2022 Fall Cattlemen's Section B

Sims Cattle Company, LLC

Family operation utilizes holistic management approach

Scott Sims and his son Shanon are partners in Sims Cattle Company, LLC, located near McFadden. Sims Cattle Company, LLC is a “family inspired busi ness producing quality live stock for a healthy environ ment and creating opportu nities for personal growth,” according to their mission statement.

Scott and his wife April are also shareholders in Sims Land and Livestock. They lease from Sims Land and Livestock, as well as two other ranches.

Other family members involved with the ranch include Shanon’s wife Melinda, children Kagan and Jentry and Scott and April’s daughter Kendra. Scott’s dad and his wife also live on the ranch, but his dad is retired from the business.

Kagan and Jentry are the fifth generation on the ranch. The ranch runs a closed herd of Angus/Simmental/Gel bvieh crossbred cows and yearlings.

Development

Scott says the ranch has gone through many changes over the years.

“When I was a kid, we had Angus cattle – my granddad was the first to bring Angus cattle into this valley – everyone else ran Herefords,” he says.

Scott and his dad transi tioned to Black Baldy cat tle for a while, then they started breeding those cows to Gelbvieh, and from there they went to more of a composite breed – Angus with Simmental and Gelb vieh influence.

The Sims artificially inseminated (AI) cows for over 30 years and built their genetics.

“With AI, we were hav ing trouble getting cat tle that would adapt to our environment,” says Scott. “We would think we picked the best AI sires, but then whenever those heifers would come into the herd, we’d find it wasn’t always

Family operation – Sims Cattle Company, LLC is a family-inspired business producing quality livestock for a healthy environment and cre ating opportunities for personal growth. Left to right, Kendra Sims, April Sims, Scott Sims, Cheryl Sims, Don Sims, Shanon Sims, Melinda Sims, Kagan Sims and Jentry Sims. Farm Credit Services of America photo

Strategic feeding – The Sims use a windrowed hay system to feed cattle. This helps them save on packaging and hauling expenses. They set up a temporary electric fence and feed the cows in one area for three to four days.

Courtesy photo

Educating others – Shanon and Melinda Sims share their experi ence with ranch management at Ranching for Profit schools. Pic tured is Melinda presenting at a school. Courtesy photo

a good choice.”

In the last three years, the Sims quit AI and closed the herd.

“We are just concentrat ing on cattle more adapted to our environment,” Scott says.

The Sims have also changed their wintering system.

“Before 2014, we would take our replacement heifers out of the valley and winter them at lower elevations,”

says Scott. “What we found with those heifers is they’d get all of this growth in the weather away from here, but they’d have to readjust to our envi ronment when they came

back,” he says. “Heifers will breed better if they are on an incline rather than a decline.”

The Sims have also tran sitioned into windrowing hay.

“About 75 percent of our hay is left in windrows on the field,” says Scott. “We save a lot in expense on packaging and hauling to a haystack and winter feeding by leaving hay in the wind rows. We just use a tempo rary electric fence and give them a set amount of about three to four days worth of hay at a time.”

Holistic management

Holistic management, developed by Allan Savory, is an approach to help land managers, farmers, ranchers, environmentalists and poli cymakers develop strategies for regenerating degraded landscapes and the liveli

hoods of the people living on them.

“My brother Olin and I went to a holistic manage ment school in Bozeman, Mont. in February of 1989,” Scott says. “We came home, went to work, started mak ing changes and began see ing some results.”

They started reducing the size of pastures and mon itoring the land.

“The best thing we could’ve done is start mon itoring,” says Scott. “In our environment, in higher ele vations, change is slow in our grasses, but we started seeing results – more ground cover, more life and insects on the land. That’s what kept us going.”

The Sims family eventu ally came together for a goal setting session, says Scott, and everyone was able to

Monitoring intake – The Sims monitor feed intake to ensure cattle are thriving in their environment. Naomi Schware photo

offer their input.

“It was pretty neat the way it came together,” he says. “We all had our chance for input, and we formed the key things we wanted to address.”

“That’s how we live our life,” he adds. “It has to do with the people and how we want to live individu ally or as families, and how we want to contribute to the community, drive profit and what we want the land to look like.”

Plant recovery and drought management

The Sims practice rota tional grazing to ensure their grasses are able to fully recover between grazing periods. They divide larger acres of pasture into over 140 smaller pastures.

“Our growing season is so short here, so it really takes us most of two sea sons to get a full recovery on a plant,” says Shanon. “To get 90 days of growing season recovery requires two full years of deferment, so that’s why we have so many pastures.”

Stock density is also key to the operation, says Sha non. The more stock in a small area for a short period of time, the more hoof action occurs.

“It’s like tilling a gar den,” Shanon says. “You have to break up the surface and create a seed bed, so that’s part of the reason for so many pastures.”

The Sims’ drought man agement plan begins with drought proofing.

“Our biggest strategy is proofing ahead of time,” says Shanon. “Rather than react ing to drought, we are plan ning for it.”

“Even in our worst year of drought, we still can grow pretty decent forage,” he

adds. “If we have two years in a row of drought, we are growing OK forage – by the third year, we will probably have to destock, but that’s our first strategy.”

Educating others

Shanon and Melinda attended their first Ranch ing for Profit school in Jan uary of 2020 and joined the Ranching For Profit Execu tive Link program.

“The program gives your ranch five other ranches as board members holding you accountable,” Melinda says.

Last summer, Shanon and Melinda were asked to become instructors for the school, so all last winter and up until June this year, they have been training and studying.

“We will now be instruc tors as a couple, so we kind of moved into the role of being able to share principles and things that have worked for us to help others improve and share our ideas on a large-scale basis,” Melinda says.

Future goals

The Sims are always looking towards the future and working to better their operation.

“There’s always a yearn ing to do better for the ani mals, people, environment and the bottom line,” says Melinda.

The Sims strive to build a business for future generations.

“We would love for our children to come back, but we want them to be fulfilled in whatever they do,” says Melinda. “We want to build and maintain a business that is enticing to future genera tions, so it can be carried on and the land management can be improved on.”

“We want the next gen eration to have the opportu

nity to take the ranch over,” says Scott. “If they want to be here, it’s there, if not, there’re lots of young peo ple out there who would just love to have an opportunity to ranch. Once in a while, those things can happen.”

April offers advice for future generations of ranch ers, saying, “Faith is impor tant. Sometimes, you have to

accept you are going through a tough time and down the road, things will get better.”

“Realize it’s not some thing that happens over

night,” she adds. “It takes time, dedication and hard work.”

For more information, visit simscattlecompany.com

Kaitlyn Root is an edi tor for the Wyoming Live stock Roundup. Send com ments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.

Helping hands – The Sims and neighboring ranches assist each other with tasks throughout the year. The crew takes a break visiting with neighbors at a Sims branding. Courtesy photo

“There’s always a yearning to do better for the animals, people, environment and the bottom line.” – Melinda Sims

Berger Ranch

The Berger Ranch, located near Saratoga, is operated by Jack Berger, his wife Diana and sons Kyle, Hadley and Jace. The Berg ers operate a predominately Black Angus commercial cow/calf operation.

Jack’s great-grandpa came to the area in 1909, and the ranch has been passed down through the generations ever since. Jack’s sons are the fifth gen eration on the ranch.

“My parents were the first ones to have Angus cattle in the valley in the 1950s, and that wasn’t very popular then, but things change,” says Jack. “Our operation has expanded quite a bit over the years from where it was with my great-grandfather.”

Drought and input costs

Jack says 2021 was the worst summer he’d ever spent on the ranch as far as moisture and the lack of pasture and hay.

“It was a tough year,” he says. “This year was better, but it’s certainly not great. We did have a better hay crop and at least it greened

up in the spring, but drought is always a challenge.”

Jack says cattle prices went up this year, but so did input costs.

“Our costs are going up so fast, I don’t know if we are actually going to make more money or not, but we bought a lot of hay last year trying to hold the cows together because I knew the price was supposed to be up this year,” Jack says.

He says ranchers are expecting record prices the next two years, but he is not sure what to expect.

“If all we had to worry about was supply and demand, we’d really be in great shape, but there’s a lot of other things going on in the world,” he says.

Water management

Jack says he feels for tunate to mostly have live water on the ranch.

“It’s one place we are very fortunate compared to a lot of places around Wyo ming. We have to depend a lot more on the water devel opment from springs or wells,” he says.

Jack is concerned for the

future of water management in Western states.

“Water is a big chal lenge all the time,” he says. “There’re more people, but the same amount of water, so I worry there may be water issues in the future.”

Wyoming is fortunate enough to have the water tied to the land, he says.

“You can’t sell the water off the land,” he says. “Never say never, at some point they may decide

there’s a greater good, but it’s pretty well established that taking water off the land does not help in the long run.”

The Bergers flood irri gate, so it can be a challenge not knowing the amount of water they will have.

“We don’t know day-today what’s going to come down the creek – it’s all on Mother Nature, the weather and how the water comes out of the mountain,” Jack

says. “We have to grab it while we can.”

Irrigation is what keeps the streams and river run ning late in the season, says Jack. The North Platte River in the valley used to go dry before irrigation, but now it’s a year-round blue ribbon trout fishery.

“Water coming out of the bank storage cools off the streams and helps the fish in August and Septem ber when it’s the hottest

and driest,” he says. “Flood irrigation benefits every body all the way down the stream.”

Ranching lifestyle

Jack says raising a fam ily on the ranch is a good lifestyle – one he values and hopes to pass down to his sons.

“We have grandkids on the ranch helping most every day,” he says. “It’s a good way to give those kids

Cow/calf operation looks towards the future of ranching in the West

Moving cattle – The Berger Ranch crew trails cattle to the forest. Courtesy photo

a job and see if it’s what they want to do in the future.”

“Hopefully, we can keep the ranch in the family,” he says. “I try to do as much estate planning as I can so the ranch is able to stay in the family and not have to

be sold off, so hopefully we’ve done things right, but time will tell.”

Kaitlyn Root is an editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

Berger Beef connects customers with ag

Kyle Berger and his wife Stacy offer Wyo ming-raised beef through their company Berger Beef. Products include summer sau sage, beef sticks, family bundles, ground beef bundles and high-end loin steaks including ribeyes and tenderloins.

The Bergers started the business in 2020 when the demand for locally-sourced beef started to rise. They realized many folks want to know where their food comes from and took the opportunity to connect customers with agriculture.

“When people were concerned about the things happening during COVID-19 and grocery stores being closed down, they wanted to make sure they had a freezer full of beef,” says Kyle.

Kyle says many customers are unfamiliar with how cattle are raised and are often provided with misinformation about ranching on social media. To ensure Berger Beef customers under stand the process of raising beef, Kyle and Stacy deliver beef directly to their customers.

“The reason we deliver is it gives us a bit of a better connection with our customers,” Kyle says. “One of the reasons we started the business was because we wanted to connect customers so they could meet the ranchers –we have face-to-face contact with all of our customers.”

He says feedlots are a common topic with customers.

“We get to explain to people why feedlots are actually good because they help keep the cost of feed down,” he says. “We have a grow ing population and ranchers going out of busi ness all the time, so we have to become more efficient.”

“At least customers can have an idea ranch ers aren’t just out to make money – they are doing things that actually make sense,” Kyle says.

For more information, visit stewardoftheland.com or Berger Beef’s Facebook page.

Sorting cows – Aubrey Berger sorts pairs out of cowherd on the family-run operation. Courtesy photo

Cattle operation – The Bergers operate a predominately Black Angus commercial cow/calf operation. Courtesy photo

Ladder Livestock Com pany is a ranching operation in the Little Snake River Valley on the ColoradoWyoming border near Sav ery. The ranch is operated by Pat O’Toole, his wife Sharon, daughter Meghan O’Toole Lally and son Eamon O’Toole.

The ranch primarily raises and markets Angus and Black Baldy cattle and Rambouillet and Hamp shire sheep. They also grow

alfalfa and hay for winter feed for the livestock.

Cattle, sheep, farm ing and family are what the O’Toole’s lives revolve around.

“Family is everything to us,” says Eamon. “This place wouldn’t exist without all of us.”

Family roots and transitions

The O’Toole’s ranch is in its 141st year of oper ation. A.W. and Anna Lou

ise Salisbury established the original ranch near the con fluence of the Little Snake River and Battle Creek in 1881. They bought a “relin quishment” from the sonin-law of Mountain Man Jim Baker, and established themselves in the horse business.

A.W. acquired his first stock by traveling to Eagle Pass, Texas, buying horses, hiring a crew and trail ing them back to the Lit

tle Snake River Valley. The ranch has been home to the

family for six generations.

“The ranch started out as a horse ranch, and then my grandpa ran yearlings for a long time,” says Meghan. “Our cow/calf operation was just kind of a side thing at first.”

While cows used to be the main stock, Sharon and Pat worked to build up their sheep herd.

Transition Meghan and Eamon are in the process of taking over the ranch.

“We’ve been really lucky that our parents are willing to give up control and let us take over,” says Meghan.

Meghan manages the sheep and Eamon focuses on the cows, but they work together to manage the ranch overall.

“Our parents wanted us to run the ranch as a whole,” says Eamon. “Meghan man ages our sheep operation, and I manage the cows. We

all manage the ranch as one, but in terms of day-to-day stuff, we take care of our own deal.”

The O’Tooles recognize the value in having multiple family members operating the ranch.

“Any one of the four of us can run this opera tion day-to-day but in terms of running the operation as a whole, it would be near impossible to do by your self,” says Eamon.

Political affairs

The O’Tooles know the importance of actively par ticipating in organizations affecting Western agricul ture. Pat served in the Wyo ming Legislature and on the Presidentially-appointed Western Water Policy Com mission. He is also the pres ident of the Family Farm Alliance, representing West ern irrigators.

In addition, Pat serves on the board of directors for

Peaceful nights – Ladder Livestock Company is home to beautiful, natural scenery the crew enjoys being surrounded by every day. Courtesy photo

Continued on next page

“To

and

– Meghan O’Toole Lally

the Intermountain Joint Ven ture, a public/private group advocating for migratory birds and on the boards of Partners for Conservation, Farm Foundation and Solu tions from the Land.

Pat is active in Western water issues, opposing the loss of agricultural water through transfers. He has testified before Congress regarding Western issues several times.

Sharon advocates for Western agriculture through her writing. She has been published in regional and national publications, including The Washington Post. Sharon currently blogs for the Western Folklife Center, serves on the Wyo ming Arts Council Board and has performed at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

“Our parents have

always really pushed us to be involved with organiza tions having an impact on our ranch and other ranches out West,” says Meghan.

Caring for the land

Pat and Sharon chal lenge their family to think outside of the box and keep an open mind when it comes to ranch management and conservation efforts.

“To be successful in agriculture, you have to be flexible and willing to change,” says Meghan. “We try new things every year. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but we move forward.”

Conservation is a huge aspect of the ranch. The ranch participates in the Sage Grouse Initiative, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Part ners for Fish and Wildlife

Program. They also practice rotational grazing.

“Conservation is what sustains the whole operation – without the land, none of it works,” says Eamon. “We try to take care of the land, and in return, we expect it to take care of us.”

Eamon and Meghan hope to continue passing the ranch down to family members.

“My biggest goal is to be able to pass this on,” says Eamon. “It’s ultimately a business, and we want to pass a healthy business on to the next generation.”

Meghan agrees, saying, “In reality, we have no goal but keeping this all together and passing it on to the next gener ation as it was done to us.”

For more information, visit ladderranch.com

Kaitlyn Root is an editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

Trailing cattle – The O’Toole’s ranch is in its 141st year of operation and many traditions, such as mov ing cattle horseback, still exist. Courtesy photo

Grazing practices – The O’Tooles implement rotational grazing to ensure plants have proper recovery time. Courtesy photo

Work horses – The O’Tooles often operate horseback because the terrain is difficult to navigate. Courtesy photo

XL Angus Bob & Kate Ballew

PO Box 989 Evansville, WY 82636 307-258-0107

Sled Runner Cattle Co

Kailey Barlow PO Box 1223 Big Piney, WY 83113 307-260-6409

sledrunnercattle@gmail.com

M Diamond Angus

Brad & Jeff Boner PO Box 1345 Glenrock, WY 82637 307-359-1162

brad@mdiamondangus.com

M Diamond Angus

Trent Boner PO Box 1587 Douglas, WY 82633 307-359-2708

trent@mdiamondangus.com

Doug Booth Family Angus

Doug & Carolyn Booth 7618 Road 41 Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-5830 cbooth@actcom.net

Doug Booth Family Angus

Dudley & Jennifer Booth 4156 Road 82 Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-7179 dbooth@scottsbluff.net

Booth’s Cherry Creek Ranch

Michael & Lindsy Booth 2162 Road 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-0164

lindsybooth23@gmail.com

Booth’s Cherry Creek Ranch

Shawn & Diane Booth 2749 Road 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2994 boothangus@scottsbluff.net

Bowman Cattle Lyle Bowman 3410 CR 163 Pine Bluffs, WY 82082 307-246-3281

Buline Angus

Jim, Pam & Robert Buline 623 Old Yellowstone Hwy, Crowheart, WY 82512 307-486-2330

K-Butterfield Livestock Kim & Janet Butterfield 2925 Road 54 Veteran, WY 82243 307-575-7340

kbutterfieldlivestock@gmail.com

Camblin Livestock

Mike & Danna Camblin PO Box 130 Maybell, CO 81640 970-629-5309 camblinlivestok@gmail.com

Lazy GT Ranch

Don Cox 4024 I-25 Service Road Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-630-0400

C C Angus Curt & Diane Cox 1835 Willow Creek Road Casper, WY 82604 307-630-4604 curt@wylr.net

Dalles/Edwards

179 Dalles Lane Laramie, WY 82070 307-760-6323

Davidson Angus

Peter & Susan Davidson 208 S. Main Burlington, WY 82411 307-762-3612 sisterd223@gmail.com

Deniz Family Ranch

Conrrado Deniz 2509 Angus Lane Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-431-5652 deniz@dfrangus.com

Flying M Angus

Larry & Jackie Dobrenz 6566 Clarton Hwy Gillette, WY 82718 307-660-5755

Earhart Farms

Andrea Earhart & Ryan Osborne 770 Lane 13 Powell, WY 82435 307-272-8876

andrea.earhart8876@gmail.com

Labonte Creek Angus Ranch

Neil & Clarice Forgey 193 K-Field Road Lost Springs, WY 82224 307-358-9232

labontecreek@hotmail.com

Horse Creek Angus

Dan, Bobbie & Shade Frank 5396 Road 236 Meriden, WY 82081 307-421-4022

horsecreekangus@gmail.com

Clay Creek Angus Ranch

Jim & Lori French 3334 Road 14 Greybull, WY 82426 307-762-3541

bulls@claycreek.net

Gardner Heart Dot Angus

Bret & Laurie Gardner 720 Missouri Valley Road Shoshoni, WY 82649 307-857-4444

Godley Angus Ranch

Gary Godley PO Box 304, Kaycee, WY 82639 307-738-2683 godley@rtconnect.net

GM Livestock/McDonnell Angus Victor & Darcy Goni PO Box 334, Buffalo, WY 82834 307-217-3437 307angus@gmail.com

Grandstaff G-Wing Angus

Curtis & Cheryl Grandstaff PO Box 155, LaGrange, WY 82221 307-834-2459

granny@prairieweb.net

Gray’s Angus Ranch

Rod & Laura Gray 4281 Henry Road Harrison, NE 69346 308-668-2520

Double Lazy A Daniel Greet 1728 State Hwy 434 Ten Sleep, WY 82442 307-366-2062 dlgreet@gmail.com

B & D Cattle Co. Bill & Dana Haas 2312 Road 60, Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2925

Ken Haas Angus Ken & Heather Haas 4766 State Hwy 151 LaGrange, WY 82221 307-834-2356

Hancock Livestock Charles Hancock PO Box 435, Basin, WY 82410 307-250-6900

hanstock76@gmail.com

Herring Angus Ranch

Kal & Vickie Herring PO Box 275 Encampment, WY 82325 307-327-5396

Pat & Marilyn Herring

5463 Rd 27, Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2540 gbarh@bbcwb.net

H Hiser Farms

Wesley & Velvet Hiser

PO Box 882, Casper, WY 82602 307-262-1410

whiser@wyoheart.com

Hogg’s Angus

Ronee, Michael & Kurt Hogg 5423 St Hwy 120 Meeteetse, WY 82433 307-868-2431 hoggsangus@tctwest.net

Hytrek Cattle Company Toby Hytrek

Jacob Place, Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-760-7664

Ingalls Angus Dan Ingalls

Box 51977, Casper, WY 82605 307-690-7557 dan@ingalls.us

Lucky 7 Angus

Jensen

Klein Angus Bill Klein 256 Brookside Road Wheatland, WY 82201 307-331-0136 bill82201@yahoo.com

Rafter T Angus Kale & Kim Kretschman

721 Middle Prong Road Gillette, WY 82716 307-736-2415 raftertangus@gmail.com

Kretschman Angus Kelby & Lacey Kretschman 1336 Lower Powder River Road Arvada, WY 82831 307-736-2327 klkret@rangeweb.net

Broken Arrow Angus

Travis & Katie Krein 6801 U.S. Hwy 29 Harrison, NE 69346 308-665-5085

LTJ Angus Tim Latham 390 Hwy 14A Powell, WY 82435 307-202-1356

Linford Angus Colin Linford PO Box 622 Sundance, WY 82729 801-520-0658 colin54ducks@gmail.com

Lisco Angus Dick Lisco 554 Tank Farm Road Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-3810 liscoangus@vcn.com

Little Goose Ranch Chad Bradshaw, Manager PO Box 770 Big Horn, WY 82833 307-751-1535 chad4lgr@yahoo.com

SS Ranch Co. Andy & Stacy Malm PO Box 128 LaGrange, WY 82221 307-834-0128 mrc3mt@aol.com

Malm Ranch Company PO Box 55 Albin,WY 82050 307-246-3223

McClun’s Lazy JM Ranch Jim or Jeff McClun 1929 Road 60 Veteran, WY 82243 307-534-5141 jkmcclun@wyomail.com

McConnell Angus Roger, Ryan & Royce McConnell 5740 Road 52 N Dix, NE 69133 308-682-5615 mcconnellangus@msn.com

SO Cattle Inc.

Diane Frank or Mike & Anjie McConnell 420 Lyons Valley Road Lander, WY 82520 307-332-5969 socattle@wyoming.com

Ranch Country Angus Delaney McGowan 1341 Road 30 Harrisburg, NE 69345 308-436-5473

ranchcountryangus@gmail.com

Travis & Mandy McIntosh PO Box 1587 Wheatland, WY 82201 307-331-2727

M Cow Capital Livestock, LLC

Doug McLean 63 Signal Butte Road Miles City, MT 59301 307-462-1683 cowcapital61@gmail.com

Mitchem Ranch

Stan & Karen Mitchem PO Box 1115 Glenrock, WY 82637 307-436-2504 stan@stanmitchem.com

J Bar M Angus

John & ManDee Moore 4095 Ross Road Douglas, WY 82633 307-464-6222 jjcattleco@gmail.com

Neiman Cattle Co. Sonnie Neiman 541 Mona Road Alva, WY 82711 307-259-6810 neimancattle@gmail.com

Nickel Cattle Co. Kevin & Jackie Nickel 3148 State Hwy 154 Veteran, WY 82243 307-837-2279 kjnickel@zimbracloud.com

Nolke Angus Calvin Nolke, Jr. 2949 Four Corners Road LaGrange, WY 82221 307-477-0029 nolkeangus@gmail.com

Ochsner Roth Cattle Co. Blake Ochsner 10672 Van Tassell Road Torrington, WY 82240 307-532-5892 ochsnerblake@gmail.com

Cynthia R. Oedekoven PO Box 68 Sheridan, WY 82801 307-763-3789

O

Oedekoven Angus

David & Diana Oedekoven PO Box 68 Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-7375 odoangus@gmail.com

Pingetzer’s Six Iron Ranch

Robert & Paige Pingetzer 11882 Hwy 789 Shoshoni, WY 82649 307-856-4401

Rock Lake Land & Cattle, LLC Todd Platt 714 Grange Road Wheatland, WY 82201 307-331-1175 rlangusranch@yahoo.com

Redland Angus

Kendrick & Sharon Redland PO Box 1268 Manderson, WY 82432 307-347-2270

MR Angus Ranch

Juan Reyes or Jen Reyes-Burr 98 Olson Road Wheatland, WY 82201 307-322-4848 • 307-331-1568 (Juan) 307-331-1530 (Jen) mrangusranch@gmail.com

5-5 Angus Colton & Tanna Rodeman PO Box 837 Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-3675 tannarodeman@yahoo.com

ELK Angus Tyler & Megan Scales 227 Muddy Creek Road Buffalo, WY 82834 meg@scalescattleco.com

PoPo Agie Angus Ted Seely PO Box 569, Lander, WY 82520 307-332-2839

S G G Angus

Greg & Kim Selin 3788 Road 215, Cheyenne, WY 82009 307-631-8814

Broken Diamond T Angus

Deb Simon & Allen Roush 1711 Walker Creek Road Douglas, WY 82633 307-358-1965

Sinclair Cattle Company Logan Baker 146 War Bonnet Dr Banner, WY 82832 307-254-1477

Powder River Angus Neal & Amanda Sorenson 7241 Hwy 14-16 Arvada, WY 82831 307-736-2260 nasorenson@rangeweb.net

Southard Ranches Shane Unwin, Manager 369 Cottonwood Road Wheatland, WY 82201 307-620-2890 shane@southardlandandcattle.com

Wyoming Livestock Roundup Dennis Sun PO Box 850 Casper, WY 82602 307-234-2700 roundup@wylr.net

Teichert Angus Mark Teichert PO Box 327 Cokeville, WY 83114 307-270-7334

Obsidian Angus Fred & Kay Thomas PO Box 346 Meeteetse, WY 82433 307-868-2595 kfdramsrus@hotmail.com

T P\T Livestock

Pete Thompson

345 Missouri Valley Road Shoshoni, WY 82649 307-709-8351

JL Farm

Jordyn Wagner

3752 Little Creek Lane Billings, MT 59101 406-672-5553 jordynlynnwagner@gmail.com jenalee.wagner@gmail.com

Walker Angus

Ramon & Verla Walker 44219 Business Loop 80 Lyman, WY 82937 307-787-6106

Weaver Ranch Susan & Mourine Weaver 3000 W. CR 70 Ft. Collins, CO 80524 970-568-3898 weaverrch@aol.com

Beaver Creek Ranches/WW Angus

Pete & Lucy Widener

568 Beaver Creek Road Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-6947 doublew@fiberpipe.net

Wilkes-Kilty Angus PO Box 88 LaGrange, WY 82221 Darrell Wilkes • 210-718-8051 docwilkes4@gmail.com

Kyle Kilty • 307-575-7116 kyle.kilty@gmail.com

WEBO Angus Buttons York PO Box 848 Lusk, WY 82225 307-216-0090 weboangus@gmail.com

ZumBrunnen Angus

Jason & Shirley ZumBrunnen 1174 Kirtley Road Lusk, WY 82225 307-216-0198 zbangus5@gmail.com

&

Box 1445, Riverton, WY 82501 307-850-2514

Jensen Angus Justin & Renee Jensen

Paint Rock Angus Ranch Martin & Kelli Mercer 1926 Hwy 31 Hyattville, WY 82428 307-469-2206 paintrockangus@gmail.com

Tom & Gracia Michelena 993 Airport Road Sheridan, WY 82801 307-674-9092

Micheli Ranch Dale or Ron Micheli PO Box 15 Ft. Bridger, WY 82933 307-782-3469 dmicheli@bvea.net

Mills Cattle Co., LLC

Doug & Dena Mills PO Box 3 Hulett, WY 82720 307-756-2030 millscattleco@gmail.com

Jason ZumBrunnen, Lusk 307-481-7090 jason@zbangus.com

Kale Kretschman, Gillette 307-736-2415

Kim Kretschman, Gillette 307-736-2415

TERMS EXPIRING 2024

Dan Frank, Meriden 307-421-4022

Jen Reyes-Burr, Wheatland 307-331-1530

Richard W. (Dick) Lisco, Douglas 301-359-0167

Trent Boner, Douglas 307-359-2708

ID Ranch

Carbon County ranch represents the historic West

Will Hudson has been the ID Ranch manager for nine years and has been with the ranch for 12 years. The ID Ranch is a cow/calf oper ation north of Sinclair. Will and two hired ranch hands maintain the ranch.

The ID Ranch is made up of a corporation with 1,000 shares owning the ranch. There are three different fam ily branches serving as stake holders of the corporation.

History

The ID Ranch, formerly named the Miller Ranch, was originally homesteaded by the Miller family in the late 1800s.

“The original homestead was down on the North Platte River, but in the 1890s, it was moved towards the western banks of the Seminoe Res ervoir where it is now,” says

Sherrod France, former ID Ranch board president and current stakeholder.

The Miller family man aged the ranch until about 1928.

“At that point in time, as many places had, there were financial conditions that were very difficult, so the Millers tried to get refinanced and weren’t able to do so with the Great Depression,” he says.

A few bankers at the Rawlins National Bank in Rawlins decided they would like to help the Miller family keep the ranch operating.

“A couple of the prin cipals in the bank put some money in as an investment, and they formed a corpora tion,” says Sherrod.

The earliest he can find a filing with the secretary of state is 1932.

“At that point in time, the name had changed to the Miller Estate Company, but it still retained the identity of the ID Ranch, and it remains so now,” says Sherrod.

Sherrod’s father was a banker in Rawlins, as was his

grandfather. Sherrod’s grand father Homer A. France was one of the three original prin cipals of the bank at the time the corporation was formed. IC Miller and N.R. Green field were also principals.

“That’s how my family

got involved with the ranch,” Sherrod says. “Each part of those three entities had a third interest in it. My father was secretary for the Miller Estate Company for many years.”

The Miller family contin ued operating the ranch until about 1970, at which time the ranch wasn’t profitable enough to support three fam ilies and had to give a return back to the shareholders.

“At that point in time, they decided to go to a ranch manager form of operation, so they hired a ranch man ager and a couple cowhands, and it operates that way today,” says Sherrod.

Evolution

Sherrod says the opera tion ran cattle early on but changed over to a total sheep operation for many years, raising about 5,000 head of sheep. Coyote predation and inability to find work ers became a problem for the ranch.

“We had a lot of preda tors including coyotes in the

to find sheepherders,” Sher rod says. “Most of the herd ers were from Mexico and lived in sheep wagons and moved the sheep around as necessary, but with one or two herders out covering the size of the ranch, they couldn’t do an adequate job of controlling coyotes.”

The ranch transitioned from a sheep operation to a cattle operation in the late 1960s, and the last shear ing on the ranch was around 1964.

Sherrod says the ranch transitioned to a successful Hereford operation, but the market gradually changed and became more favorable to Black Angus cattle.

“About 15 years ago, the ranch started introduc ing mostly black cattle and has converted to now where probably 90 percent of our cattle are black,” he says. “They’ve turned out well for us. We run about 1,000 pairs on average.”

Traditions

The ID ranch focuses on

Branding – ID Ranch Manager Will Hudson is pictured vaccinating a yearling during a branding. Courtesy photo

traditional ways of ranching – mainly using horses to nav igate the ranch.

“We fence with a sideby-side, but all of our work in the corrals is done horse back, and we gather all the cows horseback,” says Will. “We like to keep this tradi tion going.”

Sherrod says a ranch hand is typically put up at a cabin in the Seminoe Moun tains in the summer when there’s adequate water to feed the cattle. Horses are used to maintain and move the herds.

“Much of it is rough ter rain and there are not a lot of roads out there,” says Sherrod. “There is a lot of sand, so the sand, when it’s dry, makes it difficult to get around. It’s very easy to get stuck in those areas, and the Seminoe Mountains are very rough and rugged.”

Branding

Branding at the ID Ranch is a unique “old school” experience, says Sherrod.

“We do all of the brand ing the old fashioned way with roping, heading and heeling the calves, vaccinat ing, branding and ear tagging them right there, which takes about a minute and a half to do per calf if they get a good

catch and everything works good,” he says.

The crew trails horses and camps out about six miles from the headquar ters in the middle of “des ert country,” says Will. “The roads are so terrible, we can’t run trailers out, so we trot the horses out to camp and live out of a wall tent and a teepee for a week.”

“We take a section in the pasture and gather them to a branding trap, head to heel, brand them and then they go out the gate and onto our mountain pasture,” says Will.

Neighboring ranchers assist with the branding process.

“In our area, there’s a pretty unique community of ranchers,” says Will. “We neighbor with other ranches and they’re 70 miles away, but we consider ourselves neighbors because we help them and they help us.”

Hardships

Carbon County ranch ers face challenges due to the higher elevations they raise cattle on. The ID Ranch focuses on genetics to com bat the harsh climates and drought.

“About 10 years ago, when we had some drought in the summers and some

real tough winter seasons to follow, we had to sell off about half of the herd sim ply because we didn’t have enough feed for the cattle,” says Sherrod. “We haven’t had to do it recently, but it takes quite some time to get the herd rebuilt.”

They try to raise their own stock for replacements.

“We will keep the bet ter, bigger, stronger heifer calves and try to use those for replacements and put in new bulls each year. We raise our own breeding stock in order to get the genetic strains we want,” says Sher rod. “It has improved our operation considerably. Herefords perform better in this country than black cat tle do, but the market place likes the black cattle.”

Brutally cold, windy winters affect the herd and make it difficult to manage the ranch, Will says.

“With this place in par ticular, we have been trying to develop our cowherd and genetics to fit the area,” says Will. “It’s been a challenge. It takes a special person to stay out here through the winter.”

Although the location of the ranch can be a challenge at times, Will notes the rural aspect of the ranch is what makes it so unique.

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” he says. “We are pretty well by ourselves out here, and it means a lot to my wife and I and the guys I’ve hired to somewhat live off of the land and persevere through hard times and come out on the other side a stron ger, better person.”

“A goal of mine is to have the ranch be sustainable for the next generation,” adds Will.

Kaitlyn Root is an editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

Cindy Fabrizius

Traditional cowboys – The ID Ranch crew does most of their work horseback, including trailing cattle and horses. Rough terrain makes it almost impossible for pickups and trailers to navigate the land.

Courtesy photo

Historic ranch – The ID Ranch is one of the oldest family-owned ranches that hasn’t changed owner ship in Wyoming. The stone barn made out of limestone rock quarried on the ranch was built in the 1890s and is still on the ranch today. Courtesy photo

Embracing

Niels Hansen and his sis ter Anna Helm own PH Live stock, located near Rawlins, and his son John and fiancé Tawsha Lubbers manage the ranch. Niels’ wife Bar bara, his daughter Stepha nie Irvine, son-in-law Reese Irvine and niece Heidi Helm all help out on the ranch.

The Hansen family has a long legacy of ranching in Carbon County.

“Our family emigrated over from Denmark in the 1890s,” says Niels. “Two brothers in Rawlins were

ranching at the time. My father came over and went to work for one of the ranches, and that’s the ranch we are on now.”

“The ranch came together in 1899, origi nally starting out as raising remounts for the cavalry,” says John. “We transitioned into sheep and then started mixing in cattle. In 1984, my dad sold the sheep, and now we are cow/calf and yearling stockers.”

Evolvement Niels acknowledges the

many changes the ranch has experienced over his lifetime. He says the value of horses fell in the 1940s because the military stopped using them.

“Because there was no market for horses, our ranch added a cowherd and kept the sheep operation going as we moved along,” Niels says.

Eventually, the sheep market dropped and it became increasingly diffi cult to fend off predators.

“We moved out of the sheep operation and went to running yearling cattle

together with our cowherd,” Niels says.

The ranch also evolved due to changes in weather.

“Years ago, before my time, the family raised hay, but in the 1950s, my dad discontinued raising hay because we were already getting to a point where the water was too unpredictable, so they dropped that part of the ranch,” Niels says.

Checkerboard land management

Many Carbon County ranches are intermingled with government-owned land creating a checker board effect.

“Political changes makes projects in these intermingled checkerboard lands pretty challenging to get through,” John says. “It’s a different challenge, and this is what makes ranching in Carbon County a lot different than the rest of the state.”

“We are grateful for the Bureau of Land Manage ment (BLM) Rawlins Field Office,” he adds. “They have a really great staff we couldn’t live without.”

Improving the land

In 2000, the ranch received the BLM Range land Management Stew ardship Award, and was co-winner of the Wyo ming Stock Growers Asso ciation (WSGA) Steward ship Award in 2004. Niels acknowledges ranchers give back to the land through their everyday operations.

“In my mind, everything ranchers do is conservation,” he says.

PH Livestock focuses much of their attention towards water management projects.

“We have a really aggres sive water development pro gram going on,” Niels says. “Especially now with these extended dry years, we are drilling water wells every year and adding more and more pipeline to disperse the water we have. When pos sible, we tie all of these dif ferent wells into the pipeline system so if one well goes down, the system contin ues to work while we get it repaired.”

Niels also says they’ve

Natural beauty – Niels Hansen and his son John strive to conserve the land for future generations. Courtesy photo

Longtime ranch manager practices conservation Wildlife Management

The Big Creek Ranch, a predominately black-hided Angus cow/calf and yearling operation located southeast of Encampment, has been managed by Mark Dunning for 32 years. Growing up, Mark’s father was the cat tle manager at the Padlock Ranch in Sheridan County.

“I’ve been around ranching all of my life,” Mark says.

Early years

The Big Creek Ranch was homesteaded by the Hunter family in 1878.

“Supposedly, the Hunter family came out to Wyo ming trailing cattle to get

on the rail at Hanna or Wal cott, but the market fell so they left the cattle up there and went to look for grass and found this valley down here and homesteaded it,” says Mark.

The ranch has transferred ownership a few times and is currently owned by the Gates family out of Denver, Colo., who purchased the ranch in the 1960s.

Seasonal changes

Mark says the cows and yearlings are summered at the ranch.

“For the calves we don’t sell, part of them go to California to the Cen

tral Valley around Oakdale, Calif. to winter there, and part of them go to a feedlot in Colorado,” says Mark. “We bring them back in the spring and sell them as yearlings, or we breed the replacement heifers and put them in the cowherd.”

Calves are branded towards the end of June. They take portable panels out into the hills where they gather the calves and brand them.

“Using panels and branding out in the hills is pretty unique to us,” says Mark. “I think most peo ple around here have cor rals, but we’re in the middle of all of our hay meadows –we can’t really brand in our corrals, so we take the cor rals to the cattle.”

Mark and his ranch hands put up hay each year.

“We hay about 4,200 acres depending on the year, and we put up about 7,000 tons of hay – all native grass hay,” says Mark.

Government regulations and geographical challenges

Government regulations are always a challenge for the ranch.

“We deal with state and national governments in

two different states – Col orado and Wyoming,” says Mark. “There are differ ences in both states, and regulations and personnel are always changing, which has always been a big chal lenge whether it’s for irriga tion or other issues.”

Another challenge the Big Creek Ranch faces is due to the higher elevations.

“When your main ranch is at 8,000 feet, that’s pretty high,” he says. “We are in that part of Colorado and Carbon County that’s deep snow country.”

“Altitude and winter is always a challenge for us,” he adds. “It’s pretty tough winter country out here. A lot of Colorado and Wyo ming is, so it’s not super unique to the state, but it is always a challenge when you face the kind of snow we face here.”

Conservation practices

Mark says conservation is a priority for him and the Gates family.

“The Gates family is really involved with conser vation, and that’s something they really push,” he says. “It’s something I push here too. We are all pro-wildlife and this is a big wildlife area here – so much game – it

all moves through us in the winter time, so it’s neat to see. The more we can do to help them out, we try to do.”

Conservation projects on the Big Creek Ranch include improving fish and wildlife habitats.

“A few years ago, we remade a head gate for fish passage in collaboration with Trout Unlimited, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, along with some other water initiative programs,” he says. “We

do a lot of work to con vert cattle fence to wildlifefriendly fence. We are try ing to make it a little eas ier for the game animals to migrate through the ranch in tougher winters.”

Mark says they allow some hunting on the ranch, but it isn’t outfitted.

“We are trying a pilot program this year in Colo rado with some hunting, but we don’t outfit, we don’t have time,” says Mark. “It’s

Continued on next page

PROTECTING AND ENHANCING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES

Recent Large Project Federal / State Funds Awards:

• Small Water Program—Over the past 4 years, LSRCD has completed 102 Small Water Projects totaling $2,961,582

• Over the past 6 years, LSRCD has brought in $5.7 to every $1.0 of local tax revenue

• In 2020, LSRCD was awarded $1,250,000 PL566 funding from NRCS for Westfork Dam & Reservoir EIS and Watershed Planning. Matched by the Wyoming Water Development Commission $1,250,000 for a total award of $2,500,000

• In 2021, LSRCD was awarded $8,480,000 for Yampa-Little Snake River Upper Colorado River Basin Regional Conservation Partnership Program

• In 2022, LSRCD was awarded $1,451,000 on Private/State Lands from Joint chiefs (NRCS & USFS) Valleys and Headwaters Restoration Partnership $1,402,032

PO Box 355 | 285 North Penland Street Baggs, WY 82321

Phone: 307-383-7860

Email: lsrcd@dteworld.com

Mountain trails – Adam Kathrein and Bob Souza trail steers to summer pasture at 9,000 feet elevation. Courtesy photo

Antelope migration – The Big Creek Ranch values conservation. They convert cattle fence to wildlife-friendly fence to assist game animals with their migration in harsh winters. Antelope are seen migrating in the winter of 2021-22. Courtesy photo

not an anti-hunting ranch, it just doesn’t work out for us as a business model.”

Future goals Mark says keeping the ranch profitable and sustain able is a goal of his.

“Reaching and main taining profit is a real challenge with a lot of ranches,” he says. “We

are big into conservation, so we continue to strive to make the ranch better –better grass, better wildlife habitat, etc., and hopefully that will continue.”

Kaitlyn Root is an editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@ wylr.net.

“We are trying to make it a little easier for the game animals to migrate through the ranch in tougher winters.”

– Mark Dunning, Big Creek Ranch

Branding operation – The Big Creek Ranch crew takes portable panels out into the hills where they gather calves to brand. Kagan Gilbert is pictured roping calves. Courtesy photo

Fall Sorting – Steers head to shipping pens in the fall of 2021. Courtesy photo