so nice to have everyone all together on one ranch,” says Lindy. “We meet every week, make a list of everything that needs to get done on the ranch and divide the work up. It seems like there is always something that needs to be worked on.”

“It can sometimes be difficult working with family, but the main thing is making the younger generation feel like part of the operation,” she continues. “If they do not have that connection, they will not want to stay on the family ranch, and it may wind up being sold. To me, that is a sad thing to see. I would like to see the family ranch stay together.”

The couple says that their grandchildren are an important part of the ranch and help by doing whatever they can.

The grandchildren, ranging from 11 years old to one month old, help feed the cattle and horses during the summer, and they also halter break their 4-H animals.

“Whenever we roundup cattle, they are all onboard,” Lindy smiles. “Even Bayla.

She is two years old and has a horse she can ride all by herself. She helps us move the cattle. It is fun to see them ride at that age. As a grandma that makes me a little nervous, but it is still heartwarming.”

Cattle business Johnson 99 Ranch is now a commercial cow/calf operation.

Orville says that they do raise and sell some horses, but mainly, horses are raised for ranch use. However, the ranch is more work than just moving cattle.

“During the fall, we are fencing, setting posts, cleaning ditches and generally trying to get everything we want done before it freezes,” Orville says.

“When it gets colder, we will start feeding and watering cattle. Then it is calving in March and April, branding, irrigating, growing the hay, getting the cattle on summer grass, putting up the hay and starting all over again,” he comments. “It is a vicious cycle.”

Making changes Over the years, Orville says the biggest change he has seen on the ranch is how the hay is harvested.

“On the ranch, we used to put up loose hay, and my dad used to do it all with horse mowers and rakes,” he remembers. “We then switched to mechanized mowers, sweepers and stackers to put up the loose hay, and now we are baling our

hay as round bales.”

“It used to take a lot of people and horses to get the hay up in a timely fashion,” he continues. “It was a lot of hard, physical labor. Admittedly, it still is hard work today, but it is a little bit easier.”

“We used to pitch all the loose hay to the cows by hand, and there were times that we could not get to the hay piles because of the snow, and all of our vehicles were two-wheel drive,” he quips.

“When the snow was that bad, we would hook the horses to the sled and gather and pitch the hay that way,” he adds. “We had a team of three big saddle horses that we drove three abreast, but they tired in the Laramie winters. We purchased a team of Belgium horses and a bobsled, and we would feed cattle using those two teams.”

Orville says the weather had also changed over the years, creating challenges for the operation.

“It went from the most water we had ever seen three years ago to the least water last year,” he explains. “This year was better but still not where it needs to be. This is just an extreme country – extremely wet or dry and extremely windy.”

Family fun In addition to be a family ranch, the Johnsons also have a family band called the Rancher’s Gospel Band.

“We have to schedule our performances around calving and haying,” Orville laughs.

“The entire family plays in the band, though. Both of our girls sing and harmonize. One plays piano, and the other play guitar.”

The couple explains the band does not just play all gospel music but plays good wholesome country music for their audience.

Their daughters tried to teach Orville more modern country songs to add more variety to the band’s repertoire. However, Orville says that no matter how modern he tries to be, it always comes out old-school country.

Lindy also spends her free time doing with projects with her grandchildren.

Their latest endeavor was making goat cheese from their grand champion dairy goats.

“Making the cheese was definitely a learning experience for the family. We used an entire gallon of milk, and all it made was a little gob of cheese,” Lindy says. “We are going to try to make goat soap next out of the milk. I think it is important for kids to learn how to make stuff like this, and they could potentially turn it into a business down the road.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@ wylr.net.

A15

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Let ‘er buck Burns Rodeo Company producers quality rough stock Laramie – Although they are well known for their bulls, the Burns Rodeo Company started with a horse.

“Back in the 70s, my family had one of the only indoor practice arenas for miles, and we did a fair amount of calf roping and steer wrestling there,” says Hal Burns of Burns Rodeo Company. “One day, a man from Laramie Peak brought in a nice little Quarter horse that kept bucking people off. We ended up buying him and bucking him for practice.”

“We wound up buying a few more horses, and then we became even more involved and started purchasing bulls at the sale barns,” Hal explains, “but it all started with that one horse.”

Hal says he and his father Pete never planned on purchasing bucking bulls, but his father had been very active in rodeos and always had a soft spot for bulls.

Lucking out at a sale Hal and his father

lucked out when purchasing bucking horses and bulls at the last National Finals Rodeo (NFR) sale in Oklahoma City, Okla. in the 1980s. The infamous Mr. T was one of the eight bulls purchased that day.

“In today’s world, a bull like Mr. T would not have made the cut,” Burns states. “We purchased him in December, and he did not turn back for us until that next August. It took almost two years for Mr. T to decide he was going to buck. Now bulls get shipped off if they do not prove themselves in the first six or eight trips.”

“With as many bulls around as there is, it is not economically feasible for contractors to keep anything but the best bulls,” he adds.

Once Mr. T began to buck, Hal remembers that he was a good-looking bull that bucked hard straight out of the chute.

After he established his bucking pattern on turning right after the gate to buck, every cowboy wanted to

get on him. He bucked off the seven world champions that attempted to ride him, went to NFR five times and was never ridden.

Mr. T’s progeny are still bucking for Burns Rodeo Company, including Ice T who has a buck off rate of 81 percent.

Burns Rodeo Company also bucks NFR bulls Cooper’s Magic, Tax Man, Kid Twist and Ace. Raising rough stock Hal says he handles his breeding and young stock as little as possible and described them as wilder than the elk they graze with.

“Unless we are taking them to rodeos, the bulls, cows and calves are up on the mountain grazing,” he says. “We leave them alone for most of the year.

We do supplement them with salt licks, but we do not give them hay unless the weather is really bad and they can’t get to the grass.”

As yearlings, the bulls are shipped to a feedlot in

Pinedale to put on weight.

Hal says it is more cost efficient to ship the bulls to feed than to bring the feed to his stock. The feed utilization is also better in the feedlot.

When the bulls reach 2.5- to three-years-old, Hal begins bucking them to determine their quality as rodeo stock. At this age, handling of the bulls increases. According to Hal, unless they are turned out for breeding purposes, and not many are, they will be kept in pens off of the mountain.

“Everyone has had a horse or two that they are worried about getting on in the mornings because they have been known to buck and others that a person can’t get to buck no matter what they do,” Hal explains. “Bulls are a lot like this. I cannot teach a bull to buck because bucking is hereditary. Bucking can be refined, but it can’t be forced.”

A flank strap is used to help the bulls buck.

“It is just a nylon rope,” Hal explains, “There is nothing in there that will hurt the animal.”

“These are animal ath-

“I cannot teach a bull to buck because bucking is hereditary. Bucking can be refined, but it can’t be forced.” – Hal Burn, Burns Rodeo Company letes. If we hurt them, they will not perform to the top of their capabilities,” he continues. “They do kick at the strap, but it is just a piece of rope that gets their attention and enhances their performance.”

Changes in the business “For years, we raised and traded bucking horses and were breeding about 30 mares a year,” he continues. “Burns Rodeo Company still owns a lot of horses, but we formed a partnership with J.D. Hamaker who has taken charge of the horse program. I am in charge of the bull program.”

When Hal began bucking Mr. T, he said they would buck anywhere between 60 to 80 bulls in a weekend.

“At that time, there was virtually nowhere else that was bucking bulls, and our facility was set up so the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) bull riders could fill their permit requirements,” Hal remembers.

Now, there is less participation in rough stock events at the high school and collegiate levels. The number of stock contractors has increased, but the number of people raising bulls has decreased.

“The bull market is so flooded that a lot of people have gotten out of the business,” Hal notes.

Creating opportunities To test young bulls and give young cowboys expe-

rience, Burn’s wife Barb created the Mr. T Bull Riding event. This spring event attracts young cowboys with a generous purse and allows Burns Rodeo Company to examine prospective bulls.

“It has always been good, clean family fun at Mr. T Bull Riding, and the entertainment value is high for both spectators and riders,” he comments.

Hal says he is looking forward to seeing how this year’s crop of bulls performs.

“Every four or five years, it seems I get a really good crop of bulls,” he explains. “It seems to run in cycles. I am not sure why, but I think this year will be a good bunch of bulls.”

However, it is not all about producing bulls that buck the hardest.

When selecting animals for an event, Hal must match the bulls to the riders’ skill level.

“Ranked bulls can actually cost a contractor business,” Hal explains.

“It used to be a feather in the cap to have these bulls, but now I have to be very careful about which set of bulls I send to a rodeo.

People in the stands do not want to see the riders get bucked off one after another – they want to see the cowboy win.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

Burns Insurance Agency, Inc. 1465 N. 4th Street, Suite 115 • Laramie, WY 82072

Kathy Guffey

Branch Manager/ Agent

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Rough stock – Hal Burns says he is excited about this year’s crop of bulls, adding that every four or five years, there is a really good crop.

Kelsey Tramp photo

Office: 307-745-0400 • Fax: 307-745-0411• kathyg@burnsia.com

A16

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Brown’s Creek Angus Vast ranching experience provides continual lessons Laramie – “It may not be the best paying job in the world, but it is the best life,” Jim Rogers of Brown’s Creek Angus states proudly.

After ranching for years in the Pinedale area, the opportunity to purchase a ranch near Laramie pre-

sented itself to Jim and Gaye Rogers in 1995.

“We had looked all over the state for a ranch, and this seemed like the perfect place,” says Gaye.

“It was hard to leave our families behind in Pinedale, but we adapted and can’t imagine living any-

where else. The people here are just wonderful.”

Starting a new ranch It did not take long for the couple and their son James to turn what was the China Wall Ranch into Brown’s Creek Angus.

Jim explains that the ranch was named after

Rain or shine – Brown’s Creek Angus works hard to take care of their yearlings, even if it means moving cattle during a downpour. Kelsey Tramp photo

Brown’s Creek, a diversion of the Little Laramie River that begins on their property.

What started as a cow/ calf and haying operation has seen many changes over the years but is still going strong with the leadership of the Rogers family.

Jim and Gaye began Brown’s Creek Angus as a cow/calf operation with registered bulls.

During the early years, they also worked doing carcass collecting for a producer in Montana with James.

“The Fish Hook Ranch in Montana provided us with the semen, and my son and I would AI the cows,” Jim says. “We AI’ed the majority of the cows, so we needed fewer bulls for cleanup bulls.”

Embryo work During this time, Jim and James dabbled in embryo transfer.

“My son spent a week with Dave Winninger from Cow Country Genetics, Inc. learning how to do embryo transfer. Dave saw that he was very interested in it and that he had done a lot of AI,” Jim says.

“My son did all the embryo

“Now we don’t own the cows, just the ranch and the grass that we feed them.” – Jim Rogers, Brown’s Creek Angus work on our end.”

“It was neat,” Gaye adds. “We knew what the package was when it went in, but we never knew what was going to come out.

It was so neat to see how those embryo calves came out and how close they looked to each other.”

Jim notes that some of the flushes were not what they wanted, while some were everything that they had hoped for.

With their son learning embryo transfer, there was also the added advantage of knowing exactly how many recipient cows were needed.

“Before, Dave came down to the ranch and flushed the donor cows.

We would have to have the recipient cows ready,” Jim explains. “We would flush in the morning and transfer in the afternoon, but the problem with that was we never knew how many eggs we were going to get out of the donor cows. We would have to make sure we had more recipients set aside, so we were covered.”

Jim notes that the leftover cows were set back a cycle if they were not used that day.

However, after James learned the trade, Dave would flush the cows and send the frozen eggs to the Rogers. This allowed the family to know exactly how many recipient cows were needed.

Changes in the ranch In 1998 when their son decided to return to Pinedale, Brown’s Creek Angus returned to running a cow/ calf operation but sold the cows and calves to pay down the loan on the ranch before beginning a heifer development program.

“Producers would bring their heifers down to our ranch in the fall, and we would run them through the winter,” Jim says. “We would AI them, provide a cleanup bull and pregnancy check them. A lot of producers would bring the next bunch of replacement heifers in when they came and picked up the bred heifers.”

The Rogers family developed heifers for eight years before they began to consider getting back into the cow/calf business.

However, their son convinced them to switch to a grass yearling operation.

Running yearlings “It was hard to convince us, but he did,” Jim chuckles. “Now we don’t own the cows, just the ranch and the grass that we feed them. We have three individuals that bring in calves, and we run them each year from the first of May to the first of October.”

“We are happy to see them go, but we are also

excited to see the new yearlings in the spring,” he adds.

The shorter grazing duration and rotational grazing system used with the yearlings dramatically cuts down on labor inputs from the couple – something they appreciate during the colder seasons.

“The nice thing about this is that, when we wake up in the winter and it is snowing and blowing outside, we don’t have to go out into the storm and feed calves,” Jim adds. “We can go work in the shop or do something warmer that day.”

The husband and wife team both agree that the weather is one of the biggest challenges that they faced as producers.

Lessons learned “Weather was one of the challenges that we have faced,” Jim says, “but that is true for anywhere in Wyoming. The drought in 2002 was horrible, and I hoped I would never see another one, but I am not sure if 2012-13 was much better.”

However, the couple treated the drought like a learning experience.

“Because of the drought, we have really redone all of our water systems,” Gaye notes.

“The drought helped us see where we had grass but no water,” Jim agrees.

“We have spent quite a bit of money improving our water system. We have 23 different pastures, and every pasture now has water.”

Raising a family Since the beginning, the ranch was also a learning experience for their son and daughter.

“In my mind, there is no better place to raise kids than on a ranch,” Jim says proudly. “I think that all agriculture kids have a good work ethic and can handle responsibility well.

As ranch kids grow up, parents can give them jobs that they can do that will build self-confidence. Plus, they know that if they do not get a job done, they will have to go back and work on it until it is finished.”

“It also prepares kids to make decisions in the real world and not worry if they did the right thing or not,” he continues. “Agriculture kids are also not afraid of making a decision because they have done it all of their life. If a parent tells their kid to go check on cows and one is stuck in the fence, they will know that they need to get it out rather than running back and telling their parents about it.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

A17

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Celebrating statehood Laramie Jubilee Days celebrations continue Laramie – For more than 70 years, a week-long celebration focusing on the importance of the state of Wyoming and western traditions has been held in Laramie. The event, known as Laramie Jubilee Days, has a long-standing history of fun events and western celebrations.

“This year we will celebrate the 74th Jubilee Days,” says Zoe Curtright, vice chairman of the Laramie Jubilee Days Board. “The event is a celebration of our Wyoming statehood.”

The first celebrations of Laramie Jubilee Days in the 1940s were called Equality Days, and Zoe notes that the event occurs in early July, with July 10 always falling during the celebration.

“July 10 is the date of Wyoming statehood, and our mission is to celebrate that day, as well as to celebrate our western traditions,” she says.

From the beginning Since the beginning, Zoe notes that Laramie Jubilee Days has had several standard activities that take place over the week of the event.

“Through the years, there have been a number of differ-

ent festivities, ranging from horse racing to steer roping to rodeo,” she explains. “From the very beginning, a staple of Jubilee Days has been the rodeo. That is our main activity.”

The three Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeos held over the course of the event are also accompanied by a ranch rodeo, junior bull riding and Classic Mr. T Bull Riding.

“The rodeos always draw a large crowd,” comments Zoe. Additionally, a parade during the week has always been a tradition.

Celebrating statehood One of the newest facets of the event occurs on July 10, when a free lunch is hosted at the Wyoming Territorial Prison.

“The territorial prison has been wonderful in helping us with the event,” says Zoe. “They serve lunch for free to attendees, have kids activities, bingo and vendors.”

During the 2013 event, Zoe says 700 people were served at the event.

“We have activities all day for people,” she com-

Rodeo focus – The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeos held through the week of Laramie Jubilee Days are always a big draw. Fred McClanahan, Jr. photo

ments.

Community event The event includes the entire community of Laramie – not just farmers, ranchers and those interested in rodeo.

“We try to have activities that get everyone involved,” Zoe notes. “It’s called the ‘Wyoming hometown celebration,’ so we try to make sure there is something for everybody.”

Because not everyone is interested in rodeo, she continues that they work to include the entire community.

“We have a street dance, and there are activities for kids throughout the week,” she explains.

They also host vendors downtown, and many of the downtown merchants also participate in the event with booths or activities.

“We also have our carnival that comes in for a few days that week,” she continues.

While Laramie Jubilee

Days is buzzing with a wide variety of events, Zoe notes that not all are put on solely by the committee.

“We have other organizations that also put on events,” she says. “For example, each year hospice puts on a 5K race.”

Continually improving In the spirit of involving the whole community, Zoe notes that they are always looking to add new events and activities.

“We are always trying to think of new things to add,” she explains. “Through the years, we have added events and taken some things away.”

The Laramie Jubilee Days committee works yearround to prepare for the event and keep people in touch with Jubilee Days.

“We did a rough stock rodeo recently to raise awareness and help people keep Laramie Jubilee Days in mind,” she says. “We also try to sponsor other events throughout the year if we can.”

“Our royalty – the queen, lady-in-waiting and two princesses – are involved in a lot

of community events,” Zoe continues. “We are always looking for new avenues that we can be a part of.”

Because of the support of the community, Zoe adds that they hope to stay involved.

“Our community is so good to us, and we have such great sponsors,” she says. “We are a non-profit organization, so everything that we bring in goes back to Jubilee Days,

making the celebration better and giving to other events that have sponsored us.”

Zoe comments, “We have a bunch of great volunteers, sponsors and a great board that work hard all year to put on this event and to make it great.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

Bull riding – Laramie Jubilee Days hosts a number of rodeos, including a bull riding only event. During the bull riding, the crowd is involved in a calcutta to increase excitement and give people the opportunity to win a little bit of money, says Zoe Curtright. Fred McClanahan, Jr. photo

A18

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Dalles Ranch Family adapts to changing times

Laramie – “My greatgrandfather came to Wyoming while he was working for the Union Pacific Railroad, and he blew up the engine of the train near Bosler,” laughs Mike Dalles, third generation rancher on the Dalles Ranch. “After that, he got fired and that is how my family ended up in the Laramie area.”

However, Mike’s great-grandfather did not start the ranch. He worked as a trapper near Cooper Cove instead.

“My grandfather purchased the Dalles ranch 1903 when he was 18 years old,” says Mike. “He bought his first 800 acres for $2,000, and it has been in the family ever since.”

“He registered the mitten brand in 1907,” he continues. “My dad used to say that it would keep the cattle warm in the winter.”

Mike’s father took over the operation in the early 50s until he passed away. Now, Mike and his siblings work together to run the ranch. However, he is the only sibling that works the ranch full-time.

“I thought it might have been hard working with my siblings,” Mike admits, “but it has been really good.”

Mike says that his daughter also helps out when she is not in class at the University of Wyoming.

Changing preferences With each change of leadership, the operation changed slightly. When the ranch began 110 years ago, Mike’s grandfather ran predominately two- and three-year-old steers.

“When my dad took over, we ran Hereford cattle,” Mike continues. “In the late 1980s, we started

running Angus. We are predominately blackhided, but there are a few white faces still left. It is just easier to sell a black calf than it is a Hereford calf.”

The Angus cattle are raised as cow/calf pairs.

Steers are sold, and most of the heifers are kept as replacements.

Mike says that their cattle seemed to top the Shamrock Angus sales, and people always give them positive feedback on there cattle.

“With our replacement heifers, fertility is everything,” he says. “I look at the records of the animal, then do a visual appraisal, but these animals have to be able to calve.”

Weathering challenges While numbers are down today because the drought forced them to sell quite a few cattle as

a result of declining feed resources, they are working to obtain full capacity as weather turns more favorable.

Mike notes that droughts have been a challenge that he and other producers in the Laramie Valley face.

“One of the biggest challenges has been the 2002 drought and the drought that has been happening for the last three years,” Mike says. “We have no control over the weather. We just have to make the best of it as we go, wake up and figure out new ways to do things.”

“In 2002, we sent the cows to a feedlot and barely put up any hay,” he continues. “That is a big thing around here – we have to have hay. It takes at least two tons per cow to feed through the winter. Producers just can’t feed their way through a drought, especially when hay costs upwards of $200 per ton. When we start thinking about how much

Family operation – Mike Dallas works yearlings on the ranch. The Dalles Ranch has run Black Angus since the 1980s. Courtesy photo

“We are predominately black-hided, but there are a few white faces still left. It is just easier to sell a black calf then it is a Hereford calf.” – Mike Dalles, Dalles Ranch

Pulling bulls – Mike Dalles’ nephew J.W. works to pull bulls from the herd. The Dalles Ranch is run by Mike and his siblings. Courtesy photo

it costs for feed, it gets hard to feed that cow.”

Life on the ranch “There is no such thing as a typical day on the ranch,” Mike laughs. “It all depends on the time of year and the weather. The plan is usually just getting up and doing chores.”

Mike says that during the fall, their days include moving their cattle down off of their forest lease near the ranch.

The ranch begins calving the first of February for 60 days.

“It was a fast calving season with the heifers because they were all AI bred,” he says. “We AI the heifers every year and occasionally some cows.”

The ranch treats every calf crop as a chance to improve the genetics of the herd. Mike says that improving the genetic merit of the herd has always been his main focus and tries every year to improve on the herd.

After calving and rebreeding, the cattle are

turned out on grass.

The ranch expanded to purchase some land north of Scottsbluff, Neb. However, the drought also heavily impacted the Nebraska allotment, decreasing the number of animals that can graze the land.

“It worked really well when we took cattle to Nebraska for grazing,” he explains. “I feel like the grass going into these calves was really being utilized. On a typical year, our steers will wean off at 625 pounds.”

He adds that the heifers do not receive any growth hormones, and the steers only receive one dose of growth hormone at branding.

Once ready, the cattle are sold to a Nebraska buyer who has been purchasing cattle from the Dalles Ranch for the past 15 years.

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

A19

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

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A20

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

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Wyoming Livestock

ROUNDUP

Digging up the past to shape the future Cook Ranch utilizes unique resources Bosler – “My dad began outfitting in the 80s, and it was from that endeavor that Cook Ranch evolved,” says Gabe Cook, who partners with his father to run the operation.

“He started leasing land to outfit on and began to slowly

put the ranch together.”

Gabe’s parents traveled to Wheatland from Louisiana after accepting teaching jobs at the local school. Gabe’s father Allen also had a degree in Human Resources (HR) Management, and Basin Elec-

Unconventional cowboys - The Cook Ranch utilizes motorcycles rather than horses in gathering cattle. While it is different than a conventional ranch, Gabe Cook says it allows the family to handle large herds. Courtesy photo

tric soon hired him to be their HR manager.

In his free time, Gabe’s father outfitted and ran cattle, which attracted him to what is now the Cook Ranch, a tract of land rich in resources and history.

Unique features Although they no longer outfit, Gabe and his father still run yearlings on their unique property.

“At the very heart of the ranch is an old lakebed that settlers diverted the Laramie River into,” Gabe describes.

“It serves about 1,500 acres of land that we can hay and winter cattle on. Albany County can be a desolate country and having a protective area where we can winter cattle really sets it apart from other ranches.”

In addition to the lakebed, the Laramie River also flows

Section B from corner to corner of the property, creating a reserve of land that is ideal for running cattle. These cattle are rounded up using a different kind of horsepower.

Cattle handling “While my father and I are both in admiration of true horsemen and cowboys, the landscape here at the ranch lends itself to another helpful tool for handling cattle – the motorcycle,” Gabe says.

“We’ve truly embraced the bike to quickly check the property, and between my dad and I, there’s rarely a time when a pasture is too big or a herd too large that we can’t handle with a motorcycle.”

Gabe notes that they are also different in the way that they handle their cattle.

“We adopted quite a few of Temple Grandin’s plans and ideas, but the main thing is, when we handle cattle, we do it in the subtlest way possible,” Gabe explains. “We

Shelter from the storm – The old lakebed at the heart of the Cook ranch provides excellent land to hay and run cattle on. Courtesy photo

always make it seem like it is the steer’s idea, whether we are looking at them, moving them or handling them.

We aren’t yelling at them. We are quiet and just easing them through everything.”

“I think that really sets us apart,” he continues, “because we try to make it a good experience for the cattle. Whether we are selling them or working them, everything runs smoothly, quietly and efficiently.”

In addition to being unique in their handling techniques and geographical features, Cook Ranch also has a substantial collection of fossils on their ranch.

Digging up the past “I remember when I was little, my dad would take me out with him when he was working,” Gabe recalls.

“There was one pasture in particular that was unique because we would find squid tails there. There were hundreds of them, just lying on the ground. If we went a little bit further, we would find what appeared to be shells.”

This fossil-rich land caught the attention of Kelli Trujillo, a former doctoral student at the University of Wyoming.

“Kelli, who now runs the museum at the university, had been in touch with my dad,” Gabe explains. “When she was working on her PhD, she wanted to do a study out here because she believed the land might have a wealth of resources in the capacity of small mammalian creatures and dinosaur bones.”

While conducting her study, Kelli discovered there were more dinosaur remains on the ranch than she originally believed. Kelli’s discoveries lead to the Cook family forming a partnership with the University of Pittsburg, which was interested in the bones that littered the pasture. The pasture was sold to the eastern university, and it now serves as a research area.

“Each year, the University of Pittsburg brings students, scientists and archeologists together from all over the world to study the historic remains,” Gabe elaborates. “When one of the sci-

entists came out to the ranch, we were just walking across the property and found an Allosaurus tooth lying on the ground. It was crazy.”

From working cattle to discovering fossils, the ranch has been a strong influence in the Cook family’s life.

Continuing education “The ranch has really shaped me as a person,” Gabe says. “I did not know what I wanted to do in life. I went to college for business, not agriculture.”

Gabe says working for his father during the summer turned into a long-lasting passion for ranching.

“The beautiful thing about being a rancher is that I am not just doing one thing,” he explains. “I get to learn a little bit about everything. I have the opportunity to learn about construction, caring for cattle, trading cattle, developing water resources, welding, irrigating and operating equipment. The list could go on forever.”

“I really learned that I do not know much. I have a lot to learn, and I am going to continue learning on the ranch,” he adds.

Photography Skills Gabe also learned about photography at the ranch.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, I am a rancher, but I enjoy photography,” he explains. “When I came here, I started carrying around a camera because I started seeing really cool things. I was out here by myself and was struck by the views of the plains. It started as just wanting some pictures to put in my house and grew from there.

My dad gave me Canon camera, and I never stopped taking pictures after that.”

Gabe now runs Gabe Cook Photography when he is not working cattle or haying.

However, his passion still remains with the ranch.

“My father and I are reliant on each other. This pushes us to do a good job because there is no one else to pick up the slack,” he adds.

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr. net.

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Serving Wyoming agriculture Hulett racks up 31 years as county agent Laramie – “I am a longtime county ag agent,” says Arlowe Hulett. “I was a county ag agent in the begin-

ning, and I retired as a county ag agent. That is all I ever wanted to be.”

Arlowe notes that he

is very passionate and has strong feelings about the things he accomplished with the integral help of farm-

Service to Wyoming – Arlowe Hulett has long served Wyoming and Albany County, with over 40 years as a county Extension agent. Here, he is pictured with his wife Mary and Mike McNamee. Steve Miller photo

ers and ranchers through the areas he worked.

“The people I worked with accomplished things,” he says. “I just tried to plant a seed.”

“Sometimes, we oldtime county agents were known as change agents,” Arlowe continues. “We tried to encourage people to change for the better.”

Early start After graduating from North Dakota’s Agricultural College in Fargo, N.D. in 1953, Arlowe went to work for the Bear Claw Hereford Ranch near Dayton.

“I was there for three years,” he mentions. “One year I spent traveling their show circuit.”

The circuit covered the western U.S. and Canada, and Arlowe notes, “That experience itself was a real treat.”

After marrying in June 1956, Arlowe notes that the wages he was making at the ranch weren’t enough to support their family, so he contacted a county agent in North Dakota that he respected.

Extension career Beginning in March 1956, Arlowe started his career as an assistant county agriculture agent in Richland County, N.D. “I had exposure to Wyoming agriculture, and after spending only a year and a half in North Dakota, I had to get back to Wyoming because row crops just weren’t going to cut it,” he says.

When a position opened up as an assistant county ag agent in Kemmerer, Arlowe notes that he drove to Belle Fourche, S.D. where a group of people from UW interviewed him for the job.

“I wound up getting the job and was responsible for ag extension in the south end of Lincoln County,” he says.

“I was there until July of 1961.”

From Kemmerer, Arlowe went to work in Newcastle as the county ag agent, and in March of 1968, he had the opportunity to come to Laramie.

“I retired in July of 1987,” he adds. “Over that period, I had a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of wonderful, very kind, gentle and industrious people.”

Arlowe notes he was involved in presenting ideas to many ranchers from a number of ranches and has stories that reflect years of experience.

Influencing agriculture “When I was in Kemmerer,” Arlowe recalls, “there was an outbreak of scabies in LaBarge and Big Piney. I was involved in education about scabies. We had to dip I don’t know how many thousands of cattle and install many dipping vats in the middle of the winter.”

When he moved to Newcastle, Arlowe notes that he did a lot of work with livestock production and sheep.

“We did a lot of work with sheep,” he says. “We put on sheep shearing schools, and we started a wool pool where we sold wool on a clean-wool basis.”

“None of this would have happened,” Arlowe emphasizes, “unless ranchers saw it was going to be of value to them. I can’t emphasize that too much.”

4-Hers Along with working with ranchers, Arlowe worked intensively with 4-H youth.

“In Weston County, we did a lot of work with 4-H,” he says. “It was one of the better 4-H programs in the state.”

Under his influence, Arlowe notes that 4-H camp one year had over 300 4-Hers in attendance.

“It was really wonderful,” he says. “We were also one of the instigators of the wagon train that went from Newcastle to the Wyoming State Fair in 1965 to celebrate the 75th year of Wyoming’s statehood.”

The wagon train had 30 wagons that left Newcastle and drove to Douglas.

“It was really fun, and I really enjoyed my time in Weston County,” he says.

Albany County work “I came to Laramie in

1968,” Arlowe says. “One of the first things I became involved in was the rural fire protection program.”

Weston County, he notes, had a wonderful fire program, and he wondered why Albany County didn’t have something similar.

“Today, there are rural fire departments and fire engines to combat wildfires and structural fires through the south end of Albany County,” he says. “We worked long and hard to get that established with Rural Fire District Number One.” Arlowe was also involved in establishing a mosquito control program for rural Albany County.

“We just couldn’t stand the mosquitos,” says Arlowe.

“We could tell it was having an effect on the cattle.”

Working with the Extension Entomologist Everett Stackman, Arlowe says they made a presentation to enough ranchers to fill the Little Laramie Community Hall.

“It wasn’t long after that we started spraying mosquitos in rural Albany County,” he says. “We had reports that some ranchers thought calves were 25 pounds heavier because cattle were grazing instead of bunching up in corners all day and hay fields were producing more than ever before because ranchers were doing a better job irrigating.”

Numerous programs Among other programs, Arlowe says they also did a lot to improve forages and meadows across the county.

“We improved grass varieties, did a great deal on weed control, especially Larkspur, and started a cattlemen’s congress,” he says.

“We started a cattlemen’s maxi-congress, as we called it,” Arlowe notes. “We brought in some wonderful speakers.”

Arlowe comments that they outgrew the facilities at a local hotel and the country club. Eventually, they moved to the fairgrounds and continued to fill the facility.

“The event had good credibility and was well attended. We filled the building to the rafters,” he says.

“People really enjoyed the event.”

Post retirement After being elected as the secretary of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA), Arlowe notes he travelled across the country meeting county ag agents.

“I retired in 1987 when the NACAA meeting was in Fargo, N.D.,” he says. “I wanted to retire on my home turf.”

Today, Arlowe works part-time for Laramie GM, but he fondly remembers his days as a county ag agent.

“The people kept me going all those years,” he says. “They were doing a good job and fighting the good fight. We loved what we were doing, and we really got after it. It was great.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

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2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Biddick Ranch Speisers raise natural cattle Laramie – “We’ve been raising natural beef for quite a few years now,” comments David “Pep” Speiser. “I was skeptical about raising natural beef, but we are able to make a little more money, and it works well for us.”

Pep and his wife Kathy operate Biddick Ranch just outside of Laramie, on the Big and Little Laramie Rivers.

The ranch was established by John and Mary Biddick. John “Jack” Biddick came to the Laramie area about 1871 and homesteaded in 1881.

John was involved in the sheep business in the Rock Creek area in the early 1880s, returning to Laramie to settle a short time later.

Historic significance “John Biddick had a passion for Shorthorn cattle,” says Pep, noting that the breed was native to his home of England.

John and Mary homesteaded the land where the Biddick Ranch now sits between 1901 and 1904.

The couple had four children and operated a thriving cattle ranch.

Additionally, native hay was harvested from the property’s hay meadows to be fed in the winter.

Following the death of John, Mary Ethel Biddick, the couple’s second daughter continued to improve the ranch property with manager Wales Wenburg. Wales took over the operation on her death.

Pep began helping Wales brand, work cattle, hay and break horses, along with other duties on the ranch in the late 1960s.

Wales passed in 2012, and Pep and Kathy own and operate the ranch today.

Cattle operation “We run a predominantly Angus-based herd,” says Pep of their cattle.

“We use purebred Angus bulls.”

The ranch aims to begin calving on March 10 for 50 days.

“If the weather is good, we let the cows calve out in the pastures, but we are set up to calve in barns,” Pep explains. “We are set up to where we can see every cow every day when they are ready to calve.”

He explains that the cattle have to come through the corral to get water, and he sorts the heavy ones off, particularly if the weather is going to be bad.

After calving, they vaccinate and brand before summering the cattle.

“We have been contracting our calves to be delivered after Jan. 15,” says Pep. “In October, we put them on a truck, and they go to a backgrounding feedlot.”

At the point the cattle weigh approximately 800 pounds, they are ready for delivery. After backgrounding, Pep says they go to a finishing feedlot.

The cattle are marketed as natural through the Global Animal Partnership. The five-step ani-

mal welfare rating standards for the Global Animal Partnership program include no crowding, enriched environment, pasture centered, no physical alternations and entire life on the same farm.

“Most of the beef that is sold natural goes to Whole Foods Market,” Pep explains.

Buying bred cows Unlike many ranches, Pep chooses not to retain heifers but rather purchases bred cows.

“We’ve been buying young cows bred to Angus bulls since about 2003,” he comments. “When we first started, we could buy a bred cow for $1,000 and sell a heifer calf for $700 to $800, and we didn’t have to keep her around all year.”

He still is careful in selecting cattle that fit his operation.

“The cattle I buy have to be in good shape,” Pep explains. “If they are AIbred, I am very careful about which sires they’ve

been bred to.”

Because of the high altitude, Pep notes that they have trouble with brisket disease in certain sire lines.

“They also have to be good-bodied heifers that weight about 1,000 pounds when they calve in March, so they are still in good shape and are able to rebreed,” he continues.

Hay and meadows Pep also adds that the ranch has 3,500 acres of irrigated land, and they put up hay each year.

“Since the drought years, we haven’t been selling our hay,” he says, “but we usually have enough hay to last our cows.”

He says they have the option of putting up hay or grazing it as pastures and adds, “From my experience, cows are hard on meadows, so we put up hay.”

Future of Biddick The future of Biddick Ranch, says Pep, is to maintain the operation at its current levels.

“We may, at some point, change, but right now, a cow/calf operation seems to work well,” he explains. “Cow/calf is a lot of work, though, and we may change to something else as we get older.”

Though they’ve had yearlings in the past on the place, he adds that cows and calves seems to work

“Ranching is a good, honest way to make a living.” – David “Pep” Speiser, Biddick Ranch

Rancher – Pep Speiser began working with Biddick Ranch owner Wales Wenburg in the 1960s with his brother Dennis. Even after his brother left, Pep remained on the ranch with Wales, working alongside the man until his death in 2012. Courtesy photo

better.

Ranching is a lifestyle that Pep enjoys, and he plans to continue ranching for as long as he can.

“I like everything about ranching,” he says.

“Ranching is a good, honest way to make a living.”

Additionally, Pep comments that he enjoys working with the people

in agriculture and says that those in ag are good people.

“Right now,” he adds, “agriculture and ranching are good, and we are making a little money.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@ wylr.net.

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Family portrait – The Biddick family remained on the ranch for several generations. In this photo, the oldest daughter, Edna Agnes, is shown with her father John and younger sister Mary Ethel. Mary Ethel would take over the ranch after her father’s death. Courtesy photo

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Wyoming wind Wind development projects continue in Albany County Laramie – As many people across the state of Wyoming know, Laramie and Albany County have famous amounts of wind – and that’s a fact that science has proven.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says, “Wyoming is one of the top states in the country for wind generation, with 8.8 percent of their electricity coming from wind energy during 2012.”

As a result, Wyoming ranks 10th in the nation for its percentage of electricity coming from wind, and the state has the eighth highest wind resource in the United States.

AWEA continues, “The state is so windy, it has the potential to receive more than 110 times its electricity load from wind.”

Wyoming and beyond In Wind Development and Wildlife Mitigation in Wyoming, a publication released in 2012 by the UW Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, Anne Jakle writes, “Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing forms of electricity development in the United States, and installed wind energy capacity in Wyoming has increased 15-fold in the past decade.”

In Wyoming, wind projects currently online produce 1,410 megawatts of energy, with 960 utilityscale wind turbines through 24 projects.

Wind projects that are in the works represent another 5,742 megawatts of potential energy, says AWEA. In the U.S., investments in wind power are moving the industry forward at a rapid pace.

“With an annual investment of $25 billion during 2012, the business of the U.S. wind industry includes sectors such as project development, resource assessment, siting and permitting, engineering, manufacturing, construction, transportation, operations, transmission and integrations and financing,” continues AWEA. Over the past five years, growth in wind energy is measured at 30 percent per year, on average.

From the companies Shell WindEnergy has been developing several projects, particularly in the Rock River area. In fact, the Rock River wind farm was the company’s first commercial-scale wind park.

“In October 2001, Rock River started to deliver clean, renewable wind power after less than four months from breaking ground to start-

up,” says Shell WindEnergy.

“The Rock River facility exemplifies the possibilities in bringing new wind generation online quickly and efficiently.”

As their flagship site and first major investment in the U.S. wind energy industry, the company notes that Rock River’s wind energy has proven to be valuable.

The wind farm consists of 50 one-megawatt turbines, and Shell WindEnergy says the farm produces enough power for approximately 25,000 households.

Overall, Shell WindEnergy has eight wind projects in North America and two projects in Europe. The resulting electricity-producing capacity is approximately 550 megawatts.

PacifiCorp also has several wind projects near McFadden, including the High Plains, McFadden Ridge and Dunlap I projects.

The High Plains and McFadden Ridge projects total 128 megawatts of energy production combined, according to the Ruckelshaus Institute document.

Wind development A number of Albany County ranchers utilize wind leases on their property, noting that the leases are a great way to generate

extra income, and in general, wind companies are good to work with.

“Our wind company was top of the line to work with,” comments Nancy Bath of Bath Sisters, LLC. “We are lucky to have the wind power,” Les Dunmire of Dunmire Ranches says. “We happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

When towers were installed on his property 15 years ago, Les notes that they have continued to build in several places, and wind companies make good neighbors.

“These wind companies are pretty good neighbors,” Les says. “They don’t pollute, and they don’t tear things up. When they put towers in, they tear up some ground, but they reseed it, and it comes back better than ever before.”

He also notes that the wind energy companies have played an active role in the Rock River community.

“They also come in and help in the community with fundraisers, and they are members of our volunteer

“Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing forms of electricity development in the United States, and installed wind energy capacity in Wyoming has increased 15-fold in the past decade.” – Anne Jakle, Ruckelshaus Institute fire department,” he says.

Developing wind, Les says, “has worked well for them, and it has worked well for us.”

Challenges in development However, while the resource is plentiful, Nancy still recognizes that there are challenges that accompany developing wind power.

“We have the perfect set-up for wind, if someone would just buy the power,” she explains. “Colorado is just a hop, skip and a jump away, and there are lines in place, but they have their own wind, and I’m sure they would like to develop that.”

While the wind is available, transporting wind energy to willing buyers has proven to be challenge from her perspective.

Though some ranchers

Wind energy - Wind energy has provided benefits to landowners in Albany County. Not only does it allow development of a renewable resource, it allows landowners to diversify their operations. Saige Albert photo

have leases available, they haven’t been developed.

“I’m afraid our leases may not get developed,” says Nancy, “but working with the wind companies has certainly made agriculture work for us.”

Developing wind In June 2011, the Ruckelshaus Institute and UW School of Energy Resources also released Commercial Wind Energy Development in Wyoming: A Guide for Landowners to aid landowners in planning for wind development.

“There are several discrete stages of commercial wind energy development, some of which the landowner is directly involved in,” reads the guide.

The stages, the guide lists, include pre-feasibility assessment, development option selection and compensation, full feasibility assessment, development, engineering and construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning.

There are a number of options that landowners must consider in all stages of the leasing process.

The document also adds, “A landowner’s first step when pursuing commercial wind development should be to hire a lawyer who is experienced with wind development issues.”

Because of the potential issues in dealing with a contractual agreement between the landowner and developer and the complexity of such agreements, the guide notes that it could be important to be represented legally.

“Landowners and developers must consider the compatibility of commercial wind energy development with existing uses of agricultural land,” they add.

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.

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B5

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Generations of ranching Margaret Page Ranch continues through generations Laramie – In 1932, when Otto Burns purchased what is now the Page Angus Ranch, the operation was run down and on the verge of disappearing.

“My grandfather, Otto, had steers the first year on the ranch,” says current ranch owner Margaret Page. “It was during the Depression, and he lost his shirt when he sold them, so at that point they became just a hay ranch.”

Several years later, Otto was killed in an accident at the railroad crossing, and Margaret’s grandmother maintained the operation.

“The place was leased for several years when my husband Tom was overseas during World War Two for 19 months after we were married,” says Margaret.

“When he came back, we decided to take over the ranch, and we moved out here with a baby and a milk cow in 1947.”

In 1947, Tom and Margaret Page established Three Bar Ranch – a brand that has lasted through the years.

Operational changes Margaret notes that the operation has seen its ups and downs, like most operations, and they have continued to persevere.

“We didn’t get elec-

tricity until 1950, and after that we got indoor plumbing and all the modern luxuries,” she says.

In the 1970s, Margaret notes that they began raising purebred Angus.

“We have a registered herd that we sell bulls off of,” she comments.

“In 1970, I went to work in town, and my husband went to work with the soil conservation service.”

“We ranched nights and weekends and took our vacations to put up hay,” Margaret continues.

While they saved the ranch, the Pages sold all of their cattle.

“Later, Tom couldn’t stand it, so we bought 15 registered Angus and started back up again,” she says. “When Tom died of cancer in 1988, my son Tom and his wife Barbara came back, and we’ve ranched ever since.”

Family operation Margaret notes that the whole family is involved in the ranch, and she enjoys working with the family.

“Barbara helps us and works during calving,” says Margaret. “She is a whiz with livestock as far as doctoring.”

The oldest of her children, Steve, works for the Wyoming Game and Fish

Department.

Christie Hall, her oldest daughter, is married to a retired railroader in Cheyenne, and Katie Moore is a wine representative in northern Wyoming.

“Katie comes down and takes care of me,” adds Margaret.

In addition to her children, Margaret notes that she has a large family.

“I have 11 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and one great-greatgrandchild now,” she says.

“It’s always been a family operation.”

Ranch today “We have registered Angus,” says Margaret.

“We raise bulls and sell them at a bull sale.

She adds that at 87 years old, she is still working on the ranch, though not as much as she used to.

“We start calving in February,” says Margaret.

“We calve out the replacement heifers first, followed by the registered cows.”

The cows are synchronized, and Barbara artificially inseminates the cows.

“We have good hay land but not enough pasture, so we send our cows out the beginning of June,” explains Margaret.

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The cattle are distributed in groups of 25 to 30 throughout Albany County.

“In late September, we bring all the cows home,” she continues. “When we bring them home, we weigh them all and take records.”

Margaret keeps accurate production records that have been maintained for almost 30 years.

“We sell the commercial cattle on Superior Video Auction,” says Margaret. “This year, we sold our heifers private treaty.”

After the commercial cattle are sold, in October the family pregnancy tests and gets ready for winter.

“We have hay, so we winter here,” says Margaret of the cows and heifers. “We calve everything out here.”

Selecting animals Margaret works to keep high-quality bulls in their registered herd.

“In our bulls, we are looking for good muscling,” she says. “We try to get back to where our cows are not as big as they were. They eat more hay that way.”

She also focuses on good marbling in their cattle, saying, “I’ve traced the marbling through the 4-H steers that my children and relatives have had.”

Due to the elevation of Page Angus Ranch, Mar-

“We have registered Angus. We raise bulls and sell them at a private bull sale.” – Margaret Page, Page Angus Ranch garet notes that they PAP test all bulls to ensure they can survive without fear of brisket disease.

Their cattle, says Margaret, are moderateframed, thick and well muscled.

The family also breeds for calm disposition and maternal traits.

Ranching lifestyle Despite difficult times, Margaret says she has kept ranching because she loves the land and the way of life.

“We are fairly small, and I’m one of the oldschool ranchers,” she

comments. “I don’t like debt, so we haven’t expanded much, but I prefer that.”

Today, Margaret says she can’t do as much as she used to, but says, “I keep my finger in it. I keep the books, write the checks and know what is going on.”

For the future, she hope that her son and daughter will keep up the operation.

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@ wylr.net.

Off the ranch “I’ve always been interested in the schools,” says Margaret. “We’ve lost our country school now, but I worked for the school district for 14 years.”

She has been involved in the local school districts for a number of years.

“I was chairman of the Reorganization Committee in 1969 where we consolidated all the schools in Albany County into one district,” she continues. “I’ve always been interested in education, and I’ve served on a lot of these committees.”

For her hard work, Margaret says she has been nominated Agricultural Person of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Committee.

She also continues to be active in the Albany County Cowbelles, saying, “I was president of the original county Cowbelles in 1966, and I’ve been active ever since.”

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Sheep to make a living Newkirk family chooses drought-tolerant sheep Rock River – Roger Newkirk says, “My grandpa always used to tell me he raised sheep to make a living, horses to have fun and cattle to be respectable.”

Today Roger maintains the sheep herd started by his grandfather many years ago and sees a number of benefits to in raising sheep, particularly during times when drought strikes.

In the beginning Both sides of Roger’s family homesteaded in the Garrett and Marshall country in northern Albany County.

Roger’s mother Donna says, “My grandparents, George and Augusta Smith, came to this area from Nebraska and homesteaded in 1919.”

The Newkirk side of the family homesteaded in the Garrett country just shortly before, moving to town after influenza struck and killed Roger’s great-grandfather and his brother.

“There was only 30 miles

between their places,” says Roger. “We still have the original Smith homestead.”

Donna’s father, Nat Smith, was the oldest of six children, and on his father’s death, he started running the farm at only 14 years old.

“They had milk cows and sold cream in Medicine Bow,” says Donna. “He tried to grow potatoes, and that didn’t pan out. Nat was the one who started the sheep business.”

Sheep business Donna, Roger, his wife Tammy and daughters Cassidy and Jacie still run the Rambouillet sheep started by Nat Smith.

“We run our band in the Marshall Country and Shirley Basin, 40 miles straight north of Rock River,” says Roger.

“In the winter, we used to have to go out every day by snow machine – 40 miles along a dirt road.”

The sheep are now wintered near Rock River, a change that Roger says saved

a lot of fuel and a lot of miles.

“It was really nice to winter them here,” he continues. “They do really well.”

In January, the family introduces bucks to their herd, so the ewes range lamb in June.

“Tammy is the one who does the lambing,” says Roger. “At that time of year, I’m irrigating and getting equipment ready to cut hay.”

Shortly before lambing in May, ewes are shorn and sent back to pasture.

“We ship the lambs off in October,” continues Roger.

“We have sold to the same buyer in Colorado for more than 40 years – as long as I can remember, anyway.”

Rambouillet benefits Along with selling the lambs for meat, Roger notes that a wool crop is important to the family, as well, making Rambouillet sheep ideal for their operation.

“Our wool is still important to us, and we have really good wool,” he explains, not-

Historic homesteads - The Smith family homesteaded in 1919. Here, Donna's grandmother, her father Nat and Nat's sister Florence are shown posing next to the original homestead house. Courtesy photo

ing that their wool is about 21 microns, making it very fine.

“This is the same band of sheep my granddad started, and they do the best out here.”

The Rambouillets, he continues, are hardy sheep that herd together and can withstand the conditions of the range.

Club lambs On top of their range operation, Roger notes that Cassidy and Tammy also run a bunch of black-faced club lambs.

“Cassidy did club lambs in 4-H for the whole time she was involved,” says Tammy, “and in Albany County, there weren’t too many options for club lambs.”

Cassidy saw the opportunity and wanted to provide a product for Albany County youth, so they didn’t have to travel as far to find 4-H project lambs.

“It has been a good business for them so far,” says Roger.

Cassidy is currently attending the University of Wyoming majoring in art and comes back to help the family and work with the club lamb operation.

Hay business On top of the sheep, Roger also notes that they put up enough hay in a normal year to feed their herd through the winter.

With hay prices, he says, they have also been selling some hay.

“We can’t deny the hay market,” Roger explains.

“There were times early this year when we took our hay to Fort Collins, Colo. and sold it for $400 a ton.”

The hay market, he continues, provides him with more options, which helps business to continue.

“My big thing is having lot of options,” says Roger.

“When we run out of options is when we are in trouble.”

“This is the same band of sheep my granddad started, and they do the best out here.” – Roger Newkirk

Family - Operating as a family is important to the Newkirks. Each year, (from left to right) Tammy, Jacie, Roger and Cassidy work together to operate the ranch. Courtesy photo

Continuing through drought “We had a nice bunch of cows, but when the drought came in 2002, we got rid of the all,” Donna notes.

Before they sold their cattle, Roger says they usually had to buy additional hay to feed the cows through the winter.

“The sheep were able to make it in the drought,” adds Tammy. “They did pretty well.”

“Sheep are more drought-resistant,” summarizes Roger. “All that sagebrush that other people don’t like is a forage for us. The sheep browse it.”

During the drought years, he adds that the sheep herd has continued to do well.

Roger continues that during a normal year, they also are able to bring 700 to 900 cattle to pasture on their land.

However, recent years have proven that the forage is needed for the sheep herd.

“The big problem with anything during drought is that it is hard to keep our numbers up,” Roger says. “It

is really easy to cut our numbers in half, but it is a struggle because we want to rebuild our herd.”

Joys of agriculture Despite the challenges and difficult times, all members of the family realize that ranching is something in their blood.

“Ranching is all I’ve ever done,” says Donna. “I was born and raised on a ranch, and when I got married, my husband Ernest and I started out working on a ranch.”

“Even after Ernest passed away, I didn’t know how to do anything else, so I just kept ranching,” Donna jokes, adding, “I don’t know of anything I’d rather have done.”

Tammy and Roger agree that they love the country and enjoy what they do.

“Roger and I were married at 19 and came up here,” says Tammy. “This is where we have always been and where we know, and we really like it.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

Keeping busy If daily life wasn’t busy enough, Roger, Tammy and Donna Newkirk are all involved in a number of other ventures outside of the ranch.

“I’ve been a brand inspector for 24 years,” says Roger. “It’s something that I really enjoy doing.”

He has also served on the Albany County Predator Board for 22 years, the Albany County Fair Board for nearly six years and as the beef superintendent during the Albany County Fair.

Tammy serves as sheep superintendent during Albany County Fair, as well.

In addition, Tammy and Donna run a mail route twice a week in rural Albany County. Each route runs over 100 miles roundtrip.

Donna has been running her mail route for 35 years, while Tammy has been delivering mail for almost nine years.

B7

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Strong women running a ranch Bath Sisters run cattle in southern Albany County Tie Siding – The long history of the Bath family in Albany County continues today, as Bath Sisters, LLC continues to run cattle in their high mountain pastures.

Bath Sisters, LLC is run

by Nancy Bath and Bonnie Epler, who lives with her husband Casey in Hillsdale, where they farm and ranch, as well.

Nancy’s husband Lynn Woodard also lives on the ranch with her. Lynn is also a veterinarian.

“Ranching is a wonderful life,” says Nancy. “We run a couple hundred head of cows up here, and I really enjoy it. It’s just a basic operation – nothing fancy.”

The long history of the ranch stems from the Bath brothers, who started ranching on the Little Laramie River at the turn of the century.

“In the early 1940s, the Bath Brothers came over here and bought more land for summer pasture,” Nancy explains. “In 1965, our father died, and my mother assumed this ranch.

We broke off from Bath Brothers Ranch, and my sister and I started Bath Sisters, LLC.” After she graduated from college, Nancy worked for the Union Pacific Railroad for 15 years, running on the main line between Cheyenne and Rawlins. She worked flexible hours that allowed her to be involved on the ranch.

After working on the railroad, Nancy returned to the ranch full time and has been running cow/calf pairs ever since.

Cattle “We have an Angusbased cowherd now,”

Nancy explains of the herd.

“We use some Hereford bulls.”

“The Hereford bulls make a nice cross,” she says. “Throughout the years, we have used different crosses, but we need that Angus base.”

Nancy says she likes crossbreeding with Herefords because they result in a nice, marketable calf, and the heifers can be retained as replacements.

She notes that they strive for feminine heifers for replacements. At the same time, they look for good muscling steers.

“I like them to be similar to their mothers and not too large,” Nancy explains.

“Moderate-sized cows are important because we need to make sure they can support themselves.”

Yearly activities Nancy notes that they run their cattle herd in a very traditional manner.

“We calve in mid-February through barns,” she says. “The reason we do that is because we have a forest permit that we have to occupy by June 10. We like to have things fairly well bred-up by the time we get there.”

She also notes that the calves are older and trail easier if they calve in February.

“We run on the forest allotment from June to October, usually,” she says.

“On that allotment, we run with another ranch as part of a grazing association.”

Nancy says they have run with the other ranch for many years, and it works well because they are able to coordinate bull turnout and other activities.

The bulls are left in for

Handling cattle - Nancy Bath notes that she works to utilize lowstress handling techniques in their cattle. Saige Albert photo

only about 50 days each year, which creates a more uniform calf crop, she adds.

“It has really improved our breed-up,” says Nancy.

“The cows have a longer period of time to get back into shape and are ready to be bred.”

After trailing cattle back from their forestleased land in late September or early October, they wean their calves and sell on a video auction.

Not always easy Because of their location in southern Albany County, Nancy says there are several challenges.

“We are at about 7,900 feet here at the house, and a lot of our cattle run at 8,000 feet,” she says. “Our forest permit is even higher, so we are challenged with brisket disease in our cattle.”

They buy PAP-tested bulls to breed to cows to try to protect against brisket disease.

Nancy also says they feed a lot of hay because of the altitude and harsh winters.

“We aren’t as cold as Laramie or places along the Laramie River, but we have a lot of wind, and winters are long,” she comments.

Elk also provide a challenge and are hard on fences, she says.

“One of our bigger challenges is the railroad,” Nancy notes. “It about splits our place in half. The railroad limits our movement and usage of land.”

Because it represents a main line of the railroad, Nancy says flagmen are required to move cattle across it, and they have to wait for trains.

“In 1901 or 1902, they

moved the railroad down here” she comments. “This is also one of the top five places in the U.S. for train photography.”

Benefits Despite the challenges on their land, Nancy notes that she loves the area.

“One of our highest quality aspects is the water here,” says Nancy. “It tests well, and we have plenty of quantity for livestock. The water is wonderful.”

She also notes that in good years, they have enough water to irrigate their hay ground.

“I’m just living my dream,” she says. “I enjoy that every year is different, and I can try to see what works.”

“I enjoy all of the work,” Nancy adds. “I don’t mind fixing fence, and I like the bookwork and the paper work. Really, I like all of it.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

“The Hereford bulls make a nice cross.

Throughout the years, we have used different crosses, but we need that Angus base.” – Nancy Bath, Bath Sisters, LLC

Bath Family Ranch - The Bath family has a long history in Laramie County. Today, while Bath Sisters, LLC operates in southern Albany County, the Bath brothers continue to ranch in central Albany County. Saige Albert photo

B8

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Guest ranching industry Vee Bar operates multi-faceted ranch Laramie – The Vee Bar Guest Ranch is more than just a guest ranch – it serves as a bed and breakfast, conference center and event location.

“The main lodge on the Vee Bar was built back in the 1890s as a stagecoach stop,” explains Cari Cole, who operates the Vee Bar with her father, Kelly. “It had a pretty diverse history, starting from the time the mining industries used it as a stage stop and post office.”

In the early 1900s, when the railroad came through the area, she notes that the Vee Bar was the hub of the Centennial Valley.

“They diversified a bit in the 1950s, and in the

1970s, it was operated as a guest ranch,” Cari continues.

The Vee Bar was operated as a buffalo ranch, a government school for boys and a variety of other operations until Cari’s grandfather Jim Cole purchased it in 1994.

“He started operating it as a bed and breakfast with the summer guest ranch component,” she says.

“Today, grandpa and my dad are partners.”

Cari’s dad, Kelly Cole, her mother Lisa, grandmother Carla and husband Brent manage the operation together today.

Guest ranch component “During the months of June, July and August, we

Unique opportunities – Guests staying during the summer at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch have the opportunity to experience western activities, such as horseback riding, that they would otherwise not have the chance to enjoy. Courtesy photo

operate as an all-inclusive guest ranch,” says Cari. “We serve families, primarily, but also couples and other people looking for a little bit of adventure.”

Guests visit the operation for a week at a time and have the opportunity to take part in activities such as horseback riding, campouts, hiking, fishing and wagon rides.

“We have evening entertainment, and our guests learn about Wyoming and all of its traditions,” adds Cari.

Many of their guests, Cari says, are from outside of Wyoming, and it is their first experience interacting with the West. Many have only heard about western

issues on the news.

“When they come and experience these things first-hand, they really understand our issues,” she says.

“It is a nice teaching opportunity for us to speak on behalf of ranchers and Wyomingites on certain issues they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to.”

In the summer, Cari notes, the Vee Bar provides an experience to guests they are unable to obtain elsewhere.

“There are fewer and fewer places that are able to offer something where people can come and reconnect with themselves and their families and disconnect from all the technology, media and news,” she continues. “It is really rewarding to deal with.”

Bed and breakfast In the fall and winter, Vee Bar works as a bed and

Family operation – Cari Cole, her husband Brent, parents Kelly and Lisa and grandparents Carla and Jim all work together to operate Vee Bar Guest Ranch. Courtesy photo

“It is a nice teaching opportunity for us to speak on behalf of ranchers and Wyomingites on certain issues they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to.” – Cari Cole, Vee Bar Ranch

Beautiful location – In the Centennial Valley, the Vee Bar Guest Ranch is rich with scenic views and provides the opportunity for guests to get away from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives.

Courtesy photo

breakfast and restaurant.

“When we are not operating as a guest ranch – between September and May – we are open as a bed and breakfast,” says Cari.

“People can come for any number of nights.”

The Vee Bar opens its door to a number of conferences and meetings that are hosted on the operation.

“We also have a restaurant open on the weekends for locals and guests, and we have a lot of companies who host their Christmas parties and events out here,” she says.

The bed and breakfast also hosts a number of families who visit the area to ski

in the winter.

“In the winter, we get a lot more local people,” Cari says. “We see a lot of guests from Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.”

Because of the get-away nature of the Vee Bar, Cari notes that people visit in the winter as a mini-vacation.

They also visit for vacations or when celebrating events.

“It is really great to see local guests,” adds Cari.

“We enjoy meeting as many people as we do.”

Visit the Vee Bar Ranch online at veebar.com. Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

WEAVER RANCH 29th ANNUAL PRODUCTION SALE

Monday, February 17, 2014 12:30 p.m. at the ranch north of Fort Collins, Colo.

150 COMING 2-YEAR-OLD BULLS Registered Black Angus

BVD, Fertility, PAP, Trich Tested and Carcass Ultrasounded

100 Bred Commercial Heifers

Featuring Sons & Daughters of These & Other Sires Sire

CED

BW

WW

YW

M

$EN

Brooks Night Off 309

+10

-.2

+39

Sheldons Mytty -87

+8

+.8

+38

Weavers Sleep Easy 5176

+2

+1.0

+38

+72

MRB

REA

+74

+13

+68

+26 +29

FT

+14.07

+.15

+.18

-.036

-1.52

+.50

-.18

+.023

-4.80

+.39

+.20

-.011

Over 54 years of selecting for:

Easy Calving, Carcass Quality & Disposition Susan, Maxine & Mourine Weaver Sheldon & Darby Emerson 3000 West Co. Rd. 70 • Ft. Collins, CO 80524

(970) 568-3898 Lyle & Deb Linman, Sedgwick Ranch. Cow Herd Managers, 970-453-5335

B9

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Harris Ranch Wilsons manage ranch for efficiency Bosler – Managing a ranch near Bosler, Ryan and Sam Wilson have goals similar to most other producers.

“We are trying to produce cows that fit the environment here, so we focused for many years on reducing frame size and improving the disposition of the cows we have,” Ryan says. “Once we managed to produce smaller cows, our focus changed toward raising growthy calves that will perform well once they leave here.”

Ryan Wilson has managed the Harris Ranch for nearly 16 years now. He took over for his father, Scott Wilson, straight out of college. His grandmother and uncle were co-owners of the historic ranch, which was homesteaded by an uncle in 1908.

Room for improvement When Ryan assumed management of the ranch, there was lots of room for growth and improvement.

“We had about 250 cows when I started. It was a Saler-based herd,” he says. “We have worked hard to grow the herd, but the drought has slowed us down the last couple years.”

Ryan now manages more than twice that number, calving from April 15 to the end of June.

He tries to graze the cattle as much as possible during the year, only supplementing the cows with hay and cake during the winter months.

Most of the calves are sold in the fall, but Ryan does retain several replacements.

“Those replacement heifers are developed right here on the ranch,” Ryan says. “We feed them some medicated feed and hay at first, before switching them over to grass and supplementing them with some cake.”

Improving the cows Over the years, through

careful culling, selection and breeding to Angus bulls, Ryan has generated cows that are more of an Angus cross.

“It was hard to eliminate some of those old Saler cows,” he says.

He also focuses on producing more efficient calves from those cows.

“We have gone to selecting bulls for growth and feed efficiency,” he explains. “I want to see the calves we produce have the ability to be good converters of forage to pounds of beef.”

For the first time, Ryan utilized artificial insemination this year to make even faster improvements to the herd.

“I think with the bulls we selected, it will tremendously improve the growth of the calves, and we should have better calves to sell in the end,” he says.

The calves have been sold private treaty to the same individual for the last several years.

One of Ryan’s primary goals for the ranch is to see how many cattle the ranch can support.

“We have been very big into efficiency projects since I started managing the ranch,” he explains.

“It used to cost us a lot to operate. Utilities were very expensive. Now, we hardly use pickups on the ranch anymore. We have a Polaris Ranger to do most of the ranchwork,” he explains. “We have also done other things like install pellet stoves and insulate buildings. We have also purchased better haying equipment for the 1,300 acres of native hay we put up each year.”

“I have really been pleased with the accomplishments I’ve made over the years in improvements as a whole,” he continues. “Our hay production has really improved, and our facilities are con-

Family - With his wife Sam, Ryan Wilson has worked hard to improve the Harris Ranch. Courtesy photo

stantly improving. We have also made a lot of corral improvements.”

Managing grass Although Ryan continues to apply new techniques to manage his grass, it isn’t easily done when one pasture can be up to 12 sections.

“We try to leave grass behind and save our hay meadows to let the cattle graze through the fall and winter months, but that isn’t always a possibility here. This environment can be pretty harsh during the winter months,” he says.

However, Ryan says he has started rotational grazing cattle in some areas and has begun the processing on installing new tanks and pipeline to allow for better grass utilization.

“We have installed four miles of pipeline and six tanks in one pasture and

three miles of pipeline and some new tanks in another.

We are constantly trying to improve grazing efficiency through water and crossfencing,” he says.

In addition, Ryan also leases around 10,000 acres of grazing land from the state and the BLM. Not all work Despite the challenges of keeping up a ranch of this size, Ryan said he has found it is important to find time to play, too.

In addition to Ryan and his wife, the ranch also has two full-time employees.

“It has made payroll a challenge and one of our biggest expenses, but it allows us to get some time off. We are able to switch off with one another to make sure everything gets done on the ranch,” he says.

“I hope I have a new generation to take over someday,” he says, “but, my advice to anyone starting out is to find a way to get the cows and the land to

“I want to see the calves we produce have the ability to be good converters of forage to pounds of beef.” – Ryan Wilson, Harris Ranch do most of the work.”

“Historically, ranching is a 24/7, 365-day-ayear job, but we sure don’t live like that,” he says.”

We make time to go to the lake at least four times each summer and go snowmobiling in the winter. I would encourage anyone who

wants to ranch to not let the ranch tie them down 100 percent, because it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Gayle Smith is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments and questions on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

Cattle - By focusing on efficiency, Ryan Wilson notes that Harris Ranch is now capable of running more cattle throughout the year than it was when he began managing the operation. Courtesy photo

B10

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Isolated endeavor Determination makes Robbins Ranch thrive Medicine Bow – Dale Robbins’ father was one of the last homesteaders when he began Robbins Ranch in the 1930s.

After Dale graduated from high school, he partnered with his father, working on the family cow/calf operation.

“We had to sell all of our cattle after the last drought in 2004,” Dale says. “We did not put up nearly as much hay as we used to, and the price of cattle and hay were both high.

We sold the cows and the yearlings that year but fed the calves through the next year. It just seemed like the right time to sell them off.”

“We take in cattle, so we still get our cattle fix,” says Dale’s wife Saundra. “We also still put up hay and sell it, but we were getting to that age when it is time to cut back a little bit.”

Life on the ranch The secluded nature of Robbins Ranch sometimes poses a challenge.

When winters were harsh, it was often almost impossible to make it to the nearest town to get supplies.

“One winter, we were completely snowed into the ranch,” says Saundra. “We had to go out to the highway on snowmobiles to meet people with groceries and to sign our income tax forms. It was a long trip, but we got the papers in before the deadline.”

The Robbins’ three children were also homeschooled because of the unpredictable winters.

“With winters being what they used to be, it was hard to get people together, so our children went to school on the ranch, and we had a teacher for them,” says Saundra. “The teachers lived in a trailer at the front of the house, and the school house was just next door. They ate the evening meal with us, and they really become a part of the family before long.”

“Life with the different teachers was interesting,” she continues. “Some of them adjusted to life on the ranch beautifully, while others needed to get out every weekend. Thankfully, we had mild winters when those teachers lived here. One teacher brought her truck back to the ranch after Thanksgiving and did not get it out from underneath the snow until May 11.”

Saundra moved into Laramie with the children when their oldest son was attending eighth grade while Dale stayed at the ranch to take care of the cattle.

The couple now moves into town for three or four months during the winter.

“Dale does not like being in town for that long,” his wife teases. “He always comes up with an excuse to go back and check on the ranch. I enjoy being in town. It gets lonely out on the ranch, and Dale and I both enjoy watching Cow-

boy and Cowgirl basketball.”

Distance challenges Even when the weather was sunny, Saundra says that the distance still posed a challenge.

Living far from both Laramie and Casper, when the family needed to order in a part, it took all day to get the replacement.

Saundra recalls that there used to be a grocery store in Medicine Bow, but now whenever supplies run out or are forgotten, the family has to wait for the next shopping trip to Laramie to get it.

“Living out here is also a health issue,” she said. “If one of us gets hurt, we need the flight for life. It is also hard to get a hold of neighbors out here. Dale’s father bought up the ranches that were selling, and now we only have one neighbor. Sometimes we can’t get a hold of them, or they are busy.”

Ranching memories Dale’s grandfather homesteaded a ranch five miles from the Robbins Ranch at the turn of the century. However, his grandfather lost his ranch

“One winter, we were completely snowed into the ranch. We had to go out to the highway on snowmobiles to meet people with groceries and to sign our income tax forms.” – Saundra Robbins, Robbins Ranch after a harsh winter and underproductive cattle left him unable to pay his taxes.

In 1954, Dale’s parents purchased the land where Dale and Saundra’s house was built after they married in 1959.

“The ranch was really busy when we were running cattle, especially during calving,” Dale says. “It was so busy because we had to feed cattle in this snowy country.

We sold our cattle as yearlings, so we had three different herds to feed. We ran about 260 cows and their 240 calves, so it took a fair amount of hay.”

Dale says they grew their own hay when they were able to, but the drier years that came made putting up adequate hay nearly impossible.

The Robbins Ranch still hays their fields and sells the product, but the persistent drought has reduced their yield and the number of cattle they rent their pastures to.

Managing grass “We are not seeing as

much snow and rain as we used to,” Dale explains.

Dale says that one of the things his father taught him growing up on the ranch was that if ranchers abuse the land, it won’t produce enough vegetation for cattle or haying.

“My dad always told me to leave some grass because the old grass protects the new grass from the frost,” he says.

“Leaving extra grass also helps to feed the cattle that may have grazed down other spots.”

To ensure they leave enough vegetation for ground cover, Dale says they took in one-quarter of the cattle that they normally do because of the drought.

“We might get a good year, and we can run what we could on an average year, but the big thing is figuring out what we can run without overstocking,” he adds.

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr. net.

ANNUAL BULL SALE December 12, 2013 • 1 pm

Paint Rock Angus Ranch•1926 Hwy 31• Hyattville, Wyoming

SELLING 150 BULL CALVES

Saundra and Dale – The Robbins Ranch, operated by Saundra and Dale Robbins, focuses on land stewardship. The couple has operated the ranch together since their marriage in 1959. Courtesy photo

BULLS ARE:

PAP TESTED •BVD NEGATIVE • CARCASS ULTRASOUNDED • GENETIC DEFECT CARRIER FREE

SIRES REPRESENTED: PAINTROCK FINAL ANSWER 248-9 #16432108

PAINTROCK IN FOCUS 91-8 #16149673 BW

WW

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Milk

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PAINTROCK EXT 162-239-7 #15830549

BASIN YELLOWSTONE R178 #14981157

BW

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STENBERG COALITION 509 #15452104 BW

WW

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-2.0

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51.20

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www.PaintRockAngus.com MARTIN & KELLI MERCER 877-469-2206 • BRIAN & AUDREY PRYOR 307-469-2252 • TOM & MARY MERCER 307-469-2201

Over 60 Years in the Angus Business!

900 N. Washington Street, Abilene, KS 67410

B11

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Vista Grande Ranch Van Pelt produces quality cattle and horses Laramie – “I have owned cattle my entire life,” says Dick Van Pelt of Vista Grande Ranch. “My granddad gave me a cow the day I was born, and my other grandfather gave me a cow for my first birthday. I have owned cows ever since.”

Even though the drought forced hay prices higher and decreased the productivity of the land, Dick is still running a few cattle.

“Last year, I was running cattle and horses on my dad’s ranch in western Nebraska,” he explains.

“From April to October, the ranch got a total of 2.25 inches of rain. I had purchased hay from Canada, but there was no one to deliver it for me. I was in a wreck, so I sold the calves off in the fall and shipped the rest down to Texas.”

However, Dick says his luck was no better in Texas. The ranch where his cattle were grazing received no rain, while neighbors 30 miles away received moisture. He was forced to take his cattle to the sale barn that fall.

“I have a few roping steers around the ranch in Laramie,” he continues.

“I also have one cow in Nebraska that did not get on the truck.”

He says that he is considering getting back into the cattle business but is giving the ranch time to recover from the drought before he purchases more cattle.

College cowboy Dick’s great-grandfather arrived in western Nebraska in 1887 when his grandfather was seven years old. His great-grandfather was the first one of the family to homestead in the area.

“All of my family members were ranchers,” he says. “I was the first Van Pelt to have a job in town.”

“When I was growing up, all I wanted to be was a cowboy,” he con-

tinues. “I wanted my dad to buy more acreage for the ranch, so I could come home. My mom agreed to this but only if I went to college. My dad purchased more land on partnership before I left.”

Upholding his end of the bargain, Dick attended the University of Wyoming and received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics.

Once he completed his bachelor’s degree, Dick’s mother encouraged him to go to graduate school, saying there was no sense in stopping if someone was paying him to go to school.

After graduation, Dick looked for a job in town because the partnership was not as good as it could have been.

Working in town “Jack Guthrie, who was the president of the Bank of Laramie, had been interviewing on campus, and I asked to meet with him about a job,” he continues. “In three days, he hired me with the promise that I would stay for five years, and I fulfilled that promise. Ten years later, Guthrie wanted to retire and made me president of the bank.”

Dick served as president for 10 years before seeking employment at a locally owned bank.

The Bank of Laramie had changed hands several times over the years, and Dick says that he did not like having a boss that was in New York and not Wyoming.

During his time working for the bank, Dick met Randy Dunn of Bath Brothers Ranch and ranchers Hyde and Chip Merritt and formed a friendship.

The Merritts were the original owners of Blue Valentine, a champion stud, when he arrived in Wyoming.

Running mares on shares with Randy, Dick began to incorporate the Blue Valentine bloodline into his herd. This partnership eventually led to

Dick’s involvement with the Come to the Source horse sale.

Come to the Source “Seventeen years ago, I had mares on shares that I was breeding to a son of Rauno Rojo, a horse owned by Randy,” Dick explains. “Since I had a quite a few granddaughters of Blue Valentine, they asked me to be a part of the sale. It seemed like I was the logical choice, but I was still humbled.”

Dick, Randy and Chip banded together to form the Come to the Source sale, which focuses on the progeny of Blue Valentine and Driftwood.

“These horses make good rodeo horses,” he says. “We can calf rope on them, head, heel and do whatever we want. People like our horses, and they come back to buy more.”

“I put speed into my Blue Valentine bloodlines. I was never planning on selling them as barrel horses, but they have good minds,” he continues. “I recently received a picture of a barrel racing sevenyear-old girl who won her first saddle off of one of the horses from our sale.

Her mother ran barrels with the same horse, and her father uses the mare as a head horse. She is a granddaughter of Rauno Rojo, who is a son of Blue Valentine.”

Dick purchased Rauno Rojo when the horse was 26 years old, saying that Blue Valentine horses have the ability to live a long time.

Rauno Rojo, Dick recalls, also had a large vocabulary for a horse.

“I could say something, and Rauno Rojo would understand,” he says. “He was a smart horse until the day he died.”

Rewarding hard work After years of hard work creating his breeding program and marketing these horses, Dick feels a strong sense of pride and accomplishment.

“The rewarding thing for me, after all of these years of loving these horses and watching my breeding program evolve, is that people from around the country are recognizing the worth of what I am trying to do,” he explains. “I took an outstanding bloodline, added some speed and ended up with something that, in my opinion, is better than what I originally began with.”

Dick says that he has sold his horses all around the country, and he has also shipped horses and frozen semen to France

“When I was growing up, all I wanted to be was a cowboy. I wanted my dad to buy more acreage for the ranch so I could come home. My mom agreed to this, but only if I went to college.” – Dick Van Pelt, Vista Grande Ranch and Israel.

“I am so grateful to the people who traveled great distances to come see my horses, attend the sale and purchase them for their own diversified uses,” he continues. “I have a horse for everyone, from a small child to the experienced

ranch hand or rodeo arena cowboy. I have not raised a ‘Superman’ horse yet, but they can do just about everything else but fly.”

Kelsey Tramp is the assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at kelsey@wylr.net.

A love for the blues – Laramie rancher Dick Van Pelt poses with one of his broodmares, a descendent of the well-known stud Blue Valentine. Kelsey Tramp photo.

B12

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Suppling agriculture The Feed Store caters to area cattlemen Laramie – Whether a producer is looking into a new mineral ration for his livestock, some protein supplement for the cattle or simply a bag of dog food, The Feed Store carries it all.

Store owner’s Danny and Jaclyn Klinginsmith purchased The Feed Store in 2008 from Glenn and Sherry Moniz.

The store first grew roots in the Laramie area back in 1985, when it was started by a feed salesman, a couple of ranchers and other investors who wanted to see a good offering of feed products available in the area at a reasonable price.

“The store has always been in the hands of an ag producer in one way or another,” Danny says, who is no stranger himself to cattle production.

Cattle roots “I grew up south of Pine Bluffs on a farm, ranch and feedlot operation,” he says. “It has been in our family for four generations, and I would have been the fifth.”

“But with improve-

ments in machinery and technology, people can run their own operations longer. As a result my dad didn’t need my help on the operation,” Danny continues. “I went to school at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. and to the University of Wyoming, where I earned a degree in agriculture business. While I was there, I worked for Glenn and Sherry at The Feed Store and was eventually able to purchase it from them in 2008.”

Since purchasing the store, Danny has drawn on his extensive background in cattle production to make the store more appealing to area producers.

Targeting cattle producers “I have changed the direction more toward cattle and livestock, with less emphasis on equine. As a result, I have sold a lot more bulk feed, cake and mineral. We also sell a lot of bison feed,” he explains.

“I have expanded the pet food section since it is such a big market. People spend more money tak-

More than feed In addition to feed, The Feed Store also sells livestock supplies, gates, panels, wire and posts, as well as steel and plastic culverts.

Danny also invested in a new project with a business partner, Mark Dawson, selling trailers.

“We started M&D Enterprises about three or four months ago,” Danny says.

The business features Travalong trailers and will handle stock trailers, flatbeds and dump trailers.

The business is located next door to The Feed Store and will be operated out of the same building.

Although they currently only have new inventory, Danny says they will soon have used trailers and will take trades.

ing care of their pets now than what they used to,” he notes. “We used to have about seven brands of pet food in stock, but when three or four people would start asking about a brand I didn’t carry, I would bring in the whole line. We have about 10 to 14 lines now, but we have tried many different ones. Some we kept, and some we didn’t.”

For livestock producers, Danny handles both Payback and Ranch Way feeds and Vitalix tubs.

He also handles a line of show feeds for 4-H and FFA youth that is manufactured by Profile Feeds in Laporte, Colo.

“We aren’t able to do any mixing here,” he says, “but I have a nutritionist with Payback Feeds who makes rations for us. I sell a lot of bulk feed from there that I never see.”

“Payback Feed is based in Morrill, Neb., where they can mix it and transport it directly to the ranch.

We sell a lot of cake, weaning rations and bull supplements that way,” he notes.

Spreading the word Since purchasing the business, Danny has spread the word about his growing business primarily through word of mouth.

“I also try to hold a few customer seminars to teach the producers about things like herd health, benefits of protein, different types of mineral and other topics,” he says. “We try to change the seminars and cover different topics. There is always a new cattle topic to discuss and something new coming out that changes things.”

“I find it important to educate the producers, so they know what they are spending their money on, and can make good decisions,” he adds.

Reliable products Since Danny also operates his own custom hay-

ing business and has his own herd of cattle, he doesn’t believe in promoting products he wouldn’t use himself.

“If I am recommending a certain mineral, chances are producers can find it in my own pasture if I am in the same scenario they are in,” he says.

Although it takes time to get out in the community and meet more producers, Danny makes the time when he can.

“This is a really big area, but I like to go out and visit with the producers if I can get away,” he says.

“I have changed the direction more toward cattle and livestock, with less emphasis on equine.” – Danny Klinginsmith, The Feed Store The Feed Store has customers from Walden, Colo., up to the Colorado state line, to Cheyenne and into Medicine Bow. “One of my future goals is to try and schedule some seminars and customer appreciation days in other areas, like Walden,” he says. “I feel it is important to do my part to help educate the producers so

they can find a product that works for them.”

The Feed Store is located at 2262 Snowy Range Road. They can be reached at 307-745-7775 or online at thefeedstore. com.

Gayle Smith is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.

Cattle background – Danny Klinginsmith was raised in Pine Bluffs and helped on the family, farm, ranch and feedlot operation. Because the operation didn’t allow him to return home, Danny obtained a degree in agriculture business and purchased The Feed Store after working there for several years.

Courtesy photo

The Feed Store – Since purchasng The Feed Store in 2008, Danny Klinginsmith has worked to develop the store’s inventory to appeal to cattle producers in the area. Courtesy photo

B13

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

WYOMING ANGUS ASSOCIATION Angel Angus Terry & Jackie Angel PO Box 88 Riverton, WY 82501 307-856-0046 307-850-4291 tjangel@wyoming.com www.angelquarterhorses.com

Cross Diamond Cattle Co. Scott & Kim Ford 72862 C Rd. Bertrand, NE 68927 308-876-2211 308-991-2452 thefords@crossdiamondcattle.com www.crossdiamondcattle.com

Baker Livestock Logan & Jolene Baker 2243 Hwy 14 Banner, WY 82832 307-737-2239 307-254-1477 bakerlivestock@tctwest.net

Labonte Creek Angus Ranch Neil & Clarice Forgey 1024 Esterbrook Rd. Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-9232 labontecreek@hotmail.com

Staple J Angus-Baker Family Betty or Cory Baker 331 Normandy Rd. Wheatland, WY 82201 307-322-2346 307-331-9144

Forgey/Smith Angus Wayne & Cheri Smith Shirley Forgey 1732 Esterbrook Rd. Douglas, WY 82633 307-351-1255 trippleswayne@yahoo.com

BK Farms, LLC Bob & Kate Ballew PO Box 989 Evansville, WY 82636 307-258-0107 bob@bkfarmsllc.com Ballou Angus Roger & Bonnie Ballou 266 Gov. Canyon Rd. Hulett, WY 82720 307-467-5767 ballouangrch@rtconnect.net M Diamond Angus Brad Boner PO Box 1345 Glenrock, WY 82637 307-436-5406 mdiamond@hughes.net Douglas Booth Family Angus Dudley & Jennifer Booth 4156 Rd. 82 Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-7179 307-532-6207 dbooth@scottsbluff.net www.boothfamilyangus.com Douglas Booth Family Angus Douglas & Carolyn Booth 7618 Rd. 41 Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-5830 cbooth@actcom.net www.boothfamilyangus.com Booth’s Cherry Creek Ranch Michael & Lindsy Booth 2162 Rd. 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-0164 307-532-1830 mlboothwyo@vistabeam.com www.boothscherrycreekranch.com Booth’s Cherry Creek Ranch Shawn and Diane Booth 2749 Rd. 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2994 boothangus@scottsbluff.net www.boothscherrycreekranch.com Bowman Cattle Lyle Bowman 3410 County Rd. 163 Pine Bluffs, WY 82082 307-246-3281 Bryant Angus Ranch Ruth Bryant 74 Bryant Rd. Riverton, WY 82501 307-856-3183 Buline Angus Jim, Pam and Robert Buline 623 Old Yellowstone Hwy Crowheart, WY 82512 307-486-2300 WS Ranch Sheridan & Lindy Burgess PO Box 80 Wyarno, WY 82845 307-737-2261 Curt & Diane Cox 3011 Ridgecrest Dr. Casper, WY 82604 307-630-4604 curt@wylr.net Lazy GT Ranch Don Cox 4024 I-25 Service Rd. Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-630-0400 lgtranch@wildblue.net Milliron D Ranch Justin & Kristina Davis 170 Missouri Valley Rd. Shoshoni, WY 82649 970-274-3848 307-463-7477 kdavis121893@yahoo.com Flying M Angus Larry & Jackie Dobrenz 6566 Clareton Hwy. Gillette, WY 82718 307-464-0315 Earhart Farms Larry & Andrea Earhart 1373 Rd. 8 Powell, WY 82435 307-272-5171 307-754-3709 Learhart@tctwest.net KJ Angus K. Wade Farman 335 N. Douglas Powell, WY 82435 307-921-1683 •307-254-3734 c_killham@yahoo.com

Hull Farms Robert M. & Debra P. Hull 411 East 6th Powell, WY 82435 307-754-3086 Hytrek Cattle Company Toby Hytrek 7539 Michelle Joy Hts Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-760-7664 thytrek@gmail.com Ingalls Angus & Quarter Horses PO Box 1782 Riverton, WY 82501 307-690-7557 dan@ingalls.us Dan Ingalls PO Box 1782 Riverton, WY 82501 307-690-7557 dan@ingalls.us

SO Cattle Gary & Diane Frank Mike & Angie McConnell 420 Lyons Valley Rd. Lander, WY 82520 307-332-4062 307-332-5969 socattle@wyoming.com www.socattle.com

Lucky 7 Angus Jim & Jamie Jensen PO Box 1445 Riverton, WY 82501 307-850-2514 cowboybulls@hotmail.com www.lucky7angus.com

Clay Creek Angus Jim French 3334 Rd. 14 Greybull, WY 82426 307-762-3541 bulls@claycreek.net www.claycreek.net

Jensen Angus Justin & Renee Jensen PO Box 316 Boulder, WY 82923 307-367-2510 (h) 307-360-9136 (c) rjj@wyoming.com

Gardner Heart Dot Angus Bret, Laurie & Chad Gardner 720 Missouri Valley Rd. Shoshoni, WY 82649 307-856-0282 307-851-4444 (Chad) laurieg@directv.net

Bill & Chris Johnson 5415 Rd. 31 Veteran, WY 82243 307-575-3026 307-575-0014 bcjohnson@bbcwb.net

Gengenbach Cattle Co. Randy & Mary Jo Gengenbach 75490 Rd. 330 Grant, NE 69140 308-352-4975 (h) 308-352-6185 (c) mjgengenbach@hotmail.com www.gengenbachcattle.com Godley Angus Ranch Gary Godley PO Box 304 Kaycee, WY 82639 307-267-2683 godley@rtconnect.net www.godleyangus.com Grandstaff Angus Curtis & Cheryl Grandstaff 800 W.S. Hwy 151 Box 155 LaGrange, WY 82221 307-834-2459 307-575-2459 granny@prairieweb.com Gray’s Angus Ranch Rod & Lora Gray 4281 Henry Rd. Harrison, NE 69346 308-668-2520 (h) 308-668-2525 (o) Double Lazy A Daniel Greet 1728A Hwy 434 Ten Sleep, WY 82442 307-366-2062 dgreet@tctwest.net Guest Angus & Quarter Horse Ranch J.T. & Beth Guest PO Box 86 Hawk Springs, WY 82217 307-534-5823 B & D Cattle Co. Bill Haas 2578 Rd. 58 Veteran, WY 82243 307-575-0294 307-837-2925 Ken Haas Angus Ken & Heather Haas 4766 State Hwy 151 LaGrange, WY 82221 307-834-2356 www.kenhaasangus.com Herring Angus Ranch Kal & Vickie Herring PO Box 275 Encampment, WY 82325 307-327-5396 307-329-8228 Pat & Marilyn Herring 5463 Rd. 27 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2540 307-532-6170 gbarh@bbcwb.net www.angusjournal.com/gbarh/

XH Angus Chad Jones HC 63 Box 17 Saratoga, WY 82331 307-326-3553 307-710-6700 xhranch@union-tel.com www.xhangus.com Deer Creek Angus Ranch Bill & Jo Ann Keith 9250 Zero Road Casper, WY 82604 307-457-2314 jokeithkv@rtconnect.net Kilts Angus Russell & Sheila Kilts PO Box 382 Edgerton, WY 82635 307-437-6466 307-267-2566 shekilts@rtconnect.net Klein Angus Bill Klein 256 Brookside Rd. Wheatland, WY 82201 307-331-0136 Bill82201@yahoo.com Rafter T Angus Kale & Kim Kretschman 721 Middle Prong Rd. Gillette, WY 82716 307-736-2415 307-299-4569 raftert@rangeweb.net Kretschman Angus Kelby & Lacey Kretschman 1255 Lower Powder River Rd. Arvada, WY 82831 307-736-2327 307-351-0794 klkret@rangeweb.net LTJ Angus Tim & Julie Lathum 390 Hwy. 14A Powell, WY 82435 307-202-1356 Bovagene/FFL Ben Lawson PO Box 1440 Lusk, WY 82225 307-334-5005 bovagene@msn.com Lisco Angus Richard W. (Dick) Lisco 554 Tank Farm Rd. Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-3810 (h) 307-359-0167 (c) liscoangus@vcn.com Malm Ranch Co. Andy & Gordon Malm PO Box 55 Albin, WY 82050 307-246-3223-Gordon 307-834-0128-Andy mrc3mt@aol.com www.malmranch.com

Hiser Farms Wesley & Velvet Hiser PO Box 882 Casper, WY 82602 307-262-1410 (Wes) 307-277-5952 whiser@wyoheart.com velvethiser@yahoo.com

McClun’s Lazy JM Ranch Jim or Jeff McClun 1929 Rd. 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2524 307-534-5141 jkmcclun@wyomail.com

Hoggs Angus Ronee, Michael & Kurt Hogg 5423 St. Hwy 120 Meeteetse, WY 82433 307-868-2431 307-272-9602 hoggsangus@tctwest.net

McConnell Angus Ranch Roger, Ryan and Royce McConnell 5740 Road 52 N Dix, NE 69133 308-682-5615 mcconnellangus@msn.com www.mcconnellangus.com

“THE BEST IN THE WEST”

Cow Capital Livestock, LLC Doug McLean 43 Signal Butte Rd. Miles City, MT 59301 307-462-1683 406-853-6961 Cowcapital61@gmail.com www.cowcapital.com Paint Rock Angus Ranch, Inc. Martin & Kelli Mercer 1926 Hwy 31 Hyattville, WY 82428 307-469-2206 km@tctwest.net www.paintrockangus.com Tom & Garcia Michelena 993 Airport Rd. Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-9092 307-752-4085 twmich@optimum.net Micheli Ranch Dale or Ron Micheli PO Box 15 Ft. Bridger, WY 82428 307-780-8232 307-782-3897 dmicheli@bvea.net Mitchem Ranch Stan & Karen Mitchem PO Box 1115 Glenrock, WY 82637 307-436-2504 stan@stanmitchem.com 7X Ranches Wayne & Kevie Morrison 989 Mona Rd. Alva, WY 82711 307-467-5475 Neiman 77 Ranch Ryan Neiman PO Box 218 Hulett, WY 82720 307-290-0791 Nickel Cattle Co. Kevin & Jackie Nickel 3146 St. Hwy. 154 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2279 Nolke Angus Calvin Nolke, Jr. 2749 Four Corners Rd. LaGrange, WY 82221 307-477-0029 nolkeangus@gmail.com George Ochsner & Sons Blake Ochsner 10672 Van Tassell Rd. Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-3282 307-532-5892 ochsner@dishmail.net www.qualitybulls.com Oedekoven Angus David & Diana Oedekoven PO Box 68 Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-7375 doangus@gmail.com www.oarangus.com Page Angus Ranch Tom & Margaret Page 449 Carroll Lake Road Laramie, WY 82070 307-760-8429 307-745-3278 pageangus@yahoo.com Jon & Cathy Peldo 95 Metz Rd. Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-5541 T/P Angus Ranch Tom Phipps 344 Southfork Rd. Cody, WY 82414 307-587-3732 Pingetzer’s Six Iron Ranch Robert or George Pingetzer 11882 Hwy 789 Shoshoni, WY 82649 307-856-4401 307-851-4401 rpping@wyoming.com Rock Lake Land & Cattle, LLC. Todd, Bill and Nancy Platt 714 Grange Rd. Wheatland, WY 82201 307-331-1175 307-331-1745 wyocowdude1@yahoo.com danes-grandma@yahoo.com Redland Red Bank Angus Deb & Adam Redland 2988 B Rd. 82 Ten Sleep, WY 82442 307-250-1546 (Deb) 307-250-1548 (Adam) Redland Angus Kendrick & Sharon Redland PO Box 168 Manderson, WY 82432 307-347-2270 MR Angus Ranch Juan Reyes or Jen Reyes-Burr 98 Olson Rd. Wheatland, WY 82201 307-322-4848 307-331-1568 (Juan) 307-331-1530 (Jen) joreyes@wyoming.com www.mrangusranch.com 5-5 Angus Colton & Tanna Rodeman PO Box 837 Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-3675 tannarodeman@yahoo.com

Double JR Ranch John & Judy Rueb 291 Highway 14 Sheridan, WY 82801 307-672-9499 doublejrranch@gmail.com Popo Agie Angus Ted Seely PO Box 569 Lander, WY 82520 307-330-8773 307-332-2839 Powder River Angus Neal & Amanda Sorenson 7241 US Hwy 14-16 Arvada, WY 82831 307-736-2260 307-680-7359 nasorenson@rangeweb.net www.powderriverangus.com Wyoming Livestock Roundup Dennis Sun PO Box 850 Casper, WY 82602 307-234-2700 dennis@wylr.net www.wylr.net Teichert Angus PO Box 327 Cokeville, WY 83114 307-270-7334 Obsidian Angus Fred & Kay Thomas PO Box 346 Meeteetse, WY 82433 307-868-2595 307-2724911 fkdramsrus@tctwest.net Wagler Angus Kim & Elsie Wagler 401 Southfork Rd. Cody, WY 82414 307-587-5440 307-272-6727 Walker Angus Ranch Ramon & Verla Walker 44219 Business Loop 80 Lyman, WY 82937 307-787-6106 800-761-2077

Sinclair Cattle Company Jeff & Becky Ward 6481 Buck Valley Rd. Warfordsburg, PA 17267 Weaver Ranch Susan, Maurine and Maxine Weaver or Sheldon Emerson 3000 West Co. Rd. 70 Fort Collins, CO 80524 970-568-3898 weaverrch@aol.com Beaver Creek Ranches/ WW Angus Pete & Lucy Widener 568 Beaver Creek Road Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-6947 (h) 307-674-0848 (o) doublew@fiberpipe.net PABW@fiberpipe.net www.beavercreekranches.com Wilkes 6-D Angus Ranch Don or Darrell Wilkes PO Box 36 Hawk Springs, WY 82217 307-532-2835 (h) 970-619-8344 (o) dwilkes@absglobal.com WEBO Angus Waldon & Buttons York PO Box 848 Lusk, WY 82225 307-334-3006 307-334-9989 www.weboangus.com Zorko’s 7Z Livestock Robert J. Zorko PO Box 1211 Laramie, WY 82073 307-742-4077 bobless2@vcn.com

3rd Annual Wyoming Angus Association Select Female Sale 12:30pm • Sunday, November 24, 2013 Casper College Ag Pavilion, Casper Sale Chairman: Curt Cox-(307) 630-4604

www.wyomingangus.org

Wyoming Angus Association Officers Neal Sorenson, President 7241 Hwy 14-16 • Arvada, WY 82831 307-736-2260 • nasorenson@rangeweb.net Shawn Booth, Vice President 2749 Road 60 • Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2994 • boothangus@scottsbluff.net Curt Cox, Secretary/Treasurer P.O. Box 595 • Casper, WY 82602 307-630-4604 • curt@wylr.net DIRECTORS – TERMS EXPIRING 2014 Bob Pingetzer 11882 Hwy. 789 Shoshoni, WY 82649 (307) 856-4401 rpping@wyoming.com

Kelli Mercer 1926 Hwy 31 Hyattville, WY 82428 (307) 469-2206 km@tctwest.net

Neal Sorenson 7241 Hwy. 14-16 Arvada, WY 82831 (307) 736-2260

Shawn Booth 2749 Road 60 Veteran, WY 82243 (307) 837-2994 boothangus@scottsbluff.net

TERMS EXPIRING 2015 Larry Earhart 1373 Rd. 8 Powell, WY 82435 (307) 754-3709 Learhart@tctwest.net

Brad Boner P.O. Box 1345 Glenrock, WY 82637 (307) 436-5406 mdiamond@hughes.net

Neil Forgey 1024 Esterbrook Rd Douglas, WY 82633 (307) 358-9232 labontecreek@hotmail.com

Kale Kretschman 821 Middle Prong Road Gillette, WY 82716 (307) 736-2415 raftert@rangeweb.net

Dan Ingalls Box 67 Powder River, WY 82648 (307) 797-4370 dan@ingalls.us

Teasa Nauta 106 Esterbrook Rd. Douglas, WY 82633 (307) 359-2206 teas2008@hotmail.com

TERMS EXPIRING 2016 Wayne Smith 1681 Esterbrook Road Douglas, WY 82633 (307) 351-1255 tripleswayne@yahoo.com

Buttons York PO Box 848 Lusk, WY 82225 (307) 334-3006 • (307) 334-9989 buttons@weboangus.com

Amanda Sorenson 7241 Hwy 14-16 Arvada, WY 82831 (307) 736-2260 nasorenson@rangeweb.net

B14

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

Maintaining animal and public health Wyoming State Vet lab continues operating in public interest Laramie – After being established in the 1940s by the Wyoming State Legislature, the Wyoming State Vet Lab has continued operating with the mission of providing high-quality diagnostic services to maintain animal and public health the in the state.

“The State Vet Lab is housed within the Department of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Wyoming,” says State Vet Lab Director Will Laegreid. “The State Vet Lab does diagnostic testing for all kinds of livestock and companion animals throughout the state and region.”

In the interest of maintaining public and animal health, Will notes that the lab is always busy.

Diagnostics In making diagnostic tests available, Will says, “One of our biggest issues is to try and make sure that we have tests available when

they are needed.”

The challenge, he adds, is that it is impossible to predict when a test may be needed.

“Last year, for example, we had a big upsurge in requests for anthrax testing,” comments Will. “We haven’t had a case in anthrax in Wyoming in probably 30 years, but we have to be ready to address those issues as they come up.”

While anthrax isn’t typically an issue, cases in Colorado appeared, initiating an increase in testing.

“We also do a lot of routine testing,” says Will. “One of the things we are most known for is doing brucellosis testing from the Designated Surveillance Area and the Greater Yellowstone Area.”

Cattle producers, adds Will, send samples in starting at the end of September through the fall. The lab pro-

cesses between 50,000 and 60,000 brucellosis samples each year.

“The other thing that we do a lot of is Coggins testing for horses moving in and out of state,” he adds.

Other functions Because the entire faculty employed at the State Vet Lab is university faculty, in addition to their duties at the lab, they also teach and do research projects, as well.

“There are 12 faculty members right now,” Will says.

The vet lab, continues Will, is vital to the state’s ability to protect itself from both an animal and public safety standpoint.

“We need to have a staff and faculty in these areas, so we are knowledgeable about the diseases in the area and can provide diagnostic information to veterinarians and cattle producers,” he explains. “It is important to

deal with these problems as early as possible and prevent them from become a bigger problem.”

The more prepared the state is for disease, the more quickly treatments can start to prevent further disease occurrence, through treatment management or vaccination.

Moving forward While the State Vet Lab doesn’t have particular plans to dramatically change, Will notes, “We are always trying to revise, refine and become more effective and more efficient.”

One particular effort that is ongoing involves shifting a number of diagnostic tests to molecular tests, which would increase the speed in which problems are identified.

“We are trying to increase the speed and efficiency of diagnosis by going with a more molecular-based testing,” he explains.

Right now, he says they are working on new tests for scours and for bovine respiratory disease complex.

“These molecular tests look promising, but each test requires a pretty extensive validation process that goes on before we release it,” Will says.

While classical testing methods work by isolating a virus and growing it in culture, the process takes between one and two weeks to identify a specific virus.

“If a producer has pneumonia or something similar in their calves, a week or two is a long time,” Will explains. “We are working toward a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test that will help us identify the virus within 24 hours.”

While there are tradeoffs to the molecular methodology, Will notes that increasing the speed of diagnosis could solve some producer problems.

BSL-3 lab Another ongoing aspect of the State Vet Lab is the certification of the biosafety level three (BSL-3) lab component.

“We are in the process of trying to get certified for operation by the Centers for Disease Control,” Will comments. “It is a slow process, and we’ve been spending an awful lot of time trying to get the approval.”

When the lab is approved to open, Will says the ability to do necropsy for diagnosis on livestock and the ability to do increased research on Brucella and other vaccines in Wyoming will be greatly improved.

“The BSL-3 lab will provide lab space for our researchers working on trying to improve and develop new vaccines for Brucella, primarily but also other diseases,” he explains. “Right now we have to do work on those vaccines in other states, and it is very time

consuming and expensive.”

Student training The Wyoming State Vet Lab also offers a unique externship program that brings veterinary students from across the county in to provide exposure to diagnostic processing and diagnostic medicine.

“We could have piles of externs here every day,” says Will. “There is a lot of interest in that program nationally.”

He adds that the projects being completed by externs will likely be of interest to livestock producers across the state.

“We had a student this summer who did a really nice job looking at the serology for ovine progressive pneumonia in the state,” he explains as an example. “They looked at how much we have, the relationship to size of operation and other things to get an idea of the problem and how to manage it.”

“I think the results will be very interesting to sheep producers in the state,” Will adds.

Another graduate student completed a risk map this year for epizootic hemorrhagic disease and bluetongue in Wyoming based on wildlife and livestock sampling.

While work is ongoing in the lab, Will encourages anyone with questions or interest in the State Vet Lab’s activity to contact them.

“We are here to serve the animal interests and public health interests of the state,” William comments. “If people have any suggestions or want to discuss anything, they are perfectly welcome to contact us any time.”

The Wyoming State Vet Lab can be reached at 307766-9925. Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@ wylr.net.

LIVESTOCK

AUCTION MARKET

OGALLALA, NE • 308-284-2071

Fall Calving Cow Calf Pair Sale with Regular Sale Wednesday October 9th, 2013

Special Stocker & Feeder Sale Thursday, October 10th, 2013 Expecting 3000-3500 head Sale Time: 9:00 a.m.-Odds 10:00 am-Yearlings 12:00 p.m.-Calves

Upcoming Stocker & Feeder Sales:

OCTOBER 17TH • OCTOBER 24TH OCTOBER 31ST • NOVEMBER 7TH Please don’t hesitate to call & have a representative assist you with your marketing needs!

For optimum advertising exposure, be sure to consign your calves 10 days prior to sale.

B15

2013 Fall Cattlemen’s Edition

Unique cattle Talbott family raises club calves, unique Hereford line Laramie – With a long line of enterprises in their history, Janet Talbott and her sons operate a commercial cattle operation and raise club calves and an elite line of Herefords the family has had since the 1920s.

“My father-in-law bought this ranch in 1965,” says Janet. “At the time, my husband and I were living in Colorado, and we came back.”

Janet’s father-in-law sold the dairy they owned, and she and her husband Jim came to work for his family.

“We bought the acres on this place in 1992,” says Janet, “and since then, we’ve had a completely different operation.”

Though Jim passed in 2004, Janet and her children Jay, Scott, Cody, Amy Clay and Betsy DeBolt are involved in the cattle operation.

Family affair “After my husband passed, my kids helped me keep this place going,” Janet says. “My oldest son Jay gave up his job in the timber industry to come home. He is here almost every day.”

Along with helping Janet run the operation, Jay also guides hunters on the property, shoes horses, shears sheep and does a number of other tasks.

Her son Scott is now director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and both daughters live off the ranch. Amy helps her husband Bill manage a ranch at Saratoga, and Betsy and her husband Tad live in Worland with her family. Cody works for the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

Cattle production After selling the dairy in the late 80s, Janet says that the only cattle that were left were a handful of Holsteins.

“My father-in-law started breeding them to Angus cows,” she says. “As time went by, he bought more black cows, and we decided we were going to do club calves.”

They purchased Maine Anjou bulls and started with an Angus-Maine cross.

“After Maines, we used some Chianinas, and then some Shorthorns,” she explains.

In selling their calves, Janet notes that they brought cattle across the country to various sales.

“We travelled quite the circuit,” she comments. “We travelled clear to California and Ohio and hauled cattle all over.”

Today, the club calf industry has changed, Janet notes, and they have changed that aspect of their operation slightly.

“It is a crazy industry,” says Janet of club calves. “It finally got to where there were so many bulls that we tried that weren’t as sound, so we just started raising our own.”

Scaling back After her husband

passed, Janet says she had to cut back, adding, “It was not a one-woman operation.”

While she still raises and sells club calves, Janet notes she sticks primarily to the local sale in Laramie and to the calves that her grandchildren show.

“So many of the kids who show here don’t have the local support like they did before,” she says. “The fairs are so much smaller than they were. I haven’t given up on selling club calves, but we certainly don’t sell what we once did.”

Last year, calves that Janet raised won the Greeley Fair in Colorado, reserve champion at the Albany County Fair, division champion at the Carbon County Fair and reserve champion at the Washakie County Fair.

“There were four calves that did well last year,” Janet comments. “Out of selling seven calves, I thought that was pretty good.”

Cattle herd In moving away from raising strictly club calves, Janet notes that they continue to develop their commercial cattle by striving to develop really good heifers that can raise a calf.

They use registered Angus bulls, as well as Charolais and Simmentals.

“We are really happy with the Simmentals that we’ve tried,” she says. “Most of our cows had the club calf influence, so they were dinky, heavy-muscled cows. When we bred the Simmentals to those, we got some size and growth.”

The Talbotts raise their cleanup bulls themselves.

During the year, Janet notes that they start calving their heifers the end of February and finish in April. Their early-calving animals are artificially inseminated.

Feed resources Throughout the summer, they are able to graze on land they own on the Laramie Plains.

“We have about 3,500 acres, 1,000 of which are hay meadows,” Janet says. “In a good year, moisture wise, we have plenty of pasture.”

In addition to the cattle, they also raise some hay.

Janet notes, “We do things a little differently. The only piece of equipment we have is a mower, and we hire a group from Colorado to come bale it.”

The custom hay crew is able to bale their hay in large square bales, and Janet says, “It is a lot easier, more timely and less labor intensive for us.”

Hereford line Janet also runs a very unique line of Herefords called Brae Ardens that have been in the family since the turn of the century.

“My dad homesteaded in this area, and he stared breeding Hereford cattle when he bought a few heifers at stock show,” she says. “He also bought a bull.”

With the theory that deer

and antelope could interbreed with no selection and maybe the same would work for cattle, her father began to interbreed their Herefords.

“They have not had an outcross bull on this herd since 1925,” Janet explains.

“It has had its ups and down, and they are tremendously inbred.”

Brae Arden benefits However, the cattle do have benefits.

The old genetics in her herd were of special interest to a researcher a number of years ago, who ultrasounded the animals and did genetic tests.

“He was really encouraged by the fact that the heifers he tested had never been fed grain, yet he could still see marbling,” she explains. “Genetically, they also have A2 milk.”

A2 milk, Janet explains, is very unique

and has practically disappeared in cattle because of the emphasis on growth and feed efficiency.

“My daughter-in-law is lactose intolerant, and she can drink the milk out of these cows with A2 milk,” she comments.

She has also started selling semen from the animals to producers in Canada and is excited about the implications it

“I’m one of four children. I’m the only one who has stuck around, and I have no regrets.” – Janet Talbott has for the future of their industry.

“I’m one of four children,” adds Janet. “I’m the only one who has stuck around, and I have no

regrets.”

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@ wylr.net

Working together - The Talbott family retains close ties, despite being spread across the state. Shown here (back row from left to right) are Betsy DeBolt, Cody Talbott, Amy Clay, Scott Talbott and Jay Talbott.

Their mother, Janet Talbott, sits in front. Courtesy photo

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