Back Valley Ranch

Well I’ve talked about the bull and our girls. Now I’m going to tell you about our feeding program that makes the healthy beef that we sell.  It is a lot more difficult to finish on grass and hay as you’re trying to put weight on as naturally as you can. We used to slightly grain in the springtime but as of this year we are no longer providing that. Grass fed is way more healthier and if we’re gonna do this we’re gonna do it all the way.

Starting in June our cattle go to their summer range of approx. 18,000 acres. It’s 4kms straight up to get there. There’s a lot of forest there but lots of nice grass to eat throughout the summer. Around September the girls make their way off the summer range and come to another range just beside our property. This range is about 1,200 acres and they eat there for a couple weeks before coming into the ranch. We also have some private leased land where our yearlings go to fatten up on some nice grass. In October, once they’re in the ranch we graze them on our pasture before letting them into our irrigated hay fields. We like to make sure there’s been a good frost before letting them into the hay fields so it is safe for them. Although they know when it’s almost time to come in to the hay fields and they sometimes sneak in.

Once they eat everything at the ranch we start feeding hay. We feed quality hay from our ranch as well as locally grown hay down the road. Our main hay supplier lives 25kms down the road from us and grows beautiful alfalfa hay. He leaves his final crop unharvested on the hay field and around December after we’ve had a couple of hard frosts we move the entire herd, excluding the bulls to his place to graze. We graze everyone on the hay fields and once the pasture is gone the girls come home for calving and the yearlings and weaned calves stay there until May. No one gets locked in tiny pens where they are chest deep in their own feces. They eat their hay on the hay fields where there is lots of room. At the same time the cattle are fertilizing the hay fields so in the spring all you have to do is harrow and start watering. No need for conventional fertilizers.

That’s one thing I never got. Why do I drive by and see these big beautiful hay fields in the winter that are empty and yet all the cattle go to these tiny feedlots where they can’t even move around? Cattle are perfectly capable of fertilizing our hay fields. That’s how it was done years ago before industrial fertilizers started coming into play.  It’s sad to see the old ways disappearing, but we are refusing to let go. This is a way healthier way to be as well as the cattle getting to live a happy life with freedom and room to move.

Anyways, getting off of the feedlot rant, for now. The key thing is to provide lots of grass and quality alfalfa hay for the cattle to eat.  Also, when we do feed hay, we do our feeding just before dark. This way the cattle eat during the coldest times and retain more calories and are able to stay warmer.

We usually have to keep our yearling over 2 winters which to a lot of ranches is just not practical. But if that’s how long we have to wait for them to be at a good weight to butcher, then so be it.