2014 Winter Cattlemen's Edition

2014

WINTER CATTLEMEN’S

Edition

FEATURING WASHAKIE COUNTY

®

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

PERFECT PLACE Washakie County provides resources

“In 1880, Chief Washakie once described Washakie County as the ‘Perfect Place,’” according to the Worland-Ten Sleep (WTS) Chamber of Commerce. “Our county is rich in natural resources with its majestic mountains and canyons, untamed badlands, clear, cold mountain streams, abundant wildlife and independent farms and ranches.”

Today, Washakie County is home to nearly 8,500 residents who call Worland, Ten Sleep and the surrounding rural area home, including many varied agricultural producers.

Washakie County’s 2,240 square miles are held by a combination of federal, state and private landholders.

Nearly 54 percent of the county is federal land, while 40 percent is privately

owned. Many ranchers run on BLM lands, as well as their private holdings.

Worland Nearly 5,500 people reside in Washakie’s county seat of Worland, ranking it the 13th largest city in the state.

The WTS Chamber of Commerce says, “Located 25 miles west of the Big Horns, Worland is a modern western community, which offers the ‘good life’ to residents and visitors.”

Worland serves as home for a number of nationally-recognized businesses says the WTS Chamber of Commerce, adding that Wyoming Sugar Company, Crown Cork and Seal, Pepsi-Cola and MillerCoors are all a major part of the community.

“The community

depends on a mixture of agriculture, primarily malt barley and sugar beets, sheep and cattle ranching, oil production and manufacturing,” the WTS Chamber continues.

Local agriculture relies on companies like Wyoming Sugar Company and MillerCoors to sell their products.

“Warm and friendly, Worland is truly a western town to remember,” they add.

Ten Sleep To the east of Worland, Ten Sleep is settled at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, and cattle and sheep production dominate the economic viability of the community.

“The local businesses are friendly and cater to locals and tourists,” says the WTS Chamber. “Ten Sleep’s

name comes from its locations ‘ten sleeps,’ or nights, midway between the Sioux Camps on the Platte River from the south to a historical Sioux campsite to the north near Bridger, Mont.”

The WTS Chamber of Commerce boasts that the town’s atmosphere maintains a genuine western experience.

“July visitors may encounter original cattle drives that move through the center of town,” they quip. “Local cowboys and their horses have been photographed inside either of the town’s two saloons.”

At the end of the day, the small town’s location in the foothills of the Big Horns make it ideal for raising cattle and sheep, adds the WTS Chamber.

“The Ten Sleep experience is timeless and terrific,” they remark.

Ups and downs Living in Washakie County provides benefits

and challenges to residents and agricultural producers.

“As a farmer, one of the challenges that we face is the limited resource of ground,” says area farmer Vance Lungren. “The price of farm ground keeps going up.”

Limited resources in the form of water are also a challenge. Washakie County sees an average of 7.8 inches of rainfall each year, 21.1 inches of snowfall and 310 days of sunshine.

“We don’t get a lot of rainfall,” says Andrew Miller, “but we get by.”

At the same time, the climate is overall favorable, and Harry Mills of Red Reflet Ranch says, “If there is a calmer place in Wyoming, I don’t know where it is. We don’t have hardly any wind.”

Unique waters Washakie County is known by some as Wyoming’s Artesian Water City, as many producers and landowners obtain water from

artesian wells.

“Husky Oil Company may have been disappointed when they failed to strike oil at the 4,330 foot level, but their discovery was just as precious when the well produced a record volume of artesian water,” says the WTS Chamber of Commerce.

Husky Oil gave the well, which is located 23 miles northeast of Worland, to the city.

A second artesian well was added for backup later, resulting in a storage capacity of 6 million gallons.

“Local industry welcomes this fine artesian water supply,” WTS Chamber says, “and looks forward with assurance to a prosperous and growing economic future for Worland and Washakie County.”

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

WASHAKIE COUNTY RANCHES FEATURED IN THIS EDITION 1. Worland Livestock Auction 11. Orchard Ranch 2. South Flat Land and Livestock and 12. Red Bank Cattle Lungren Land and Cattle Company 13. Buffalo Creek Farms 3. Anderson Ranch Company 14. Nick Geis 4. Redland Angus 15. Washakie County Conservation 5. Tharp Veterinary Clinic District 6. Crowfoot Ranch 16. Red Reflet Ranch 7. Senator Gerald Geis 17. Michael Vigil 8. Hampton Ranch 9. Miller and Sons 18. Maurice Bush 10. Wyoming Water Rights 19. Greet Ranch

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

BEGINNINGS OF AGRICULTURE Washakie County remains integral in Bighorn Basin Washakie County was first settled in 1903 when a pioneer camp was established on the west bank of the Big Horn River. The county’s early history is rich.

Prehistory Archeological evidence supports the notion that the first humans inhabiting the area settled near present day Worland at the Colby Mammoth Site.

“The Colby Mammoth Site, located on private land close to the Bighorn River, was excavated by archaeologist George Frison in the 1970s,” says Annette Hein on wyohistory.org. “The site contained three Clovis projectile points and the remains of several mammoths that dated to approximately 11,000 years before the present.”

The Clovis people, according to Frison, lived in small wandering bands, utilizing sand dunes and gullies to hunt mammoths and bison that were their main food source.

Furs and gold In more modern times, trappers and prospectors were next to explore the country.

“Several of the first explorers of what’s now

Washakie County were trappers, but fur was never of great importance to the area’s economy,” Hein continues. “In 1829, employees of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company made one of the few serious attempts to trap beaver in the area, but they achieved nothing spectacular.”

In the late 1850s, U.S. Army members traveled through Washakie County searching for routes between the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and reportedly found traces of gold in the streams of the Washakie County, Hein says, and while the route was named for Jim Bridger, Washakie County’s namesake supposedly showed them the way.

Chief Washakie The Eastern Shoshone tribe’s Chief Washakie reportedly wintered in the area, particularly following the establishment of the Wind River Reservation in 1868.

“After 1863, Washakie saw it in his band’s interest to remain at peace with the whites, and he was often called ‘the white man’s friend’ by the settlers and the U.S. Army,” Hein says.

Agriculture beginnings In the 1880s, ranching became a part of the landscape of Washakie County.

“The first cattle rancher was Charles Carter from Oregon, soon followed by Henry Belknap and Otto Franc,” Hein reports. “Charlie ‘Dad’ Worland brought the first flock of sheep, but they died in the winter of 1886.”

Sheep flocks attempted to move into the area but were frequently discouraged by cattlemen.

“Dave Dickie, who planned to settle in Canada with his sheep, homesteaded near the Owl Creek Mountains after cattlemen forbade him to pass the present-day site of Worland,” Hein continues.

“Beginning in the 1800s, flocks belonging to Lucy Morrison Moore, based on Copper Mountain, and to J.B. Okie, based at Lost Cabin, also grazed parts of what is now Washakie County.”

While cattle dominated early Washakie County agriculture, by the mid 1890s, sheep flocks outnumbered cattle, and herds were turned out onto the open range with little supervision.

“Ranches operated

from headquarters on small homestead parcels near water, but the cattle roamed over thousands of acres of unclaimed land,” says Hein. “Cattle ranchers worked together on roundups every spring to brand that year’s calves and again in the fall to divide animals to be trailed to market from the ones that would winter over.”

Changing times While production thrived for many years, the winter of 1886-87 decimated many operations, as was common throughout much of Wyoming.

“Following this winter, many ranches throughout the Wyoming Territory, including the Bighorn Basin, gradually changed to smaller operations with fewer cattle that might be fed native hay grown on the premises, if necessary, during the winter,” Hein says.

Sheep ranching continued to expand, and tension grew between producers.

“Cattlemen began enforcing ‘dead lines’ in the Bighorn Basin and other parts of Wyoming,” Hein says, explaining that these “dead lines” formed range boundaries that sheepherders and their flocks were forbidden to cross.

When three sheepherders crossed a dead line with their flock south of Ten Sleep in 1909, they

“The first cattle rancher was Charles Carter from Oregon, soon followed by Henry Belknap and Otto Franc.” – Annette Hein were promptly murdered in a famous attack known as the Spring Creek Raid.

Settling towns After the establishment of the initial pioneer camp on the Big Horn River in 1903, settlement soon followed.

Charles H. Worland selected the site as a halfway point between Basin and Thermopolis and an overnight stop for stagecoaches and freighters.

Worland established on the west bank of the river.

“The Burlington Railroad also passed close to town but on the east side of the river,” says Hein. “Residents decided to move the town, using horses to slide the building across the frozen river in January and February of 1906.”

Initiating irrigation Large-scale farming was not possible in Washakie County until irrigation projects were constructed beginning in 1902.

“Prior to this time, farmers were dependent on seasonal creeks,” Hein says. “Now, water from the larger and more reliable Big Horn River was available. The first significant man-made waterway, the

Hanover Canal, was constructed by crews working by hand and using horses to pull the equipment.”

The canal system, which still operates today, irrigates nearly 35,000 acres of land, enabling farmers to grow barley, corn, oats, beans and sugarbeets.

“As more irrigation and drainage projects were developed, farming grew in importance in the county economy,” Hein notes. “In 1912, an alfalfa mill opened in Worland.

The Holly Sugar Company opened a sugarbeet factory in 1917. Both businesses helped assure farmers a market for their crops.”

The industries established during Washakie County’s early days continue to thrive.

Hein notes, “The industries established between 1880 and World War I – ranching, farming and energy production – remain the foundation of Washakie County’s economy.”

Saige Albert, managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, compiled this article. Send comments to saige@wylr. net.

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

SELLING LIVESTOCK Worland Livestock Auction runs strong Worland – Every Thursday is filled with hustle and bustle at the Worland Livestock Auction. It is a sale day and owners Jim and Stacy Newby enjoy and take in every minute of it.

The Worland Livestock Auction has been around since the 1950s, and it is always receiving new updates and welcoming past and new clients.

Running Worland “We are a husbandand-wife team running a sale barn,” says Stacy. “We are the smallest sale barn in Wyoming, but our market is always comparable, if not better, than the bigger sale barns.”

She adds, “Together we work really hard to make it the best for our small producers.”

Running a sale every week is no easy feat, she continues.

“It takes a lot of people to get a sale accomplished,” says Stacy. “We have great people working for us, and they allow us to achieve everything that we need to get done.”

Benefits of small The Worland Livestock Auction is the closest sale barn for a lot of the smaller towns in the basin area and is known to have lowest commission rates in the state.

Each week, they sell cat-

tle and sheep.

“That’s what a sale barn is here for – to help out the small producers who have 100 head instead of 500,” explains Stacy. “We are constantly getting new people, which is great. They are choosing to come here, as opposed to somewhere else.”

Getting started The Newbys purchased the sale barn five years ago with Prewitt and Company, which is based out of Sidney, Mont.

Jim was with Prewitt for 15 years as an order buyer before purchasing the sale barn and continues buying and trading cattle with Prewitt for big producers.

Two years ago, they were able to buy Prewitt out of their partnership.

“At first it was trial by fire. It was a challenge for me having no training to jump in and run the computer and scale, but after one sale in the books, everything turned out great, and I was ready for the next one,” said Stacy.

“Outside of the sale barn, our other job is buying and trading cattle in the country. The big producers don’t come to the sale barn, so we buy and trade cattle for them,” says Stacy.

Week to week The weekly routine at the sale barn and the routine of a sale day can seem basi-

cally the same, but there is always something new that appears.

“It’s sort of like being on the same road, but the amount of traffic changes everyday,” Stacy says. “It keeps it absolutely refreshing and not everyday is the same.

There’s always a new challenge.”

Upgrading “One challenge that we had with the sale barn was that it was pretty run down, and we had to do a lot of maintenance to it,” says Jim. Maintenance to the barn includes upgrades of all of the old wooden railroad pens, installation of a continuous fence and installation of waterers in the pens.

“We are constantly working to upgrade an old building to make sure that it is clean and looks good,” says Stacy. “Anytime we have a little extra time, we try to do something that will improve the sale barn.”

Loving their work While moving at a pace of 100 miles an hour seems slow to the Newbys, they wouldn’t have it any other way because of the people that they work with and meet at their sale barn.

“We have such great people that work for us, and we have some great relationships with them. They’re not our employees – they’ve

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Auction barn – Jim and Stacy Newby work each day at Worland Livestock Auction. They enjoy meeting and visiting the producers who sell at the barn each week. Madeline Robinson photo

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become family,” says Stacy.

“That’s what we really love about it is that we get to meet some great folks, and they help us in every way that they can,” replies Stacy. “That’s what is key in accomplishing our mission everyday. We couldn’t do it without them.”

Additional activities Both of the Newbys volunteer time with the American Legion, the Eagles and support Washakie County Cowbelles and the Lion’s Club. They also sponsor local Washakie county kids in wrestling.

“We are super involved with the community here and try to be a part of it as much as we can, so it feels like home. It’s great to be a part of a city and to see that city grow,” claims Stacy.

“Anytime that we can try to help organizations that are ag or veteran-oriented we try to do,” she says.

“I have a saying that I’ve been using since I was 18 and in the military,” she continues. “Everyday is a training day. We can learn something everyday. Even if we learn what not to do again, we’re still training.”

Staying busy If running a sale barn and being involved with the community was not enough, the Newbys built their own personal feedlot at the end of their property that can hold a little under 1,000 head of cattle.

“It was all cleaned out at Christmas time, and now we are restocking it,” says Jim. During the summer, things slow down at the sale barn, and they will switch to having a sale every other week at the auction.

“Summer is the time where we have time to do all of the maintenance of redoing pens, fixing fence and work on other projects that we have going on,” says Stacy.

“A lot of my life experience helps me accomplish

“It’s sort of like being on the same road, but the amount of traffic changes everyday. It keeps it absolutely refreshing and not everyday is the same. There’s always a new challenge.”– Stacy

Newby

Weekly sale – Worland Livestock Auction sits south of town near the railroad. While most days of the week are relatively slow, Thursday marks sale day, when the barn is bustling with cattle buyers.

Madeline Robinson photo

life’s everyday tasks, and Jim’s life experiences growing up on a ranch his whole life helps him with everyday tasks,” explains Stacy. “It’s very natural for us and fits for us to run this sale barn.

That’s who we are and that’s how we grew up.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at madeline@wylr.net.

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

LAND AND LIVESTOCK Lungrens stay busy on diverse operation Worland – The Lungren family came to Washakie County in the 1922, and they have continued to make an impact in the county’s agriculture world since.

“My Grandpa Adam and great-grandfather came to Washakie County in the 1920s,” says Vance Lungren. “He hoed sugarbeets for a living.”

Before long, Adam Lungren was able to buy the property where the farm’s headquarters sit today.

Adam’s son Lloyd took over the operation, who has further handed it on to his son Vance. Vance’s sons, Vance, Jr., known as Vanny, and Clint, run much of the farming and ranching aspects today.

Four generations of Lungrens are able to make a living on the operation today.

Lloyd and his wife Ruth and their son Vance and wife Debbie are the oldest generations on the ranch.

Vanny, Jr., his wife Kim, sons Kaden and Tristen and daughter Lily are also on the operation with Clint, wife Sara, son Owen and daughter Paige.

“Vanny and Clint have taken over the farm, and things have changed so much since then,” says Vance.

The family farms and raises cattle today, and each operation benefits the other.

Clint works largely with the farming aspect, Vance

Feedlot heifers – Lungren Land and Livestock operates a commercial cow/calf operation, raising heifers and steers in a feedlot on their property prior to sale every year. Saige Albert photo

works with the cattle, and Vanny does the bookwork, while also helping out in both operations.

Farming endeavors The farming aspect of the Lungren family’s endeavor operates as South Flat Land and Livestock.

“Our primary crop is sugarbeets,” says Vanny.

“We also grow malt barley, seed alfalfa, pinto beans, hay and some corn.”

Sugarbeets Sugarbeets are the crop that started their family’s legacy in Washakie County, and Vanny says, “Sugarbeets have been a very good crop for us. They have been in our family for a long time, and we have a lot of good history with the sugarbeets.”

In addition, sugarbeets are integral in the cattle aspect of the operation.

“We’ve been able to blend the sugarbeets in well with our cattle operation, whether we are talking about feeding the beet pulp coming out of the factory or grazing cattle on beets tops in the winter.”

Because the crop and cattle work so well together, Lungrens look to continue producing, or even expanding, their acreage.

The Lungrens own shares in Wyoming Sugar Company, the local grower-owned sugar factory, which ensures that they have both the right and obli-

gation to grow their beets.

Making changes Other crops have been added strategically to the Lungrens rotation to accomplish their goals and capture market value.

“We sell malt barley to Coors,” Vanny says, “and corn is an occasional crop for us. Sometimes we plant it, if the market is good.”

Their malt barley also works well with the cattle end of the operation.

“The cows are able to utilize the resources that the farm has,” he says. “After we harvest a crop of barley, we follow the combine with the grain drill again.”

By planting an additional barley crop, they are able to graze the second crop during the winter months.

“That has been a very good way to double crop some of our acres and provide some much needed fall pasture through these high feed price times for cows,” Vanny says.

Vance adds, “We don’t have to feed hay to our cows anymore with the fall pasture we have.”

“It is very affordable,” Vanny notes. “The farms makes some money on it, and it is the cheapest winter feed going for cattle.”

Adding crops Seed alfalfa is a newer aspect of their operation that started as a result of Vanny’s senior thesis project.

“I knew it was a good crop from my studies,” says Vanny. “It took a few years, but a seed company emerged, and we made a commitment to sell seed.”

The challenge with alfalfa is in the requirements for pollinators.

“It takes 21 days to incubate the bees, so we have to plan when the bloom of the crop is going to come,” he continues.

“Bees are also expensive.

They are worth about $100 a gallon right now, and it requires about 3.5 gallons per acre. We have quite an investment in bees.”

Pinto beans are also a newer crop for the family.

“Last year was our third year growing pinto beans, and we enjoy them,” says Vanny.

Farming challenges Farming in the Bighorn Basin leads to a number of challenges, says Vanny.

“I think the biggest challenge that we face around here is the limited resource of farm ground,” says Vanny. “We also deal with the economics of farming.”

With increases prices of equipment, land and improvements, he says that they continue to search for more farmland.

“We are dependent on leased ground for the acres that we need to farm to survive,” he explains. “If we were to lose a lease, that

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

could be devastating.”

To attempt to combat those challenges, the Lungrens have tried implementing longer term leases.

Ranch Lungren Land and Cattle Company is the livestock end of the Lungren’s family operation.

“Our ranch sits 33 miles south of Worland on the headwaters of No Water Creek,” says Vance. “We run a cow/calf operation, and sometimes we run yearlings over, as well.”

Their Black Angus cattle are trailed to the ranch from the farm property in the middle of March and are kept there until the beginning of December. They calve in the late spring and early summer each year.

Lloyd notes that labor is the primarily reason for switching to a later calving date.

“We start calving about the first week of May,” Vance explains. “They do so well calving on their own that time of year.”

At the same time, he further notes that they have to worry less about feeding high quality feeds during the winter months.

“When they get out in the hills, things start greening up, and the cows do really well until calving,” he says. “The calves hit the ground running, and the cows are producing a lot of milk.”

Heifers are calved on the range with the older cows.

Challenging aspects While range calving provides opportunities, Vanny also notes that it presents challenges, as well.

Since calves aren’t tagged, he notes, “One of our biggest challenges is in selecting replacement heifers.”

They have begun to implement a series of measures to improve heifer selection, including use of DNA testing.

“We started DNA sampling a large group of

Using technology Their crops may adjust from year to year, but Vanny Lungren notes that they have been able to streamline their operation and utilize the latest technology to improve harvest.

“We’ve started doing a little strip tilling, and we are about 75 percent sprinkler irrigated,” he says. “We also use GPS on most of our tractors, and we have spray control systems that run off of GPS.” Keeping up with technology has enabled the family to continue to be successful.

“They used to plant beets really thick and go back through and thin them,” Vanny explains as an example. ““Last year, we got a planter that we can link with NRCS soils maps and using GPS technologies, can adjust the seeding rate for each soil type on the go.”

“Margins are so thin right now that, if we can harness these technologies and make them work for us, we can eek a living out here,” he continues. “But with those advancements came a price. We need to make sure we are getting the best bang for our buck.”

heifer calves that look appealing,” he says. “We can make a final selection based on a weighted set of characteristics.”

With later calving dates, Vance says they have also had to adjust their marketing to reflect lighter calves at the beginning of the year.

Range calving also means they must watch for coyotes and wolves, and they have installed numerous pipelines on their rangeland.

“We also do range monitoring,” says Vance.

“We have to watch what the range is doing.

Continued ranching life Ranching is a way of life for the Lungren family, and they hope to continue ranching into the future.

“We love the challenge of ranching,” says Lloyd.

Vance adds, “It’s a good way of life. It’s not a real moneymaker, and since we have both the cows and the farm, we don’t see much relief as far as getting a break during the year.”

To be successful in the industry, Vanny comments, “With the amount of risk involved in the industry anymore – whether we are talking about farming or ranching – we really

“It’s amazing how well these entities compliment one another. They really go together well in a lot of aspects, and it helps us to be successful.” –

Vanny Lungren

have to love it. If we look at the risk to reward ratio, it doesn’t make sense, but it’s a good life.”

Vance says that his boys compliment each other in their strengths, and with their dedication to the operation, he sees that both Lungren Land and Cattle Company and South Flat Land and Livestock will both continue to work into

the future.

“It’s amazing how well these entities compliment one another,” Vanny says.

“They really go together well in a lot of aspects, and it helps us to be successful.”

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

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

FROM PASTURE TO PLATE Andersons run unique sheep ranch Ten Sleep – Aaron Anderson is a third generation sheep producer from Ten Sleep.

Anderson Ranch Company is unique in the sense that Aaron and his family are involved with the whole process of sheep production.

They lamb approximately 2,400 Rambouillet ewes, finish the majority of their lambs in their own feedlot and ultimately sell most of those lambs on the rail in New York City.

The Andersons utilize Rambouillet ewes because they are easy to herd and produce high quality 21-micron wool. They use Hampshire bucks as terminal sires for the carcass benefits.

“I think sheep production in itself is kind of unique.

There are fewer of us all of the time. When I was a kid it was nothing to have eight or 10 different outfits show up to get strays when we worked sheep,” says Aaron. “Any-

more I hardly ever get a stray, and if I do it usually only comes from one other operation. I think we are becoming an endangered species.”

Building a ranch Aaron’s grandfather, Rouse Anderson, first came into the Ten Sleep area as a bookkeeper for the construction crew that was building the first highway down Ten Sleep canyon.

He liked the area so well that he and his wife Zula, a Ten Sleep native, bought the ranch in 1933 and began their sheep production business operating as Anderson Company.

Aaron gives the bulk of the credit for building this operation and keeping it together over the years to his dad, Jim, and his uncle, Gene.

“They worked hard and sacrificed a great deal to keep this operation together. I am proud of the legacy they have left me in charge of,” Aaron

says.

In the early 90s after finishing college Aaron and his cousin Kevin returned to Ten Sleep to work on the ranch.

“We worked on building up our sheep numbers and increasing the size of our feedlot and farming operations, so that the four of us could make a reasonable living producing sheep,” Aaron comments.

“I lost my dad two years ago and my cousin this last summer. Besides missing them, it has left plenty of work to go around for me and my Uncle Gene, who is 86,” says Aaron.

A year in the life The Andersons run their sheep from the badlands west of Worland clear to the top of the Big Horn Mountains.

“It’s about 80 miles as the crow flies,” says Aaron.

The Andersons shed lamb in Ten Sleep during March and April.

Anderson and Bleicher – Aaron Anderson and Paul Bleicher work closely each day in their sheep feedlot operation. Madeline Robinson photo

The ewes and their lambs spend May either on irrigated pasture or in the desert west of Ten Sleep. They head to the Big Horn Mountains in early June.

The lambs are weaned around the first week of September and most of them are placed in the Anderson’s feedlot.

The fat lambs are sold from the first of December until the first of April. The ewes stay on the mountain until mid-October and are

Mountain States Lamb In the late 90s, the sheep industry reached a point that it just wasn’t profitable. That is when the Andersons, like many other sheep producers, decided that they had to do something different.

“We gambled money we didn’t have to join Mountain States Lamb Cooperative (MSLC). The last load of lambs we sold prior to joining the Mountain States Lamb brought 49 cents a pound – about 30 cents less than our cost of production at the time,” says Aaron.

“If it hadn’t been for the MSLC, I don’t think we’d be in the sheep business today,” says Aaron. “Before the MSLC there was such volatility in the market. The good years never made up for all of the bad years.”

MSLC consists of 127 family ranches in 10 western states of the U.S. and gives producers more ownership of the lamb market, allowing them to play a bigger role in the lamb industry.

The Andersons have been a part of MSLC since its inception.

“The fat lamb market is a different market than the feeder lamb market. It’s kind of a different ballgame, but it does offer the chance to take a bigger piece of the pie,” states Aaron. “There are some bonuses with the MSLC. For instance, if our lambs hit the grid or if the lambs are naturally raised.“ “We see a carcass premium on about 90 percent of our lambs and are able to produce about 98 percent of our lambs naturally. It is nice to get paid for producing what the consumer wants,” states Aaron.

Aaron also notes that they have seen a change of mindset with the change of sale venue.

“It’s been a change of mindset to go from producing feeder lambs, which are sold to a feedlot, to producing meat that is sold on the rail. I’m a lot more concerned about the price of corn and the genetics of my sheep than I used to be,” explains Aaron. “We start thinking more about how to produce a better product and how the product will look on the table for the consumer.”

bred on the hay fields in Ten Sleep.

They winter in the desert from November to March.

Labor needs The Andersons utilize Peruvian sheepherders here on the H-2A program to help with herding and lambing. To help with all of the feeding, and farming Aaron has Paul Bleicher to help him.

“He’s a really good guy to work for,” Bleicher says of Anderson. “We get along really well and that helps.”

Keeping busy Aaron also keeps busy as the chairman of the Washakie County Commissioners.

“I became a county commissioner to offer some representation for the eastern side of Washakie County,” Aaron says. “A majority of the private land in the county is on the eastern side. However, the vast majority of the population lives on the western side. I felt like there were many issues where Ten Sleep needed representation.”

As a commissioner, Aaron has been very active as a cooperator in the Big Horn Basin Resource Management Plan Revision. He is also the co-chair of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association’s Public Lands Committee.

“My experience as a permittee on BLM and Forest Service lands helps make me more effective as a cooperator,” says Aaron.

Land issues “There is a perception

that ranchers are just out to destroy everything, but I think that ranchers and farmers are far better stewards of the land than most of the federal agencies,” Aaron says. “I know a lot of ranchers who desire to conserve the land and improve its yield.”

He continues, “The agencies seem stuck on preserving Washington, D.C.’s vision and abandoning the productive yield of the land. Their model is not economically sustainable.”

In recognizing efforts to conserve and protect the land, Aaron was a conservation district supervisor for 13 years, and the ranch’s current feedlot is one of the first demonstration projects partially funded by the Wyoming Association of Conservation districts.

“They helped move our feedlot off of the river to higher ground,” says Aaron.

“It was a cost-share program that ended up being a better place for us to lamb and improved the water quality in Ten Sleep Creek. It was a win, win situation.”

“I don’t think there are a lot of operations involved in every aspect of raising lambs from birth clear to the plate,” says Aaron. “I am proud of the fact that we produce a quality product that the consumer wants to buy.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.

Send comments on this article to madeline@wylr.net.

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A9

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

SEEDSTOCK OPERATORS Redland Angus raises range bulls Worland – After growing up on commercial cattle operations, Kendrick Redland began raising registered Black Angus bulls in 1979 and has continued to do so since.

“I like genetics, so I got started in the registered business,” says Kendrick. “I started raising bulls five or six years before and met Sharon, and then we continued together.”

Both Kendrick and Sharon were raised on commercial operations in the area, and they strive to produce a bull ranchers everywhere can utilize.

Range raised “We like cattle that work in a range environment,” Kendrick explains. “Coming from commercial ranching backgrounds gave us pretty good insight on what works.”

By following a type that works in a range environment, Redland Angus provides customers with a quality product that stays consistent year after year.

“We have certain bloodlines and a certain type that works,” Kendrick says. “We concentrate on staying true to that type.”

The Redlands look for a moderate, deep-bodied animal with a lot of rib and quarter. They look for cattle that stay in good condition with the marginal resources provided on the Wyoming range without additional inputs.

Good fleshing ability is essential for the environment they work in.

“This is what we believe in and breed for,” Kendrick says. “The numbers on our cattle are not extreme in any way.”

Getting started “When we started, both of us knew what we wanted to do,” Sharon says. “Right out of high school, Kendrick started raising bulls. My aunt and uncle had a registered Hereford operation, so I had some background with the registered side of ranching, as well.”

For Kendrick, genetics and registered cattle were always an area of interest.

“I naturally gravitated toward the registered animals,” he explains, “but we wanted to run them like commercial cows.”

The Redlands focus on cattle that are built for Wyoming rangelands.

Yearly operations Redland Angus have two bunches of cows – one group that starts calving in March and the other the middle of June.

“The bunch of cows that teaches us the most about how our genetics work are the June calvers,” Kendrick explains.

“They run out on the range year-round.”

They run the calvers with their mothers as long as possible – as long as the feed resources are available – through the winter months.

“We wean those calves and let the cows go through the rest of the winter,” he con-

tinues. “We usually get to the middle of December or beginning January before we pull the calves off.”

While they get to see the results of the genetic selection in the June calving cows, Kendrick adds that they also utilize the same genetics in the spring calving herd.

“We feed the spring calving cows two or three months of the year, depending on our grass situation,” he notes.

Bull sales Redland’s first bull sale is held the third Saturday in January every year, when the bulls from the spring calving cows are sold.

“We have people who like the yearling bulls, and they can get those at our January sale,” Kendrick says. “In November, they can buy older bulls from our June-calving cows that are run over a year.”

After their bull sale, they offer free delivery of the bulls to buyers.

Spring season The spring cows calve out on river bottom near their home place.

“They are still calving out,” says Sharon, “but they are closer to home, in case we get a spring storm.”

After spring calving, the summer calving cows are trailed to their mountain pastures in the middle of May, where they summer at about 7,500 feet.

“We take them partway up the slope of the mountain, and then we start AI’ing the spring-calving cows,” says Sharon. “When we are done AI’ing, we take the June calving cows the rest of the way up, and I move onto the mountain.”

The spring calving cows are also moved to the high mountain pastures after they are AI’ed.

Sharon spends her summers on the mountains with the cattle, checking fences and making sure that the cattle do well. However, they don’t constantly monitor the cattle.

“It is a true range calving operation,” Kendrick adds.

Starting over The June calving cows are AI’ed on the mountain in September, and all the cows are brought off the mountain toward the end of the month.

“By the time we come off in September, we are starting to get the summer bulls ready for the November Sale,” Sharon continues.

After their November bull sale, held the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year, the cycle starts again.

“It’s a pretty good cycle of life,” Sharon adds.

Bulls At the same time the cows spend all their time on Wyoming ranges, Redland Angus bulls are only fed minimally to keep them in good shape.

“We have a nutritionist who helps develop the rations we use to develop the bulls,” Kendrick says. “He says that this group of bulls requires less grain than any others he works with. They are very for-

age efficient, and that is what we are shooting for.”

Hearing that they are achieving their goals is heartening, adds Sharon, noting that many producers also comment on the consistency of their bulls and their high degree of natural muscling.

“It is always nice to hear feedback from other people,” says Kendrick, “and we are very confident in the type of cattle we are breeding and what they do.”

Rather than follow trends, Kendrick notes that they have identified a type and continue to improve their cattle toward that goal.

Challenges “One of the biggest challenges for ranching today is in government regulations,” Kendrick comments. “The people we deal with at the BLM are really great. We are very blessed.”

By taking care of the

ground and working to improve resources, the Redlands know that they can continue to work to accomplish the multiple use goals of BLM. Kendrick adds, “Our other concern is regulations, like those brought on by EPA.” Moisture concerns also plague Washakie County.

“It is a double-edged sword, believe it or not,” says Kendrick. “The moisture allows us to graze out yearround, and while we never have an overabundance of forage, it seems like we always have enough.”

Helping neighbors Kendrick and Sharon both mention that they appreciate running registered Angus cattle for a number of reasons.

“For me, I like that we are able to help people keep their cost of production down,” Kendrick comments. “Our genetics are honest, realworld genetics, and the cattle are able to utilize the resources that the ranch provides in an economical fashion.”

Registered business – Kendrick and Sharon Redland love every aspect of raising registered cattle and are passionate about their range-raised bulls. Saige Albert photo

Cutting cost without cutting performance continues to be at the top of the Redlands’ priorities.

For Sharon, she says the opportunity to work outside in an environment where she gets to do something new each day is a great opportunity.

“I love the feeling of caring for something and being a steward of the animals and the land,” Sharon comments. “It is rewarding.”

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

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A10

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

GIVING BACK Tharp’s Veterinary Clinic strives to serve clients Worland – Steven Tharp doesn’t know a stranger, and a frown is something that will not be seen while in his presence. He is a very charismatic, energetic and captivating individual. Anyone who has meets Steven is not

quick to forget him.

Steven grew up in the Bighorn Basin not far from the Washakie County border on a farm that was isolated to the world halfway between Manderson and Hyattville.

Steve and Magnolia – Steve Tharp feeds his milk cow Magnolia daily. He likes to graft calves on the cow. Madeline Robinson photo

Establishing roots His family settled in this area in 1886 by four brothers from Karlsruhe, Germany. It is in this area that also includes Worland, as the place where Steven deems where his taproot has been placed.

“I am deeply invested in the community, in the county and in the area. A good deal of that has to do with the relationships that have developed with the community and its people,” says Steven. “I cannot shed myself of the comfort I feel where my taproot is.”

Tharp went to the University of Wyoming and started out as a mathematics major but decided after his sophomore year that veterinary medicine was more his calling.

After he graduated from Colorado State University he returned back to his roots to practice.

Passion for vet science “I have a passion for the challenges, for the animals and for the people,” says Steven. “Just when I think I have seen it all, I learn that I have not. To meet those challenges and be successful not in all of them, but hopefully the majority of them, seeing people’s concerns assuaged and moving

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forward gives me great satisfaction.”

In 2009, Steven was awarded the UW College of Agriculture Outstanding Alumni Award. This award is given to individuals that have shown exemplary work in their community.

Vet clinic operations Describing a typical day at the Tharp’s Veterinary Clinic would be classified as a fire drill and organized chaos.

“On the surface it is controlled and metered,” Steven says. “It is calculated and a very fluid motion.”

“The beauty of multitasking and having full concentration on the task at hand and knowing that. in the back of my mind, I’m already rolling into the next event and the one to follow,” says Steven.

Teamwork environment Echo Study has been one of Steven’s treasured employees for 27 years.

“The simplest way I can think of it is if somebody has stayed for 27 years, it says a lot about him and his personality and what a joyous place this is to work. It can be a very intense work environment, but we make the best of it and still make it a good day,” states Echo.

“Doing a job I love and having somebody that nurtures and loves is very rewarding.”

“It can be a very intense work environment, but we make the best of it and still make it a good day,” she adds.

More than a vet At a very young age, Steven was enthralled with words and life’s experiences. He attributes his broad vocabulary and yearning to write from his parents who were, as he puts it, “unbelievable wordsmiths.”

“Writing is embedded in my DNA, and I use the metaphor of a Border collie dog always having the need to herd something. It’s in their blood,” says Steven. “I have carried that from the time I was a third grader when I started writing poetry.”

“I am deeply invested in the community, in the county and in the area. A good deal of that has to do with the relationships that have developed with the community and its people” – Steven

Tharp

The crew – Every day at Tharp’s Veterinary Clinic is filled with laughter and an upbeat, positive energy, making it a welcoming environment for clients. Madeline Robinson photo

Steven periodically sees his writing appear in the WREN magazine and frequently arrives at work to tell his employees his latest story he has jotted down.

When he does not have a story in tow when he arrives at work, he’ll have a word of the day or a profound quote for his employees to ponder over.

“We do a lot of laughing at our job. With Steve’s personality he keeps everyone’s morale up, and we just have a wonderful day working. There’s no time to have a bad day,” says Chris Farley, one of Steven’s employees.

“He also makes the customers feel like that as well. He is very welcoming and breaks the ice when things are a little hairy.”

Other activities When Steven is not rushing out to a dystocia, feeding his milk cow Magnolia, scribbling down a metaphorical quote or reading a good theological or philosophical book, he also grows raspberries and is an avid fisherman.

“I love nurturing my milk cows and grafting calves on them,” Steven says.

“And when I get a moment to return to the foot of the mountain, where the river runs through it, I go. I will have my fishing rod, my fly

rod or my can of worms, dangling them into a beautiful hole under an old boxelder tree waiting for that fish to come to me,” describes Steven.

Giving back Steven is also involved in a number of other arenas in the community, including attending NRA banquets, Lincoln Days dinner, Ducks Unlimited, visiting elementary schools to talk about veterinary medicine, going to Big Brothers and Big Sisters and being a keynote presenter at speaking engagements.

“What a person gives shall be measured back to them in time and maybe even tenfold. It’s not what a person gives but what they get in return,” Steven says. “Not to push a time clock, not to ring a bell and not to answer to anyone other than those whom I serve is something I get great satisfaction from.”

“Be it delivery of a live calf by cesarean section or the same procedure on a dog on Christmas Eve delivering live puppies or correcting a severely fractured leg on a dog,” states Steven. “I enjoy what I do.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at madeline@wylr.net.

A11

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

WAY OF LIFE

Tolman enjoys ranching way of life

Ten Sleep – Despite the challenges that come with running a ranch, Kirk Tolman couldn’t imagine any other way of life.

His ranch is located 30 miles south of Ten Sleep.

Tolman comes from a long line of ranchers, who started in the Star Valley area in the early 1900s.

Cattle production His own operation consists of a commercial herd of Angus cows that he breeds to Charolais for hybrid vigor.

Tolman takes advantage of BLM leases and spends much of his time trailing his cattle from pasture to pasture, so they can graze most of the year.

“We basically trail from one end of the county to the other,” he says.

The cattle are currently grazing on BLM permitted land and have been there since the first part of November. Abundant BLM lands in Washakie

County make this possible.

Beginning a new year “We will gather them up and move them down to the river on some pasture about the first of February,” he explains. “They will start calving about the first of March.”

After branding, the cattle are trailed back to BLM pasture the first part of May, where they will remain until July.

Then Tolman trails them to deeded mountain land where they will remain until the first of October.

At that point, he moves the cattle to the slope where the calves are preconditioned and sold on video auction around Oct. 15.

The cows then return to BLM land by Nov. 1.

Feeding needs Tolman said he purchases all the hay he needs for the cattle each year, instead of putting it up

himself.

“I find it’s easier to trail the cows to the hay, rather than taking the hay to the cows,” he explains, noting that while Washakie County doesn’t see much wind, winters can mean prolonged cold weather.

The way of life Tolman said he couldn’t see any other way of life for himself.

“I enjoy being my own boss, and I like being outside and working with animals,” he explains. “I really enjoy being up on the mountain in the sum-

mertime. Nothing can beat that.”

Despite that, ranching still comes with its challenges.

“I think the biggest hurdle ranchers face is climbing expenses and costs,” he says. “Calves should be worth four dollars a pound the way expenses have gone up.”

At the same time, he offers advice to young people looking to get involved in cattle production.

“For someone trying to get into this business, I would tell them to try and keep their expenses at a minimum,” he comments.

Tolman has also found it hard to hire good help.

“People don’t want to

“I really enjoy being up on the mountain in the summertime. Nothing can beat that.” – Kirk

Tolman

do ranch work any more.

They choose other things that pay more,” he says.

Maintaining the ranch Since taking over the operation years ago, Tolman has made several improvements to make the ranch more efficient and profitable.

“When I started, we got out of the sheep business and focused on the cattle. We have also built waterlines, put in more stocktanks, sprayed brush and repaired the reservoirs,” he says.

Looking to the future,

Tolman hopes to turn over the reins of the ranch to his nephew, Cameron Roady, one day, then slow down and eventually retire.

“I am currently incorporating my nephew into the business, which has made another set of mouths to feed,” he says.

“The cows I ran didn’t pay the bills, so we have increased the cow numbers some.”

Gayle Smith is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.

Crowfoot Ranch – Kirk Tolman ranches near Ten Sleep and says he couldn’t image life away from his family cattle operation. Courtesy photo

Driven Powersports drivenpowersports.com

A12

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

LOOKING TO LEGISLATURE Geis supports Washakie County and agriculture

Worland – Gerald Geis has been involved with livestock for many years, but today, he continues supporting the agriculture industry in the Wyoming Legislature.

“My family bought a livestock trucking business in 1944,” says Gerald. “It was a family livestock trucking business until the early 1980s.”

Gerald ran the family trucking business for the next three years, while his brothers went separate directions.

“I was never really in agriculture. I spent 53 years with the trucking company,” he says. “My brothers have ranched and raised livestock.”

He began driving truck when he was 14. Gerald notes that after more than 50 good years, producers started buying their own trucks, so he sold the business and went a different route.

New chapter Following his term in livestock trucking, Gerald says he worked road construction for McGarvinMoberly Construction for 10 years.

However, he also began to get involved in the political structure of Worland.

“In 1967, a group of my friends in Worland drafted me to be councilman for Ward Three,” he says. “Then in 1974, a group of Republicans came to me and told me I was going to be the next senator for Washakie and Hot Springs counties.”

While he declined the idea several times, Gerald finally agreed to try out the legislature.

“I ran unopposed the first time I went down to the legislature,” he says.

Legislative sessions During his first term in the legislature, Gerald says

the Senate was composed of 15 Republicans and 15 Democrats.

“The first two years, I was assigned to the Appropriations Committee, right from the start,” he comments. “At that time, it was the Ways and Means Committee, so we also dealt with revenue issues.”

Then, two years later in 1977, another election took place, and Gerald was re-elected.

“The Senate picked up one or two seats for the Republicans, and I was made chairman on the Revenue Committee in my third year,” he comments. “I was still on Appropriations, as well.”

Service In total, Gerald served eight years on the Appropriations Committee and nearly eight years on Revenue.

“I was vice president of the Senate in 1981-82,” he

says, “and served as majority floor leader in 1983-84.”

Gerald further served as president of the Senate in 1985-86.

“Then I quit my time in the legislature,” Gerald comments, noting that he looked to pursue other political aspirations.

Roundabout way back After years in the Senate, Gerald decided to run for Secretary of State, and when he was beat in the primary election by 62 votes, he says he decided that wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

“I was out six years when our Senator Rankin took ill and resigned after the General Session,” he says.

“I was appointed to finish his term, and I’ve been there ever since.”

Committee work Since coming back, Gerald has served on the Agriculture and Education Committees.

“I served four years on Education, and then they made me chairman of the Agriculture Committee in 1995,” he says. “I’ve been

“I’m the second in the Senate in terms of years of service. Some days are interesting, and some days are boring, but I’ve enjoyed serving the public.” – Senator Gerald Geis chairman of that committee ever since.”

Gerald has also served on the transportation committee for eight years, replacing that committee with the Select Water Committee in 1996.

Staying involved Gerald says he continues to run to the Wyoming Legislature because, “No one runs against me.”

During his 32 years in the position, he has had two opponents, but at the same time, his constituents continue to elect him to the position.

Water continues to be a high priority for Gerald.

“I really want to protect Wyoming’s water law,” Gerald says. “Wyoming has the best water law of any state in the union, and there are always people who want to change those laws.”

Because water is tied to the land, Gerald says it is important to make sure that laws remain strong.

“Now, people have to buy the land first, then go to the State Engineer’s Office to use the water,” he explains. “If someone wants to take the water off the land and use it for something else, they can’t irrigate the land.

That makes it a strong law.”

“As long as I’m down there, I’ll be a very strong advocate protecting Wyoming’s water law,” he emphasizes.

At the same time that Wyoming’s water law is strong, Gerald also marks the numerous water compacts Wyoming is involved with and their importance, commenting, “Water is important for us.”

Gerald Geis

Moving forward Going into the future, Gerald says, “I just handle the problems as they come. I can’t look in my crystal ball and see anything big looming in the future.”

For the next year, he notes that definitions for neglect and small animals will be decided, and education will continue to be a heavy focus, but he continues to wait to handle issues as they emerge.

“Most of the time, different people and organizations come to our interim committee and bring projects and ideas,” Gerald comments.

“I’m also on the Natural Resource Committee, and we will be dealing with the U.S. government working with Wyoming to address the state lands in Teton Park,” he says.

“I’ll be starting my 32nd year in the Senate in 2014,” says Gerald. “I’m the second in the Senate in terms of years of service. Some days are interesting, and some days are boring, but I’ve enjoyed serving the public.”

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

A13

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

CLOSE TIES Hampton family maintains strong relationships Ten Sleep – Sam and Phyllis Hampton have family ties to Washakie County dating back to 1911 when Sam’s grandparents, Cyrus and Nellie Hampton, settled in Worland.

This was also the year Washakie County was established.

In 1924, Phyllis’s grandparents George and Elizabeth Hefenieder moved their family to Worland after a few years of farming in Ranchester. They became neighbors of the Hamptons, and it was in 1955 that Sam and Phyllis were married.

Good neighbors Being neighborly is especially important to Sam, since the Hampton’s operation is spread out over some 80 miles in a patchwork of private and BLM lands.

Sam stresses that, “If we want good neighbors, first we must be one.”

“We cross our neighbors land, and they cross ours.

We’re there to help whenever needed, be it branding, fall vaccinating or corral work.

And they are always there for us when we need help. We are blessed with good neighbors,” Sam adds.

Multiple ranches The Hampton’s two ranching outfits are set up to where they pasture their cows during the winter through spring months on BLM grazing lands around Worland, then trail their cows from win-

ter to summer range at the Ten Sleep ranch.

When the Ten Sleep ranch, located at Mahogany Butte, was purchased in 1946, Carl Hampton’s sheep business was in full swing, and cattle were added to balance out the range.

Both sheep and cattle grazed the Hampton lands until 2009, when the majority of the sheep were sold.

Multi-species benefits In recent years, with the absence of sheep, the Hamptons have noticed a significant rise in weed population.

“Sheep and cattle together benefit the range, and we see the effects now of just how much. The cows share the range with antelope, deer and elk, but it seems apparent that it was the sheep that kept the weeds down,” remarks Sam. “We just have a small handful of sheep that the grandkids raise for 4-H and FFA and for our table, as we all enjoy good lamb,” Sam adds with a smile. “Mostly now our critters consist of cattle, horses and grandkids.”

Sam and Phyllis have eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren whom they hope will continue this wholesome way of life.

Land impacts Being very concerned and conscientious about the welfare of the land due to impacts from weather, grazing and erosion, the Hamp-

ton family stresses the importance of land management for the sake of their livestock and future generations.

Started in the mid 1980s, they devised and constructed a system of spring fed, gravity flow water pipelines to some 25 reservoirs and a few stock tanks that supply water to cattle and wildlife in areas that beforehand were too far from a water source.

“When a critter has to travel great distances for water in rough terrain, it wears off pounds, and weight is what we sell,” states Sam. Keeping an eye out With his favorite saddle horse in the trailer, Sam regularly drives around looking for potential trouble.

He is constantly checking and making sure the cows are utilizing the available feed and water, if there’s enough salt or maybe he’ll find a frustrated pair on opposite sides of the fence that he rejoins.

Sam is also on the lookout for any open gates and sections of fence that need mending, and it is not an uncommon sight to see Sam with his shovel making cutout diversions to prevent water runoff from creating deep ruts or potential washouts in roads.

Sam may dig out snow from cattle guards to prevent cows from walking across them into the neighbors.

“I’m happy our whole family knows how and is not

Ties to history Along with the Hampton’s long family history to the area, they also have an old sourdough recipe that began from a starter that dates back to 1926 when Sam’s father Carl first created it.

Besides being a staple in their family, that sourdough starter has also been known to be very versatile in its day.

On the trail to Lysite, the area railroad shipping yard, Carl and his herd of sheep were camped along the way when an unpredicted, wet, fall storm froze the water in his old 1929 Model A truck and cracked the engine block.

Sourdough starter is sticky like glue, so Carl got the notion to use his starter and patch the engine crack with it. Low

and behold the sticky sourdough starter held, and Carl was able to fire up his truck and head on to Lysite.

“Who would have thought that a starter that was made from the water of unsalted boiled potatoes, yeast, a small amount of sugar and some flour would be so handy?” Sam says. “And not to mention, it is delicious and still consumed today.”

Phyllis is famous for her sweet, buttery sourdough cinnamon rolls. And through Sam’s insistence, many friends and family, young and old have been given a sourdough starter and recipe.

“We can’t fail with sourdough,” encourages Phyllis.

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afraid of using a shovel, even the girls. It builds character,” Sam comments.

Family endeavor Sam and Phyllis, being third generation stewards of the land, continue ranching with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Both he and Phyllis are proud of their four kids and their families who are a part of the cattle operation.

“It’s nice to have the whole family participate, and this lovely lady, Phyllis, keeps us fed and straightened out,” Sam says affectionately.

Sons Dan and Steve and their families live on the Ten Sleep ranch full-time raising hay, building and fixing fence, regulating the hunters during fall harvest, checking and maintaining water lines to reservoirs and performing mechanic work on their tractors and equipment.

Calving time begins in late January and will keep Dan and Steve busy until spring. Throughout the year, they will also be searching for better ways to raise and improve their Black Angus herd.

They are also very active in their community and church. Steve’s wife Kathleen teaches at the Ten Sleep school.

Daughter Janna helps calve heifers, cowboys and keeps records on the cattle and tends to their Paso Fino horses.

Janna says she’s “on call” for her dad and is ready to ride at a moment’s notice, for the life of a rancher is filled with unpredictable moments.

Her husband and stepdaughters help out when they can on weekends and during summer breaks.

Youngest son Justin lives mostly on the Worland ranch taking care of the farming there, but he also spends a

“It’s nice to have the whole family participate, and this lovely lady, Phyllis, keeps us fed and straightened out.” – Sam Hampton

Sam and Phyllis – With ranches in both Worland and Ten Sleep, Sam and Phyllis Hampton enjoy the ranching way of life. They winter cattle in Worland. Madeline Robinson photo

lot of time traveling back and forth between the two ranches working where needed.

Justin and Sam feed the replacement heifers and bulls at their feedlot throughout the winter and spring.

Justin’s faithful cow dogs accompany him when he trails cows, checks and regulates water pipelines, maintains fences, drags dry reservoirs to knock down the cockleburs and when driving the water truck to fill water tanks in the badlands.

Faith and heritage “I think it takes a lot of faith in the good Lord to help us carry through,” says Phyllis. “It is a real privilege to be a part of this lifestyle and

not take anything for granted.

Yes, it takes a lot of work, but we stick together and work together.”

The Hamptons appreciate their heritage, and they would not trade their lifestyle for any other.

“We are very thankful to be in this profession. It’s very rewarding, and I’m especially glad I don’t have to push a nine-to-five button,” says Sam. “There’s nothing like it.

We’re kind of spoiled having the opportunity that we have here.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at madeline@ wylr.net.

A14

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

FARMING AND FEEDING Diversified farming, feeding operation provides opportunities for Miller family Worland – Although it can be a challenge working with family members on a day-today basis, Jim Miller wouldn’t have it any other way. Miller, along with his brothers Hugh, Andrew, Pete and Daniel his son Joe and nephew Channer work together in their diversified farming and livestock feeding enterprise.

“I grew up in the operation,” Miller explains of his start in the business. “I farmed with my dad and four brothers. As one of us would get out of school, we would take on more farm ground and get a little bigger.”

“Now my son and one of my nephews have also joined the business,” he continues. “I also have a couple other nephews in middle school who are

starting to help.”

Miller says farming was all he ever wanted to do, and the moment he got out of school, he jumped right in and started farming with his dad.

“I like it that we are a family operation, and we all seem to get along and work well together,” he says of the family business.

Diversifying an operation The operation consists of a custom cattle and lamb feeding operation during the winter months and 1,600 acres of farm ground, where they raise corn, sugarbeets, malt barley and hay.

“We spend most of the winter feeding several hundred head of calves and about 10,000 lambs,” Miller says.

They also utilize crop res-

Family operation – When working sheep, all of the Miller brothers are involved. Hugh, Andrew, Jim, Daniel and Pete work well together and each handle a different aspect of the operation. Courtesy photo

idue, grazing the lambs on beet tops.

The family puts up 400 acres of alfalfa each year. The malt barley is harvested at the end of July. Then, the pens are cleaned, and the manure is spread on the barley fields.

“We start chopping corn Labor Day weekend. We harvest beets in October and do our fall field work before the calves and lambs come in October,” he says.

Feeding “We just recently vaccinated 1,800 lambs for over-eating, and we’ll be shearing lambs pretty soon,” he explains. “We shear 1,000 head at a time and keep them in a shed to allow them to get their lanolin back, so they don’t get cold.”

The family feeds lambs for ranchers from all across the state and some of their own.

“We usually ship the lambs out by June and the calves by May. We just background those,” he says.

They are able to utilize some of their own harvested crops to feed the animals in their feedlot.

“We harvest the corn as silage or hard corn to feed to the calves and lambs,” he says.

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corn and sugarbeets.

“We typically start irrigating between April 10 and April 15 when the water comes into the canal. We irrigate with sprinklers and gated pipe,” he says.

Irrigation is one important part of the operation the family has focused on improving.

“If we didn’t have irrigation, we couldn’t grow anything here in the Worland area,” Miller says. “We started with dirt ditches, then upgraded to cement ditches and gated pipe. Then, we moved to center pivot sprinklers.”

“Now, of the 1,600 acres we farm, we only have 50 acres that is still irrigated with cement ditch. The rest is either gated pipe or sprinklers,” he says.

Improvements As the family operation has grown, Miller said the tractors and equipment have, too.

“As our operation has grown, we have to buy bigger equipment and tractors to get over it all and be efficient,” he says.

Another improvement that has made a significant difference in their operation is the availability of Roundup Ready corn and sugarbeets.

“We don’t have to cultivate anymore. We just spray those fields with Roundup to keep the weeds down. We don’t have to hire labor to pull the weeds,” he says.

Making it work Keeping up with the

“We do everything ourselves. The seven of us work really well together.” – Jim Miller

Feedlot lambs – A primary aspect of Miller and Sons is their large sheep feedlot. Andrew Miller says they are unique in that they provide fresh straw to lambs on a regular basis through the cold, wet winter months. Courtesy photo

economics of the operation has been a challenge, Miller admits.

“We have five families living here. It can be difficult at times to keep enough work and profit in the operation to keep us all here doing what we like to do,” he comments.

“This year was particularly tough because sugar is at a 30-year low. We also had a terrible hailstorm, so we were only able to harvest about twothirds of our barley. We cut and baled about 200 acres for hay because there was nothing left of it. The corn and beets grew back, although they yielded less than they would have,” he explains.

Fortunately, this diversified operation has options, and the family chose to feed more livestock than they normally would to make up for the smaller harvest.

“We used to have a cow/ calf operation, but we sold those because we didn’t have

enough pasture for them. It is easier for us to feed livestock in pens,” Miller explains.

Getting started Miller says he encourages people wanting to get into the ranching or farming business to develop a good business plan outlining what they want to do.

“I also wouldn’t be afraid to seek advice from people I know and trust and who are successful,” he adds.

On their own operation, Miller predicts they will continue to expand to accommodate new generations of the family who also want to farm and ranch.

“We don’t have any hired help. We do everything ourselves,” he says. “The seven of us work really well together.”

Gayle Smith is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.

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A15

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

WATCHING WATER

Rhodes operates water rights management firm Worland – After working with governmental organizations for a number of years, Todd Rhodes saw the need for a professional in the water industry to help people understand their water rights.

“I started this company back in 1992 to answer the need for water rights searches, professional advice and service to help people perfect and protect their water rights,” says Todd. “We work statewide and have a varied list of clientele.”

Todd says that he works to serve primarily agriculture concerns.

Education and experience Todd began his journey with water in his youth.

“I was raised in Pennsylvania farm country, and I didn’t know what a water right was. But, from a boy, I was always been around water. It was my overall interest in water that brought me to Wyoming,” he says. “I studied water resource management at Penn State.”

Agriculture has been an important part of his life for many years, and Todd says he saw opportunity in the West.

“I was more interested in water use than water quality, and I recognized the shortages of water in the West,” he explains.

After graduating, he moved to Wyoming working for the U.S. Geological Survey, where he measured stream flows.

“From there, I went to the State Engineer’s Office and I worked as a water commissioner in Casper,” Todd explains. “My area included the tributaries along the front range of Casper Mountain and Bates Creek.”

As a county employee, he was also involved in local issues on the North Platte River.

Todd then moved to Worland, where he worked on Gooseberry, Cottonwood and Grass Creeks, as well as a series of intermittent drainages in the area.

“I worked for the State Engineer for nine years,” he says. “In 1992, I left the

state’s employ to build my consulting firm.”

Water rights consulting When Todd started Wyoming Water Rights Consulting, the idea was a new one.

“I coined the phrase water rights management services,” he says. “When I started the company, it was a one-man shop and a new concept.”

In the early 90s, Todd notes that the State Engineer’s Office (SEO) was doing water rights searches and providing water rights information to the public. Everything had to be searched by hand back then.

The SEO staff seemed happy to have someone take some of that workload.

“I always thought it would be beneficial to have a private individual out there to help people with their water issues,” says Todd. “As it turned out, I was right.”

Water challenges Changes in society have influenced Todd’s workload.

“There are a number of folks coming into the state with different perspectives and different expectations, based on where they came from,” says Todd. “For instance, there is a growing focus on fisheries. I fish, I work for agriculture, and I’m a firm believer in the values of agrarian society.”

He notes that agriculture must continue protecting its water as some individuals and groups attempt to tweak Wyoming’s water laws.

“Some people don’t seem to understand that even if we make seemingly small water use changes on the stream, it can possibly have a significant ripple effect throughout the system,” Todd continues.

“Societal issues associated with urbanization are changing people’s wants and priorities.”

“Wyoming is a headwater state. Fortunately, we have a very strong set of water statutes to protect our water. We need to be careful in considering changes to those statutes,” he adds.

Water rights As more people move

in, Todd also notes that water rights and the use of water in the state are becoming more important, and more scrutinized.

“Through history, there has been one basic rule that most landowners followed and that was don’t mess with someone else’s water,” Todd says. “With the societal and regulatory changes we are seeing, there is more tendency of landowners to challenge and test another’s water right. Pressure is building.”

Water rights, he says, are tied to specific parcels of land, and if the water is not being beneficially used on that specific parcel, the right can be abandoned. He notes that big disparities can exist between the water rights of record and the actual use of water on a property.

“We are seeing, with an increasing frequency, that water rights are being challenged,” Todd explains.

Records “Irrigation of the intended lands is really important,” Todd continues. “The state will not allow landowners to make changes until they can show beneficial use of all the affected lands. Non-use subjects the water rights to loss.”

Wyoming Water Rights, he says, works to help water users prevent those losses.

“When we go on a property, we research their water rights and look at what the landowner is actually using, how it compares to the water rights of record,” he explains.

“We often find lands that are irrigated but do not have a water right and others that are water righted but not irrigated.”

Helping landowners to understand and utilize their water appropriations on the intended lands is a large part of Todd’s business.

Moving forward Wyoming Water Rights continually expands their business to include more employees who can serve clients’ needs.

“We are expanding our firm and adding some staff,” Todd notes. “We have a good workload. There is a lot of

need out there for these services, and we are excited about the future.”

Since 1992, the company has grown to include four additional employees.

He predicts that continued water difficulties will be seen by landowners and water users affected by increased federal regulations.

“Changing regulations and policies at all levels are a concern” he says.

Todd also notes that he serves a wide variety of clientele and works to manage water rights for absentee owners, looks into water rights for realtors and helps landowners understand and utilize their water rights, among other things.

Benefits of a business Being in business for

“I coined the phrase water rights management services. When I started the company, it was a one-man shop and a new concept.” – Todd

Rhodes

himself, Todd says he enjoys the freedom to operate how he sees fit.

“Back then, I had not had any business experience, nor had my family, so it was a big step to move from the public to the private sector,” he explains. “I could not have built this company without the support and encouragement of my wife Virginia.”

Todd notes that he enjoys the personal freedom and the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of good people around Wyoming.

“I am very detail oriented, and we have a lot of long days,” Todd says. “But I enjoy it. We have developed our work procedures in a way I feel best manages and protects our clients’ water rights assets.”

“I enjoy being a businessman, developing my own company and putting out a great product for our clients,” he comments.

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

Water services – Todd Rhodes of Wyoming Water Rights strives to help Wyoming water users protect and perfect their water rights. Saige Albert photo

A16

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

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ROUNDUP

®

RUNNING RED Orchard works for consistent cattle

Ten Sleep – South of Ten Sleep, there is a ranch that has been in the Orchard family since 1900. Third generation rancher Rob Orchard, his son Charlie, daughter April and her family help keep the Orchard Ranch thriving.

Orchard’s other children are sons Chris, who lives on the West Coast, Mark, a meat science teacher in Utah, and Robin, who lives in Cody.

Orchard has 14 grandchildren.

Producing sheep Rob’s grandfather came to Ten Sleep with the sheep business. He started out as a sheep producer, but through the years, the Orchard’s ranch has transitioned into a cattle-producing ranch.

“Back in those days, instead of paying wages, he was paid in ewes. That’s how my granddad got his start in the sheep business,” explains Rob. At the end of World War II, Rob’s dad sold all of the sheep and worked to get the family solely into the cattle business.

“Granddad was not very happy about that. He told my dad, ‘It wasn’t the cows that got this ranch through the Depression. It was the double crop on the sheep that did,’” says Rob. Military service Rob was accepted to University of Colorado’s ROTC program and then went on to flight school. There was a particularly special day when he was 16 and signed up for the draft.

“It was one of the proudest days of my life when I was able to register for the draft,” says Rob. “Of course, I wanted to go into the Marine Corp, but I also wanted to get through school.”

Rob changed his mind about the Marines and instead went into the Air Force for three years. After being discharged from the military, he yearned to return home and go back to ranching.

“It was bred into me. I just wanted to keep punching cows,” Rob says.

Rob’s flying abilities and skills have come in handy as a tool for their ranch, along with their saddle horses.

“Using the plane helps to see what’s going on, what’s happening on our ranch and where the livestock are,” Rob explains. “I can also use the plane if somebody needs

to come to town due to an injury. I can just load them up and come to town.”

Improving the cattle herd After they transitioned to solely producing cattle, the Orchards began looking for a new area to where they could improve upon their herd.

“We needed a cross in our Hereford cattle, so we started running some Red Angus in 1989. Now it’s mainly just Red Angus now,” replies Rob. “A lot of the white has been bred out of them, and the red baldy is gone. There is a few with a freckled face or some with white on their belly.”

Rob much prefers his Red Angus to the Herefords he has had in the past.

“As I have been told a long time back, if we want to get a guy who is a really good hand that can do everything, get a guy who has been working with a Hereford outfit because they learned it all there,” teases Rob. Cattle goals Joking aside, Rob takes his cattle operation very seriously and has a very high goals set for all of them.

“I always wanted a herd of cattle so that when they are run through a gate, it looks like a faucet was opened up and water is running through,” says Rob. “All the cattle should look about the same size and have a consistent conformation.”

“We’ve been selling our steers through Superior, and the ones that don’t quite fit go to a feedlot in Ogallala, Neb.,” says Rob. He likes the way that Superior premiers their cattle, so anyone in the United States can purchase them, and they can find a better price, as well.

Because cattle ranching and the livestock industry is an important part of his life, Rob has also served in several capacities. Most notably, he was president of the Wyoming Livestock Board for six years, from March 2005 to March 2011.

Diversity The Orchards also lease their ranch out to an outfitting company from Casper that is a group of retired firemen.

“We hunt off horseback,” Rob says. “If we wanted to scare the elk, we’d just go after them with four-wheelers. They can hear one of those things coming for

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miles. The elk are used to seeing us on horseback with the cows.”

Changing times A lot of changes have occurred with the beef industry over the years and Orchard has witnessed quite a few of them.

“I can remember as a kid buying a calf at 12 cents a pound. In today’s market, that’s not even in the ballpark.

Now it is at $1.60 a pound,” he notes. “I have watched it gradually work its way up over the years.”

“We’re just a bread-andbutter kind of cow outfit,” states Rob. “It’s a big enough outfit to go for a horseback ride. We raise a few cattle, and we’re not raising cattle on the end of a main street.

Section B We have enough that when we sell, most of the bills get paid.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at madeline@ wylr.net.

“We’re just a bread-and-butter kind of cow outfit. It’s a big enough outfit to go for a horseback ride. We have enough that when we sell, most of the bills get paid.” – Rob Orchard

Reminiscing – Rob Orchard remembers the proudest day of his life when he turned 16 and was old enough to sign up for the draft. Rob ponders the direction the U.S. is going politically and the increasing price of beef. Madeline Robinson photo

B2

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

IRRIGATION PROJECTS Water projects ensure abundant water in Washakie County The current residents of Washakie County work hard to ensure a healthy balance of all resources found in the region, with one of the most critical elements being the water supply for agricultural purposes.

A common activity among Wyoming ranchers is checking the Snow Precipitation Update provided by the United State Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, commonly referred to as the “snow pack,” with many of them even participating in the collection of related data.

In Wyoming, the snow found high in the mountains is later utilized or stored during the spring.

Runoff is the lifeblood of agriculture throughout the entire state. Nowhere

in Wyoming is the storage and utilization of the precious run off waters more important than in the arid regions of the Bighorn Basin, located in north-central Wyoming.

Deriving its water from snow found in the mountain high above Dubois, the lower Big Horn Basin has become a productive agriculture area over the previous century.

This has taken place, even against great odds, as it is one of the hottest, driest and harshest regions in the entire state during the summer months. In fact many of the rivers and creeks that brim full in the spring during run-off, flowing swift, dwindle to a sparse trickle in the late summer and fall.

Harvesting water To increase the odds of success in these types

of environments, construction and utilization of reservoirs to preserve the spring run off water has been essential.

The first attempt to harness and preserve the runoff in the Big Horn River was in 1908. A Wyoming businessman named Asmus Boysen constructed a concrete slab and buttress dam on the Big Horn River to operate a small hydroelectric plant, which supplied power for the towns in the area.

Unfortunately, after only 15 years of operation, the dam silted in and was abandoned. It was not until the 1930s that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began conducting surveys in the Big Horn River Basin.

Greater benefits The Corps reported

that the benefits of constructing a dam on the Big Horn River were much greater than previously believed. These benefits included flood control, silt retention, water conservation and hydropower.

The Bureau of Reclamation became involved in the project in 1941.

Their studies were published in 1942 and became the basis for the inclusion of the Boysen Unit in the Missouri River Basin Project.

The Boysen Unit was authorized as part of the Missouri River Basin Project by the Flood Control Act of 1944. This act authorized the development of the Missouri River Basin through a joint program of the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Major General Lewis A. Pick of the Corps of Engineers and William G. Sloan of Bureau of Reclamation designed the program, and the name was later changed in honor of

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those two men to the PickSloan Missouri Basin Program.

Completing the project Boysen Reservoir was not fully constructed or put into full operation until the early 1950s.

The process of building the dam and reservoir was long, tedious and full of challenges.

Roads and railroads had to be relocated. Sections of U.S. Highway 20 and the Chicago and North West Railroad were required to be moved.

A government camp was also built to house the workers and their families.

Construction was delayed several times due to massive rockslides that destroyed portions of the relocation efforts.

After more than six years of work and numerous setbacks and delays, the project was finally complete and operational on Jan. 1, 1953.

Ag benefits Agricultural operations in Washakie County benefit greatly from the irrigation made possible from the construction and operation of Boysen Reservoir. Producers are involved in a wide array of activities, ranging from cattle and sheep operations to diversified farming operations.

The water from Boysen is delivered to the area via three major canal systems.

Many operations are a combination of livestock and farming, taking advantage of crop residues

to winter livestock herds.

The farming operations that have developed include barley, sugarbeets, corn, beans, hay and alfalfa. Pivot irrigation has quickly gained in popularity around the area in the last decade.

Washakie County offers farmers a unique opportunity in Wyoming to industriously pursue farming, with an elevation of only 4,000 feet above sea level, extending the growing season to the inclusion of growing a great variety of crops.

However, farming in the area is achievable only thanks to the development of a comprehensive irrigation system made possible by the construction and implementation of Boysen Reservoir.

With the increased overall agricultural production and subsequent increase in the quality of life in the area for residents, it is safe to state that the project of damming the Big Horn River, despite the challenges involved, was a success that has grown beyond expectation.

A project that was nearly totally abandoned is now responsible for creating a productive farming and ranching situation in a region where there was once very little opportunity for diversified agriculture.

Heidi Suttee is a correspondent for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.

Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr. net.

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

RED BANK CATTLE Redlands focus on management practices for improvement Ten Sleep – Redland Red Bank Angus evolved their breeding program in the last seven years to be able to produce cattle, especially bulls, that will thrive on some of the toughest rangelands known to man.

The heritage of the cattle began with Donald Mercer in 1945. Then, it was passed to Dick Mercer and his brothers.

In 1985, Dick’s daughter Deb Redland brought 18 registered heifers from his herd to Wyoming when she married her husband Rolly. They now run the ranch with help from their three sons.

The operation is located south of Ten Sleep at the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains.

“During those years when the kids were being born and little, we’d show halter and break the bulls to lead to take them to consignment sales,” reminisces Deb. “Adam would sit on the fence and sing to everyone. It stands to reason why he became an auctioneer.”

Auctioneers vision As an auctioneer who sells at his hometown sale barn, Worland Livestock Auction, Adam began producing cattle to be more cost and feed efficient and able to withstand the harsh reality of rangeland yearround.

“As a young guy watching what was happening with the high inputs, I decided to make the choice to take over our registered herd and pursue raising some better cattle,” states Adam.

“I figured the way we needed to do this was to change the whole program,” explains Adam.

“Not only did we need to change the way we were developing bulls, but we had to really attack the heart of the program – the cows.”

Costly feeds “I looked at it from the standpoint we can’t afford to feed them hay,” says Adam. “Like a lot of guys, we didn’t have a big feed base. Buying hay, especially these last two years, can almost break a guy.”

To obtain more suitable cows for Adam’s new breeding program, he started managing his registered cows like his commercial herd, leaving them all out on the range to graze the land more and become more feed efficient.

“The first couple of years of doing this were horrible,” he notes. “The fallout of the young and old cows was really high.”

“They were still great cows they just couldn’t handle that type of environment,” Adam continues. “We began breeding them to a different standard, and they would come

in late or open.”

Today, the Redlands continually see high conception rates through AI on their herd, and this year, they had an 81 percent success rate on over 600 head of cows.

They contribute the increase to the original bloodlines of the cows and how they are managed.

Some of the original females are still in the herd, and the Redlands retain all of their heifer calves to sell as bred heifers.

The Redlands also try and purchase heifer calves from producers who have bought bulls from them.

Selection of herd Adam looks for a moderate frame and deep body with natural muscling in selecting his cattle. He also makes sure his heifers are feminine looking and the bulls look like bulls.

“I took 20 of our biggest and best bull calves seven years ago and put them in a feedlot. I wanted to mirror what I was doing in the feedlot with what they would have received if they had been weaned on pasture at home,” says Adam.

The ration the bull calves received in the feedlot consisted of a chop hay and straw mixture and one to two pounds of silage.

“They started out as big 600-pound calves, but without milk and good feed, they started to look like slop in a hurry,” describes Adam. “I left them on that hay ration for 35 to 40 days to get a good test on them and let Mother Nature sort out which bulls were actually bulls.”

Remaining bulls “The ones that had true muscling kept slowly gaining and always looked like bulls, and the ones that didn’t have true muscling looked more like flat-necked steers,” says Adam.

Six of the original 20 bull calves remained, and Adam explains, “Those bulls have been the best salesmen I’ve ever had.

They went out, did an outstanding job and really brought guys to me that keep coming back for another bull.”

Once the bull calves have passed the first test in the feedlot, they are then put on a grower ration that does not consist of any corn or other costly feeds.

After 30 days on the grower ration, they go through another evaluation where they will be culled for structural defects or lack of muscling. The end goal is to get as uniform set of bulls as possible.

“The simple reason for not adding all those fancy feeds to my rations is that I can’t afford to feed my

cows or develop my heifers like that, so how can I afford to develop my bulls like that?” asks Adam.

Tough country “We’ve never had a problem with a customer calling up and saying one of our bulls hasn’t held up, and we’ve sold some bulls that go into some of the toughest country there is,” says Adam. “Our bulls run in country that producers usually don’t run yearling bulls in.”

“A couple of younger yearling bulls I’ve sold actually gained weight during a summer of breeding cows and running out on the range,” says Adam.

“That was a moment where skeptics who looked at my bulls through the fence became believers and wanted to buy a bull.”

Every year Adam is able to sell more bulls

through private treaty.

He has also began selling two-year-old bulls.

Uniformity One of the positive effects the Redlands are seeing in their cattle from the new breeding program are decreases in input costs, which transitions to receiving higher profits.

“I’ve kept records on all of our commercial steers from our Red Bank cattle, and we used to have a three-way split on calf size – a big, a middle and a small end. Our calf uniformity now is outstanding, and we have eliminated the small end,” describes Adam.

At the same time, he notes that a 50-pound difference has been seen between the large and middle groups.

Carcass Another noticeable benefit the Redlands have seen in the last three years with their steers is a smaller feed conversion rate of 5.3 pounds to 5.5 pounds for every pound

“We have always been honest and that’s a standard we are going to hold ourselves to. Customer service for us is a big deal.” – Adam Redland gain.

Historically the Redlands had to feed between six to 6.3 pounds for every pound of gain in their animals.

“I attribute that directly to the way I’ve been developing these bulls. The bulls that are left in the program are making it on less,” says Adam. “When those bulls go out on cows, they make good calves that have those lower feed conversion abilities, and those calves are going to be hanging on the rail 30 days earlier.”

The Redland’s steers are also seeing a grade of 90 percent choice and an average ribeye area of 15.3 inches.

“In our whole selection process we are not losing focus on the carcass side of it either,” he says.

Customer satisfaction “We want buyers to know that once they buy our bulls they will be producing calves that are going to earn them a premium in several different categories,” states Adam.

“That’s all added bucks to that buyer’s pocket.”

“We have always been honest, and that’s a standard we are going to hold ourselves to. Customer service for us is a big deal.

We let these guys know they are very important to us,” says Adam. “We stand behind our cattle 100 percent and want customers to know if there’s anything we can do to help them we darn sure will.”

Madeline Robinson is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at madeline@wylr.net.

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

DEVELOPING THE DESERT Tanner starts Buffalo Creek Farms Ten Sleep – In March 1971, Kenneth Tanner, Martin and Jan Mayland, Walter and Crol Maylan and Guy and Becky Henderson partnered to drill a water well that would change the landscape on their Ten Sleep property.

“My husband applied for a Desert Land Entry with his partners in 1967, and it took a while to get the BLM on board,” says Paula Tanner, widow of the late Kenneth.

“After receiving permission from the government, the group drilled a water well that would change the BLM property’s landcape.

We drilled our first and second water well, but it took us a while to get to the point where we are now. We’ve been trying to make a go of it for a while.”

Paula notes that they accomplished their goals prior to Kenneth’s passing 2012.

Going to the desert “Desert Land Entry is property owned by the BLM,” explains Paula. “We had to develop the land to receive the property. Then, it is priced very cheap.”

However, by the time improvements are made, costs add up.

“We drilled wells, bought sprinkler systems and irrigated the property,”

she says. “It is crazy how it all worked out.”

While the BLM was hesitant to grant Desert Land Entry, Paula notes, “The group of partners persisted and began developing the BLM lands. My husband was a geologist. He saw the opportunity to drill a well on the land, and once we had a well, we could develop the land.”

Aside from work to establish the farm, Kenneth also developed mines, but his life ambition was to farm. By developing the Desert Land outside of Ten Sleep, they were able to accomplish their goals.

“We are pretty proud of this place,” Paula adds. “I’m proud that we were able to make it happen.”

Farming today Today, Paula’s son-inlaw Casey Johnstone runs Buffalo Creek Farms.

“I’ve been here for almost 30 years,” Casey comments. “My father-inlaw started this place and did a lot of work. They drilled wells and put pivots in, and I’m continuing it today.”

“We raise hay and malt barley,” he says. “I’ve also got some cows.”

Their alfalfa creates the primary source of income for the operation.

“We sell big square bales of hay and are able to get three cuttings out of this country. Most of it is sold,” Casey continues. “We also have barley in our rotation.”

The barley, he explains, is important as a rotation crop.

“Every five or six years, we tear up our alfalfa fields, because alfalfa stands start to get bad after that long,” he says. “We plant the barley as a rotation.”

While they have also contemplated venturing into growing beans or other crops, Casey says, “We are really set up for hay, and it works well.”

Improving the operation Their fields are all irrigated by artesian wells and a reservoir on the property.

“We fill our big reservoir in the winter, which provides enough pressured to gravity flow the water to our fields,” Casey explains.

“The pressure decreases our pumping costs.”

Casey also says they began planting Roundup Ready alfalfa this year.

While they have yet to see benefits, he comments, “We just put in the Roundup Ready this fall, so I’m not sure how it will work out yet. We’re just trying to keep things a little cleaner.”

Annual Angus Bull Sale

Cattle side Buffalo Creek Farms also raises Black Angus cattle crossed with Herefords.

Casey introduced the cows to Buffalo Creek Farms nearly 25 years ago, choosing Black Angus for their black-hided calves and Herefords for their disposition.

“We run a cow/calf operation,” Casey comments.

Each year begins with heifers calving in March, and then he shifts his focus to the farming operation.

“We start farming as soon as we can because we want to get the barley in as early as possible,” he explains.

“I background them in our feedlot until the end of January,” says Casey.

The feedlot couples with their alfalfa production well, and Casey says if they have off-quality hay, they feed it to their own cattle, rather than selling it at a discount.

“We also have the residue that our cows can pasture on, and that seems to help out, as well,” he says.

Other revenue options “Our banker always said my husband was a creative financier,” comments Paula.

“We did a lot of different things.”

For example, Kenneth pursued mining, including some interest mining bentonite to keep the farm going.

Included in their efforts, Paula and Casey note that

“I really like to farm and ranch. It is always something different every day, and the work doesn’t get too monotonous.” – Casey

Johnstone

dinosaurs were discovered on the property in 1989.

“We hired someone to dig those bones, and we are involved with the companies who are still digging on the property today,” she adds.

“That helped us to survive the tough years.”

“We have paleontologists here in the summer, rent the property and share the profits,” says Casey.

“That helps out. It is kind of like an oil well.”

The dinosaur bones on their property are unique and provide great opportunity because they are articulated and allow researchers to assemble whole dinosaurs, rather than just bits and pieces.

Challenges In the arid climate around Ten Sleep, Casey says, “It helps to have a little moisture, and we live in a pretty dry place.”

At the same time, they have seen high hay prices the last few years, which helps.

“The price of hay will go down, I’m sure,” he continues. “However, it costs a certain amount to put up hay, and we need close to $150 a ton to make a profit.”

Alfalfa farm – Buffalo Creek Farms raises high quality alfalfa that they sell to the neighbors and around the state.

The other side Despite the challenges, Casey notes that he will continue to stay involved in the ag business.

“I really like to farm and ranch,” he says. “It is always something different every day, and the work doesn’t get too monotonous.”

At the same time, he also notes that his son Jesse is getting more involved in the business and helps out regularly.

Casey also likes being his own boss, saying, “The money might not be that good, but it gets better the longer we stay with it.”

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

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B5

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

CATTLE FEEDING

Geis operates feedlot south of Worland Worland – Nick Geis is deeply involved in the agriculture community in Washakie County. From his involvement farming to the large feedlot he runs, Nick focuses on working hard to accomplish his goals.

“We farm about 800 acres, and I feed between 3,000 and 4,000 cattle each year,” Nick says. “I also have a cow/calf operation that I run on the farm.”

Beginnings Nick hasn’t always been involved in the feedlot and farming business.

“I used to haul livestock for years,” Nick says.

“Grandpa started that trucking company in 1945, so my family has been in agriculture for forever.”

After 20 years in the livestock hauling business, Nick notes that he began working for his father-in-law’s farming business, later going out on his own.

“I fed cattle for a year or two, quit for two years and then came back to the feeding business,” he comments.

“Since then, I’ve continued to feed cattle.”

Feeding Cattle feeding is the major part of Nick’s business.

“I’m hooked in with several companies in Nebraska and Montana,” he explains.

“They buy calves, and I background them.”

When calves come to Nick’s feedlot, he notes that they are freshly weaned, and he prepares them for their next steps in life.

Nick vaccinates and makes sure they are healthy.

“All of the cattle I have this year are all natural, so that gives us other challenges,” Nick comments. “If I give any of them antibiotics for anything – whether it is for foot rot or pink eye – they are out of the program.”

To attempt to prevent disease, calves are provided two round of vaccines within their first two weeks in the lot.

“After I get them straightened out, the calves go to JBS Feeders in Greeley, Colo.,” he explains. “Then, I get another load in March and April of grass calves.”

Nick feeds calves until May or June each year, and during the summer, the feedlot is usually empty. New loads of calves begin to arrive in September, and the cycle starts over.

“In the summer when we don’t have cattle, I can concentrate on farming,” he adds.

Farming Sugarbeets are the crop of choice for Nick because they work in the Bighorn Basin. He also raises malt barley.

“Sugarbeets and malt barley are my cash crops,” he

says. “They are the crops that provide the cash to help our operation through the year.”

“I’m one of the owners of Wyoming Sugar Company, and I supply beets to the mill,” he explains. “We raise the sugarbeets, and in turn, we get the pressed pulp back.”

The pressed pulp works in well with the feeding operation, Nick notes.

“The pulp is excellent cattle feed, and it is a cheap source,” he says. “It is a great fit for me.”

Improvements His farm ground is irrigated under two pivots and by flood irrigation.

Though efficiencies have increased by utilizing flood irrigation, Nick notes that water continues to be a challenge.

“We do have a good water source in Worland,” he says. “All of our water comes from Boysen.”

Nick says that technology has also helped other aspects of the operation.

“Since the advent of Roundup Ready sugarbeets, alfalfa and corn, we can spray those crops,” he explains. “This has all really changed farming.”

Moving forward “I’m not looking to expand, but I plan to continue to do what I’m doing as long as I can,” Nick says.

Nick adds that he has

streamlined his operation to a smooth-running system.

“The feedlot generates the manure that I put on fields,” he explains. “In turn, I raise crops to feed the cattle, and the cycle goes around and around.”

While Nick notes that he doesn’t raise corn for grain to feed, he tries to purchase his feed from as close to home as he can.

“I try to buy my feed local and help my fellow farmers out here,” he says.

Challenges While there are a number of hurdles to jump daily, Nick says his biggest challenge is the EPA. “Any operation over 999 animals must be permitted by the EPA, so I deal with them a lot,” he says. “As long as I keep up on my records, they don’t lean on us too badly.”

However, EPA also regulates groundwater and a variety of other aspects of the feedlot, including encroachment of subdivisions.

“That is just part of our life, though,” Nick says of the EPA. Lifestyle benefits Nick says that agriculture is a lifestyle he enjoys and plans to continue.

“I was born and raised in ag, and I’ve stayed right here,” he says. “The last couple of years, we have made good money in the commodities, and sugarbeet and cattle prices are up.”

He adds, “It looks like we might cycle back down in the commodity market, but cattle feeding offsets all of that.”

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

“The feedlot generates the manure that I put on fields. In turn, I raise crops to feed the cattle, and the cycle goes around and around.” – Nick Geis

Family feeders – Karen and Nick Geis work together to run their feedlot. While Nick does much of the work with the cattle, Karen ensures that books are done and their regulatory compliance is in order. Courtesy photo

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Feedlot crew – Nick Geis and his feedlot crew work to have cattle fed by 8:30 every morning. Nick works with crew members Robert Woods, Jose Cardenas and Santiago Deniz. Courtesy photo

20

14

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B6

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

CONSERVING WASHAKIE COUNTY Conservation District continues efforts Worland – Since 1990, the Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) has worked tirelessly to conserve the county’s precious resources, ranging from water to soil to land concerns.

“Everything we do is to prompt volunteer best management practices in Washakie County,” says WCCD Director Tori Dietz. “We support the natural resource conservation efforts in the county.”

Establishment In 1993, Washakie County citizens passed the initial one-half mill levy to support the conservation district during a special election.

“Passing a mill levy,” continues Tori, “is challenging because it is difficult for conservation districts to show what they

can accomplish without the money to do so.”

“Once the tax passed, we were then required to ask the voters to pass it at the next general election, and they did with a greater majority in 1994,” she says.

During the time before the mill levy was passed, WCCD started two projects that helped to prove to the community that WCCD was effective.

Initial projects “One of our projects was a recycling center,” says Tori. “We didn’t have anyone who was privately doing recycling, so we worked with Renew out of Sheridan to start a recycling center.”

With grant funding from the Wyoming Recycling Association, the project instantly gained

support from the Worland community.

Their second project was a furrow mulch project, funded by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

“We worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Joliet, Mont., where they owned a furrow mulch machine that we were able to lease,” Tori explains. “The idea was that the machine was fed barley straw, then pressed into the furrow of a field.

The straw then filtered the irrigation water, so it was clean when it left the field, while also reducing erosion.”

While the project worked, Tori notes that the advent of polyacrylamide accomplished the same goals in a less labor-inten-

Tree planting – The Washakie County Conservation District works to improve the natural resources of the area, carrying out activities such as tree planting. Courtesy photo

sive manner.

“I really attribute the initial passing of the mill levy to those two projects, particularly the recycling project,” she adds.

Tori became a full-

time employee in 1993 and says, “After our mill levy passed, we were able to start doing more projects, and more people became aware of who we were and what our purpose is.”

Bacteria projects Currently, Tori notes that WCCD continues to work on helping landowners reduce the bacterial contributions to streams in Washakie County.

“We conducted water quality monitoring in 2006-08 to simply gather baseline water quality data, so we would know if the best management practices completed were working. Unfortunately, we also verified that our streams were impaired for E. coli, just as the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) had listed,” she says.

“Last year, DEQ completed a total maximum daily load (TMDL) on the Big Horn River. Since the

WCCD’s Big Horn River Watershed Plan was due for renewal, a steering committee was formed to develop goals and actions that could address what the TMDL had identified as being a culprit for bacteria impairments,” says Tori.

Project focus “Our steering committee, which consists of local landowners and agency folks, decided to focus on a smaller watershed scale than the whole county,” Tori notes. “They felt that since Sage Creek and Slick Creek were in the same watershed, both had similar land uses and flowed through the town, this would be a workable area to possibly show improvements to the water sooner than with larger areas such as Fifteen Mile Creek.”

This smaller watershed focus will allow WCCD to be more effective as implementation

Washakie County Conservation District can be reached by calling 307-347-2456 or visiting washakiecd.com.

Water quality – Because of bacterial impairments on the Big Horn River, Washakie County Conservation District has worked to alleviate run off bacteria. One effort to do so includes placing dog waste receptacles around town. Courtesy photo

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

projects won’t be spread out over the whole county and the thought is that it will be easier to identify water quality improvements.

Since WCCD and the steering committee began the Sage CreekSlick Creek Watershed Plan development, they have received three grants – NRCS National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) grant, Wyoming Department of Agriculture Watershed Implementation grant and DEQ 319 grant, also a watershed effort.

All of the grants address and assist with implementing best management practices (BMPs), which means they are for natural resource related improvement projects implemented by landowners.

“The NWQI was looking for a local working group who identified a smaller watershed that they could spend the next two years implementing projects to help reduce bacteria,” says Tori.

“WCCD ended up being approved for 11 pivots in this watershed, which will bring in over $600,000 into this watershed.”

“This is our second year for NWQI funding where there will be approximately $500,000 to implement more proj-

ects, again in this same watershed,” she says.

“Our local NRCS office administers this program and is receiving applications right now.”

Implementation WCCD has worked to focus on watershed implementation projects and has included a wide array of constituents and projects.

“We’ve included cropland, rangeland, small acreage and urban projects,” says Tori.

A youth education program, which is conducted

by Susan Carrell, WCCD’s outdoor education specialist, enables WCCD to visit schools and teach students about natural resources.

Becky Davis, WCCD program assistant, assists with all aspects of WCCD programs, such as the seedling tree program, advertising, recycling, grant writing and others.

“We recently submitted a grant application for a Sustainable Agriculture Research Education (SARE) program grant,” says Becky. “We anticipate using those funds, if approved, to do a study of test plots to test which plants might do best in the Gooseberry Creek watershed where invasive species have been removed.”

Projects to remove salt cedar and Russian olive were very successful, but

Education efforts To continue to educate Washakie County residents, youth in particular, Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) leases a three-acre piece of land for their outdoor classroom.

“Landis Benson, a previous board member of WCCD, has leased this piece of land to WCCD for an outdoor classroom since the late 1980s,” Tori Dietz, WCCD director, says. “There is a pond, a well, log benches, a bat house, nesting boxes, a windmill, xeric plots, trees and grass plots out there.”

The outdoor classroom provides a hands-on venue for students to experience natural resource conservation efforts first hand.

Davis notes that re-establishment of desirable plants has been a challenge.

Identity crisis While WCCD is doing positive work within Washakie County, Tori notes that they still have an identity crisis.

“We are trying to help people to understand who we are and what we do,” she explains. “The public sometimes has trouble differentiating us from the federal agencies.”

They have recently launched a public education campaign to help with understanding who

WCCD is and what a conservation district does by utilizing social media and local news avenues.

“We have strong partnerships in Washakie County and around the state,” says Tori. “By working with the Northern Wyoming Daily News, University of Wyoming Extension, City of Worland, Washakie County Commissioners, our local legislators and many others, we are able to accomplish great things.”

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

“We are trying to help people to understand who we are and what we do. ” – Tori Dietz

Board members – Members of the Washakie County Conservation District Board include Dan Rice, Vance Lungren, Cal Johnson, Kitsy Barnes and David Nicholas. Courtesy photo

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B8

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

GUESTS AND COWS Red Reflet takes unique approach to agriculture Ten Sleep – South of Ten Sleep, Bob and Laurence Kaplan purchased a ranching operation with the intent of finding a place they could enjoy during their retirement.

“We came from Jack-

son,” Bob says. “In Jackson, we saw a great deal of bustle, helter-skelter growth and frenetic tourists trying to squeeze a month’s worth of sight seeing into three days.”

The negative atmosphere

led the couple to begin a search for a ranch.

“We undertook a ranch search with the idea that we would be on the ranch in the summer and go ski in the winter,” Bob continues. “My ski-

Ranching with guests – Red Reflet Ranch is a working cattle ranch set in the foothills south of Ten Sleep. Their facilities feature a complete set of working corrals, barns, an indoor arena and a variety of other buildings. Saige Albert photo

ing enthusiasm faded, and after the five years it took to find this place, we also had a home in Arizona.”

When they closed the sale, Bob and Laurence decided they should spend their time on the ranch, so they sold their Arizona home and moved to Wyoming.

“Laurence and I did not spend our adult lives together,” says Bob. “This was a joint venture that was new, exciting and different for us. It was an opportunity completely unlike our past experience.”

The new opportunity didn’t start with the idea of creating a guest ranch, either.

“Our general contractor was so proficient and so resourceful that I told Laurence I thought we could make this into a guest ranch if we wanted to,” he continues. “She thought that would be a lot of fun and a really nice adventure.”

Guest operation After deciding to move forward with a guest ranch, Bob designed four chalets and a lodge, as well as a number of other facilities that have been

R eyes / R ussell

23Rd AnnuAl sAle

y Mon da

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At the Ranch in Wheatland

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“The whole intent of the operation is to give our guests a series of delightful surprises.” – Bob

Kaplan

constructed through the years.

“We have had 26 or 28 projects that ranged from moving the cattle center a mile from the ranch house to building facilities and a small airstrip,” Bob says.

He also notes that they appreciated the landscape and hoped to incorporate it into the ranch’s appeal.

“The landscape here is really quite special,” Bob explains. “We found this ranch had a diversity of landscape like none of the others we looked at.”

“When I asked Laurence, ‘Do you know how many guest ranches we looked at before we decided to buy this place?’ She answered, ‘I do. None.’ It has been a great adventure,” he continues.

Amenities The guest ranch provides a wide variety of activities for guests at an all-inclusive rate.

“We designed our format to reflect what we would want to find when we arrived as guests,” Bob says. “We include everything from shooting and full-time use of an ATV to pick up at the Worland airport, the opportunity to ride horses and the chance to work cattle. It includes everything a guest can eat, drink, or do.”

The format allows families to be at ease knowing their vacation is covered and to enjoy time in an intimate setting.

“We set the rates high and limit the number of guests, so everyone can do what they want in their own schedule,” Bob says.

‘A series of delightful surprises’ “This business has been very interesting and very sat-

isfying,” Bob notes.

Each morning, guests are provided with all the necessary supplies to prepare their own breakfast in a fully equipped chalet kitchen. The ranch’s full-time culinary trained chef and pastry chef prepare the remaining meals each day.

“No meals are served the same,” he comments. “We try to utilize the ranch butcher shop, ranch eggs, large garden and greenhouse as much as we can.”

“The whole intent of the operation is to give our guests a series of delightful surprises,” he continues.

Bob says that right now, Red Reflet doesn’t look to increase the number of guests that it is serving.

Rather he says he hopes to serve current guests at the highest level possible.

“There are so many new things that are fun to do together here,” Bob says.

“From dad to the youngest of the kids, families are experiencing something new, and that is what builds memories and experiences.”

Working cattle ranch While hosting guests during the spring, summer, fall and winter months, Red Reflet also serves as a fulltime working Black Angus cattle ranch.

Harry Mills, cattle operations manager, says, “We run mother cows and replacement heifers, and we have about 50 guest horses.”

With a small crew, including wranglers Clay and Tammy Trollinger, Harry says they keep themselves busy with the cattle and raising hay.

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B9

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

moved. Rather than February and March calving, heifers are calved in April and cows calve in May. “We used to artificially inseminate the cows, as well as the heifers, but because the herd is all natural, we moved calving later into spring. The only place to AI would be on the mountain, and that would be too difficult,” he comments.

“We are looking at phasing out AI’ing the heifers, as well.”

Mountain summers Harry continues, “Our cows are run here on the ranch during the spring and winter, and they run in the Big Horn Mountains in the summer.”

The cows graze up to 7,500 feet, and Harry says that larkspur can be a challenge.

When steers are shipped in the fall, Harry notes that Bob retains ownership on the calves but sends them to a feedlot in Nebraska that finishes them for Whole Foods.

That same time, the cows are taken to a farm in Worland or the badlands until early January, when they are trucked and trailed, respectively, back to the ranch to be fed until calving.

Hay production Red Reflet also irrigates enough hay to feed to their cattle during the winter months.

“We have artesian wells that feed these pivots,” Harry says. “The wells start in the spring with an incredible amount of pressure, but by the end of the summer, the

pressure backs off.”

Integrating guests One of the differences between Red Reflet and other working ranches is that Harry works to incorporate guests into the activities of the ranch.

“I try to incorporate moving cows and branding with when guests are here,” he says. “Some of them aren’t crazy about it, but some of them really enjoy it and want to be involved.”

Harry notes that guests interested in the agriculture operations of Red Reflet Ranch have the opportunity to see what happens on a Wyoming ranch.

“We do things a little differently here to accommodate guests,” he comments. “When we brand, we do small numbers and shorter days. We bring in lunch for the guests and provide them a whole experience.”

Ten Sleep benefits Red Reflet’s cattle and guest operations continue to be successful, and Harry says he appreciates his job.

“I think ranching is in my blood,” says Harry.

“I’ve worked on this place since before Bob bought it, and I enjoy working here.”

Bob says that Ten Sleep has been a great community to move into, and they enjoy Red Reflet Ranch.

“Ten Sleep is a lovely community that is very welcoming,” he explains. “It is very western in so many

ways, and they embrace a, ‘Mean what we say, do what we say we are going to do,’ motto.”

Though he says they were hesitant in moving to the area because their background is substantially different than many community members, Bob adds, “It didn’t make any difference to the people here.”

Bob also comments that he feels the ability to enjoy life during his retirement is important.

“We have learned so much, and this has been a really great experience in a community that is so supportive and nice,” he comments. “Life is not about what we have, it is about how we enjoy life and how we put into life those things that are savory and enjoyable.”

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

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Saige Albert photo

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

FARMING AND FEEDING Vigils take unique approach to cattle, farming operation

Worland – Michael Vigil and his family have owned farm ground in Washakie and Big Horn counties since the turn of the last century, and they continue to carry out their family’s tradition on the land.

“We own the farm that my mom’s family started in 1906,” Michael, known by many as Mitch, says. “It is still in the family after all these years.”

“Grandpa started work-

ing for the beet factory and bought a farm,” he says.

Michael’s wife Karen also has a history in the area.

“Karen’s family ranched at Hyattville, and she worked on two of the big outfits outside of town,” he says. “We met in high school, got married and started farming in 1984.”

Today, Michael and Karen operate a farm and feeding operation with their family.

“There is always something going on here,” says Michael.

Integrated operation The Vigils raise sugarbeets, beans, malt barley, whole corn, corn for silage and hay.

“Along with the crops, we also custom feed cattle and have our own calves, as well,” Michael says.

In addition to their commercial cow/calf operation, they feed up to 4,000 cows

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Family operation – The Vigil family works together closely on their farm and ranch outside of Worland.

Family members include (from left to right)Brenton, Hayden, Justine and Brooklyn Paxon and Michael, Karen, Bryce, Brian and Brittany Vigil. Courtesy photo

and calve out an additional 1,500 each year.

The Vigils calve beginning March 15 on their river bottom pastures, which provide adequate protection for cows, even during snowy springs.

“We usually plant grain the same time we calve,” says Michael and Karen’s son Bryce. “Then we start with beets and corn.”

During that same season, Michael says they begin feeding beet pulp and silage to the cattle.

“Nearly all the cattle we custom feed get calved out here, as well,” adds Karen.

“We end up branding around 1,500 head around here, so we are terribly busy in the spring,” continues Michael. “We are trying to brand while planting all these crops.”

In April and June, the cattle are shipped out, and

Bryce says he is allowed to progress with the farming.

Farm work “After cattle are shipped, we plant beans and start irrigating,” Michael says.

To improve irrigation efficiencies, Michael notes they farm under 19 pivots, 15 of which they own.

“The pivots have really improved our efficiencies and decreased labor,” he comments. “We have higher production, and they help our regrowth.”

Summer is busy with irrigating, spraying crops and checking cows.

When planting is complete, Michael notes they take their cattle to the Big Horn Mountains to graze during the summer.

“We truck our cows to Ten Sleep, then truck them up to the mountain later,” he explains. “They are trailed back off the mountain at the

end of the season.”

Harvest season “The end of July, we start harvesting,” Bryce continues. “Once we start, it seems like we continue from one crop to the next until we are finished.”

First, barley is cut, then beans and corn silage, sugar beets and shelled corn are harvested.

As soon as September hits, the cattle start coming back from the mountain.

“It can be terribly busy that time of year,” Michael says.

On finishing beet harvest, they begin to take in more custom-fed cattle and begin to transport beet pulp from the factory in Worland to their ranch.

“We stay busy feeding the rest of the winter months,” Bryce says.

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B11

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

farm and raise cattle.

Cattle While they take on a number of cattle to custom feed, Michael also notes that they raise their own herd of commercial Angus cattle. “We have to have high altitude cattle because we graze on the mountain,� says Michael.

Bryce adds, “Since we are feeding them down here in the winters, we’d like to see a little more frame than

some of the guys running on the range.�

They have raised their own herd for nearly 15 years, though they have been custom feeding for 20 years.

Double cropping strategy “The cows graze our fields in the winter,� he says, noting that the farming operation works well with their cattle. “We re-seed the barley fields after harvest and grow a second crop.�

The double cropping

strategy allows the Vigils to realize up to five animal unit months per acre, allowing them to feed large numbers of cattle. “After we bale the straw, we irrigate again within a week to help the regrowth,�

Michael says. “We also harvest the corn and graze cornstalks.�

Sugarbeet pulp and tops are also fed to the cattle.

Nearly all of their cropland can be utilized again

Benefits and challenges Despite their incredibly busy schedule, the Vigils appreciate their operation and location. “The nice thing about where we are is the population,� Michael comments. “We are pretty rural.�

At the same time, he sees benefits in the quality of the resources. “We have really excellent ground through this valley, and we have good water,� he explains. “Our production is outstanding because we have a lot of heat units to raise corn. That is true down the Worland and Manderson area.�

Karen also says they are fortunate enough to be close to many good facilities. “The MillerCoors facility is here, and we have Yellowstone Bean and Wyoming Sugar Company nearby,� she says. “We don’t have to truck things too far.�

Michael and Karen both note that

they also work with a number of good people, mentioning, “We work with some excellent people in the Basin.

There are a lot of really good people that we work with.�

In addition Michael says, “My dad has also helped to give us really good focus and direction.�

Michael’s parents Ted and Patsy Vigil, as well as Karen’s parents Roy and Virginia Frisbee, have helped to shape their operation.

At the same time, while they enjoy benefits in the Worland area, the Vigils also experience some challenges. “Farm ground is short around here,� says Karen. “There isn’t a whole lot of ground to pick up, and everyone is looking for it.�

Bryce adds that grass isn’t abundant during the summer. “We have a lot of feed for cattle in the winter, but in the summer, grass is kind of short,� he explains.

by the cattle, says Michael, adding, “It helps that we are multi-cropping many of our crops.�

Continuing the family The Vigil’s continue to run cattle and farm as a whole family. “We are a family operation,� says Michael. “That is one huge thing that I really appreciate.�

Michael, Karen and Bryce work full time on the operation, while the Vigil’s daughter Brittany and son Brian work on the operation when they aren’t busy going to school.

Bryce’s fiancÊe Leann is also joining the family operation in the near future.

Michael and Karen’s other daughter Justine and her husband Brenton Paxton also farm in the area with their children Hayden,

Custom feeding – While they have their own cattle, the Vigils feed up to 4,000 cows on their property every year. The cattle graze a second crop of barley that is planted following harvest each year.

Saige Albert photo

Brooklynn and Carston. “My brother Danny also farms next to me,� Michael says. “We’ve farmed side by side, but we don’t compete.

We help each other and give each other ideas.�

Working close to his family is important to

Michael, and he hopes to continue, noting, “It’s pretty cool to work with our family.�

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

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B12

Wyoming Livestock Roundup

A DIFFERENT TAKE Bush family takes an alternative approach Ten Sleep – Nearly 30 miles from Ten Sleep, Maurice Bush and his family run a cow/calf and yearling commercial operation on land that his family has been on for the past 100 years.

“My granddad came up and bought land up north of here in 1898, and we’ve been here ever since,” Maurice says. “He immigrated from France.”

Originally, the family herded sheep in the region.

“They trailed sheep all over the country,” he explains. “We would winter and lamb them down in

Worland in the valley, and then move up here for the summer.”

They have remained in the stock business, although today, Maurice, his wife Kathy and son Myles run cattle and raise hay.

Making a switch “We had sheep until I went to college in 1967, but at the time, we couldn’t make any money on sheep,” Maurice comments. “We started raising cows and have been doing that ever since.”

After selling the sheep, he also notes that they also

sold their farmland near Worland.

During his college years, Maurice says he learned how to artificially inseminate cattle and decided he would AI their cows each year until the practice became too labor intensive and impractical for him to do on his own.

Since then, they have used bulls that provide genetics leading to animals with good carcass traits.

Genetics and replacements “When we are looking for cattle, we are looking for the carcass,” Maurice

Working together – Myles, Kathy and Maurice Bush work together on their cattle operation, situated nearly 30 miles south of Ten Sleep. They raise commercial cattle and take every opportunity to improve their margins. Saige Albert photo

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They send calves to Decatur County, Kan., where they are slaughtered and hung on the rail.

“We’ve been doing this for 20 years, and it works well for us,” he says.

Maurice also notes that he takes a unique approach to buying bulls. Rather than attending bull sales and selecting stock, he simply calls seedstock breeders and requests a certain number of bulls.

“The breeders know their cattle, and they are concerned about their reputation, so we get good bulls,” Maurice says.

“Then, we don’t have to go to the auctions and bid against our neighbors.”

Rather than investing large amounts of capital, time and resources into raising replacement heifers, Maurice also notes that he buys replacements from the Padlock Ranch each year.

“We haven’t raised replacements for years,” he says. “The huge amount of money that goes into a replacement heifer isn’t worth it.”

Innovative management Because Maurice notes that he, Kathy and, more recently Myles, are the only labor on the farm, they have taken steps to make improvements and ease the amount of labor required.

“One thing we did almost 22 years ago was move to fall calving,” Maurice says. “It has worked well.”

Rather than spending 60 days and nights awake waiting for cattle to calve, they allow the cattle to calve in the fall when less labor is required.

“We are all rich in land, but we don’t have money, and the margins are slim.” – Maurice Bush “We got the idea from the outfits in the Sandhills of Nebraska,” he explains.

“A lot of the big outfits out there have been fall calving for years. It is easier, so I asked myself, ‘Why can’t we do this here?’”

He also adds that Mike May from Antler Ranch near Meeteetse influenced him to try fall calving to save labor.

Other options “Mike also used what he called natural weaning, where he wouldn’t actually wean the calves, leaving the mothers to kick off the big calves when new ones were born,” Maurice explains. “We tried that for several years, and it worked for some of them.”

However, because not all calves were being weaned effectively, Maurice says they discontinued the practice.

They continued to move up their weaning dates until settling on the beginning of January.

“After we wean, we take the calves to Worland and feed them separately from the cows,” he comments. “The cows don’t need anything extra to eat for the rest of the winter.”

The Bush family also runs their yearlings on pastures near the ranch, and they raise enough hay to feed an average of 300 cattle during the winter. They pivot irrigate their hay meadows to increase efficiency.

“We are just trying to squeeze a little more out of these cows,” Maurice

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says. “We calve in the fall, so we have higher calving percentages and less labor.

Then, we run the yearlings over, so we see a little bigger margin there. We have another premium we see when we take them to the rail.”

“We just keep struggling and making it through,” Maurice comments.

Challenges and benefits Maurice says he feels fortunate to not run on any BLM lands, rather utilizing deeded pastures to graze their cattle.

With the rest of the challenges they face, he mentions that they do all they can to make things work.

“The markets and the weather are all challenges,” Maurice explains.

“We are all rich in land, but we don’t have money, and the margins are slim.”

Increasing expenses in terms of fuel, equipment and other inputs put ever-increasing pressure on the operation.

Drought also provides a continual obstacle, he notes.

“This summer, there was 18 to 20 miles along this road where no grass was growing,” he says. “Then, in the fall, we had two feet of snow at the beginning of October.”

Planning for these unpredictable extremes is nearly impossible, Maurice says, adding, “The drought is really killing us right now.”

Continued education Maurice notes they have undertaken a number of efforts to improve their management and cattle.

“Myles and I signed up and took the Master Cattlemen’s class,” he says, “and we did an enterprise analysis on our operation.”

They look at the data available to try to make profits where they can.

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

B13

2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

SUPPORTING AGRICULTURE Ambassadors support ag industry Agriculture is an important industry in the Washakie County. For many years, the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce had an agriculture committee to focus on important issues for the community.

However, the committee slowly started to fall apart and fall on the backburner.

Jim Gill, then a UW Extension educator, saw the downfall of the committee and began to look for a way to bolster the ag community.

“At the same time the ag committee began to degrade, we also lost the Wyoming Bull Test here in Worland,” Jim explains.

When the test was being conducted, a producer educational forum was also held to provide information on the latest information in the cattle industry.

“We did a nice program in conjunction with the test,” Jim says, “but when the test was no longer happening, that ended.”

“After the end of the test, I wanted to continue to do educational program,” he continues.

The result of Gill’s idea helped the Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassadors to solidify and become an important part of the ag community.

WESTI Ag Days To carry on the tradition of an education seminar, a group of agriculture industry stakeholders formed WESTI Ag Days, an event

that is held in February each year.

“When I started talking about putting on this seminar, the Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassador group also joined in. At the time, they were going but not a big group,” Jim says. “The Ambassadors wanted to partner up for the event.”

The Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassadors included a number of producers and industry members, and Gill says those people were involved in the community and in fundraising efforts, but they hadn’t been involved in a big effort to that point.

Original board members for the Ambassadors included Bill Glanz, then publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, MillerCoors Agronomist Tim Spade and Terrill Gibbons, owners of the Ford and New Holland dealership. Other community members were also involved, and Gill notes they began to work toward putting on a great event.

One of the important aspects putting on an event like WESTI Ag Days is the funding to bring in speakers and supplies for the event, as well as support from the community.

“An endeavor like this takes money to put together,” Jim says. “The Ag Ambassadors were responsible for helping to raise money. At the same time, our merchants in the Wor-

land area have been incredibly supportive in helping us to sponsor the event.”

Ag appreciation In addition to helping coordinate WESTI Ag Days, the Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassadors also hold an appreciation dinner for the ag community in the south Bighorn Basin.

“The dinner is free to all producers,” Jim adds.

“We want to honor them for their hard work over the past year.”

The event is held yearly in conjunction with WESTI Ag Days.

Ambassadors Currently, over 20 people are members of the Ag Ambassadors, and almost 15 are incredibly active.

Members primarily live in Worland, Manderson, Thermopolis and Basin, representing the southern end of the Bighorn Basin.

“Our members include producers, bankers, Extension educators and ag industry supporters,” Jim explains. “We are a volunteer organization, and these people dedicate their time to these efforts.”

Jim continues, “Our mission has always been to emphasize how important the ag industry is to the economy in this area.

I think we’ve done a good job of promoting agriculture.”

While the task hasn’t been easy, Jim adds that they continue to push for-

ward to accomplish their goals.

Other events The Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassadors also work to help increase awareness of agriculture through tours.

“Though we don’t do it every year, quite often we have an ag tour in the summer,” Jim adds. “We tour a variety of ag operations. The last tour, we looked at Wyoming Whiskey in Kirby, and we toured the canal improvement projects in the Worland area.”

Tours also visit operations like feedlot, production facilities and farms.

“Our tours really looked to educate locals about the agriculture in our area,” says Jim. More education An additional activity that the Ambassadors worked

“Our mission has always been to emphasize how important the ag industry is to the economy in this area. I think we’ve done a good job of promoting agriculture.” – Jim Gill on was a signage project to help people identify the crops being grown in the area.

“We had signs made and put up along the highway to identify what crops were being grown in surrounding fields,” says Jim. “We put those signs along the highways.”

Too often, Jim notes that people driving down the roads wonder, “What’s that green leafy plant?” The signs hope to identify the crops that are prevalent and important in the Basin.

“We’ve had a lot of good comments on the signs,” Jim

said.

Moving forward Into the future, Jim notes that the Bighorn Basin Ag Ambassadors hope to continue to support agriculture in the community.

“We hope to continue to help with WESTI Ag Days and to host the Ag Appreciation dinner,” Jim mentions.

“And most importantly, we hope to continue promoting and showcasing agriculture in our community.”

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

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Wyoming Livestock Roundup

GREET RANCH Four generatons work together

Ten Sleep – While the Greet family originally came from England, Carol Greet says the family is happily settled south of Ten Sleep, where four generations work in harmony on their ranch.

“The Greets came down here and homesteaded near where the present day monument for the Spring Creek

Raid is,” says Carol. “They were there for 20 years before moving to where we are now.”

In 1909, the family moved to their present location. Twins Fred and Frank Greet started the operation.

“Frank and Edna had six kids, and the youngest was John, who is my father-in-law,” comments

Winter feed – The Greet family raises all of the hay that is required to feed their cows through the cold winter months. Saige Albert photo

Carol.

Carol’s husband Vernon, her sons Daniel and Brandon, daughters-inlaw Megan and Tessia and grandchildren Quinlan and Jaxon all live and work on the ranch alongside John today.

Carol and Vernon also have another daughter, Victoria, who lives in Kaycee with her husband Matt Davis and sons Wyatt and Waylon. Victoria visits and helps with the cattle as often as possible.

Greet Ranch was the first centennial ranch in the county, and Carol says, “It is very cool to see us on the land after all these years.”

Commercial cattle “We are a cow/calf and yearling operation,” Carol explains. “While Daniel has a few registered Angus, we mostly stay commercial.”

Carol notes that Greet

Patriarch – John, the son of Frank Greet who homesteaded south of Ten Sleep in 1909, remains an integral part of the ranch today. He is the oldest of four generations that runs the ranch. Carol Greet photo

Ranch has shifted from raising Herefords to black baldies to straight Angus, enabling them to break into a specific niche market.

“Black-hided cattle became more valuable,” comments Vernon. “We

like the Hereford cattle, but it was an economic decision.”

“We raise all-natural Angus sourced cattle,” she continues. “We are always busy and always going.”

Daniel notes that they strive for cattle that are deep, thick-muscled animals.

“We also want big yearling weight EPDs and big dollar beef values,” Daniel explains. “And, of course, for our heifers we look for calving ease.”

Yearly routine Each year, the routine is much the same. The family begins calving at the end of February with heifers.

“As soon as the heifers are done, the cows start,” Carol explains. “We AI our heifers so the timing is right.”

Greet Ranch sells their steers in June using Northern Video Auction.

Cattle are moved to the mountain and through a series of pastures at varying elevations for the duration of the summer.

After calves are brought off the mountain, they move through BLM pastures until they make it back to the home ranch.

In December, they also take bred heifers to Riverton to be sold.

Calves are fed beginning in January, most years.

Blogging for agriculture Carol Greet says that the high speed internet in their area has provided a number of opportunities, and one of those was the chance to be an advocate for agriculture online.

“I blog every day,” she says. “I got started because people called me about my dogs – Rimrock English Shepherds – and told me I should post stories about my life.”

“They didn’t know people lived like this,” comments Carol.

She blogs every day to help ease the disconnect between pasture and plate that is growing ever wider in today’s generation.

“I started my blog in January 2008,” Carol continues. “It also became something of a legacy for the family.”

When Carol moved to the ranch, she says her mother-in-law left a journal detailing years of work on the ranch.

“I thought it was very cool to have her journal to look back at,” Carol says. “I wanted to create something for my grandchildren and their children to look back at.”

Rather than writing in a journal, Carol notes she found it much easier to tell stories using pictures.

“When my grandchildren get bigger, they will have the handwritten journal from their greatgrandmother, and they’ll have my blog with its photos. It’s our legacy,” she comments.

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2014 Winter Cattlemen’s Edition

most of the time,” Carol says. “We don’t generally struggle too much.”

Megan adds, “We feel safe out here. It is a small community where everyone knows everyone, so it’s a nice place to raise our kids.”

At the same time, they are able to maintain close family ties.

“I like being close to our families,” Tessia notes.

“My kids see their cousins every day, and we get to work with our husbands.

That is unique and fun, most days.”

And while there are challenges, Carol notes that they are typical challenges for most ranchers.

“There aren’t many opportunities in this country,” Carol says. “No one has their dad’s hardware store for three generations, much less going on four or five. It is really cool what we are doing here.”

The men also enjoy the valley, each mentioning that the solidarity and remote nature of the ranch.

Centennial – Greet Ranch is the oldest centennial ranch in Washakie County, says Carol Greet. They celebrated their centennial in 2009, though the family has been there for over 120 years.

Carol Greet photo

However, feeding dates depend on how deep the snow gets and how cold the winter is.

“There have been times when we had to start feeding in December, but usually we wait until January,” she says.

Hay production “We also do a lot of haying,” adds Carol. “We have alfalfa/grass mix, and we raise a bit of grain for ourselves.”

They feed their calves grain and hay during the winter months.

“Summer time is insane with the irrigating and haying,” she comments. “We also run our cattle in the mountains during the summer.”

After the hay is harvested, Carol says they keep most of it for their own use, making sure there is plenty of feed to get them through to spring.

“We might sell a bit of hay, but for the most part, we don’t,” she explains.

“We’ve grown a bit in terms of the numbers of cows we have, so we try to play it safe.”

Genetics aspect “We generally try to watch our breeding and buy really good bulls,” says Carol. “We really focus on genetics. Daniel is a whiz at the genetics and enjoys that part.”

Because of his interest

in genetics, Daniel decided to get into the registered business several years ago.

Brandon says, “Daniel grew up some of the bulls we bought to help the ranch out.”

Because Daniel began to notice a narrowing of their genetic pool, he sought to gain more variety in the herd for better performing cattle.

“We’ve done a lot with the EXT and In Focus bloodlines. They are really good cattle that work nicely, but we’ve stacked it pretty heavily in the herd,” he explains. “On top of that, we only buy PAPtested bulls, which limits us severely.”

Daniels continues, “We are looking to switch up our bulls a little, so I got into registered cattle.”

He hopes to raise bulls on the ranch to give them the option to use those bulls or to sell them as an extra revenue stream.

“Quality is important to us,” adds Vernon. “Dad always bought good bulls, and we have kept up with that.”

Good life While each of the wives of the operation lived somewhere else prior to moving to the ranch, they all enjoy ranching in Washakie County.

“This area is gorgeous, and the water is pretty good

“Quality is important to us. Dad always bought good bulls, and we have kept up with that.” –

Vernon Greet

stock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Live-

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“We aren’t jammed in amongst a bunch of people,” Daniel says. “I like that our closest neighbors are two or three miles away.”

John comments, “It’s a good life, for someone who likes it.”

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