I was born and raised in Gunnison, Colorado. If you don’t know where Gunnison is, just look at a weather map. It is normally one of the coldest spots on the whole map – especially in the winter. We own a cattle ranch, so I grew up feeding cattle in the winter. I don’t like being cold – and if you have ever fed cattle by hand out of the back of a truck you Read more…
Today’s article is brought to you by a question asked by Mark from Mt. Crested Butte. First of all, I want to thank Mark; I really appreciate any and all questions and feedback I receive. Mark asked me to go more into detail around ground beef – so let’s dive right in! The first thing to clarify is that no water, phosphates, extenders or binders can be added to ground beef or hamburger according to Read more…
The new year tends to bring in lots of resolutions. Resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more, or whatever else you can put in there. Hopefully the rest of you are behaving better than I am – sorry but I am not giving up my ice cream…. So what does healthier mean? I am not sure about you, but I find the labels in the grocery store to be misleading and confusing. Today I would like Read more…
The summer forage is drying out and losing nutritional value, the snow is beginning to fly, and we are starting to feed our cattle. As winter starts, we are all ensuring that our cattle are still getting the feed they need to maintain a good body condition score. In general, a cow will eat about 2%-2.5% of her body weight in dry matter per day. For the majority of Gunnison ranchers, this feed comes in Read more…
In my last article we talked about changing weather, and what that means for us as ranchers. We talked about pulling cattle off of grazing permits – whether that be federal permits or private land – and how grazing benefits the environment, economy, and fire prevention. Today I want to focus on the next stage of fall and what we are doing now that our cows are down in the lower country. Most ranchers are Read more…
Ranchers use a multitude of tools to make decisions to improve their herd genetics. One of the pieces of that is known as Expected Progeny Differences or EPDs. EPDs predict the likelihood of the parents to pass on certain genetic traits to its offspring. EPDs are calculated by using data submitted to each breed association. Ranchers record actual birth weight, weaning weights, and many more pieces of information, and that data is submitted to the Read more…
Fall means a lot of things for cattle producers in the area. We’ve already discussed how we choose replacement heifers, but what do we do with the rest of our calves? Most ranchers will be selling their calves into the next stage of the production cycle, but some others are retaining ownership through the entire life cycle, retaining ownership until the calves are a year old, or even pre-conditioning their animals. At roughly 6-9 months Read more…
Please note that this is republished from my column in the Gunnison Country Times. Fall is in the air – and that holds true for cattle ranchers as well. Fall means gathering cows and bringing them back to the low country to prepare for winter. Most ranchers have had their cattle on Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service land on their authorized allotments. These cattle (or other livestock) have massive benefits to the environment, Read more…
Please note: this is republished from my column in the Gunnison Country Times. The CattleWomen have been an integral part of Gunnison ranching for many years. A local group of ranch women in 1951 started planning ways to help their husbands with the business. They were chartered as the Gunnison Valley CowBelles in May of 1951. They came together to promote beef and handle more of the public relationships side of ranching. They organized with Read more…
It’s a new season here in Gunnison. The new Western students are getting moved in, the ranchers are getting their hay put up, and I heard that we got some snow in the high country! This weather just makes me want to curl up in a hoodie and drink a latte. As we welcome in a new season, I think its important to remember how essential agriculture is to Colorado, but especially to Gunnison. Approximately Read more…