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4A – Daily News – Saturday, June 19, 2010 Agriculture & farm Our third day on the Western Livestock Journal High Country Ranch Tour was on the east side of the Continental Divide, and in the North Platte, Illinois and Michigan River watershed near Walden. It was a lovely sunny day after two cool days. There were big mead- ows as we came off Muddy Pass, 8,722 ft, but the wil- lows were only about four foot high, although several thought they saw moose. Then we left the meadows and it was short sagebrush. The sagebrush was in windrows by the highway, and we were told that in November when it has snowed, caterpillars plow the snow for snow fences instead of netting. We were nine miles past Walden, headed for Wyoming when it was real- ized that we had missed the turn for our next ranch visit. Three busses pulled into a yard and made a u turn. It has become a tradition to miss a turn or get lost on these tours. The veterans still talk about the time they ended up in Canada. Culver Cattle at Owl Creek Ranch, Walden is another ranch that uses arti- ficial insemination with a 50 day breeding period. Don- ald and Rosalie Culver had French Charolais in Mary- land in the 1950‚s, and pur- chased Boulder Valley Farm in 1961. In 1992 he dispersed the 1,300 registered Charolais in a very successful dispersion. Ag news? Ag news may be submitted to clerk@redbluffdai- lynews.com. Info is available at 527-2151. In 1987 he purchased Owl Creek Ranch, with 5,000 deed- ed acres and 5,000 acres of BLM. Then in 2007 he pur- chased two adja- cent ranches to now own 20,000 ranch Day 3 of High Country Ranch Tour Courtesy photo Danny Meyring showing his Grand Slam to some men on the Western Livestock Journal High Country Tour. Jean contiguous acres. Michigan River meanders 12 miles through the valley, and they use river water to flood irri- gate the 2,700 acres of hay meadows. It takes three ton of hay per cow to winter in this area. North Park hay has high protein, and they sell 1,000 to 1,200 tons of hay. Tractor and wagon is used to feed the cows. Today they have 1,250 cows, instead of 1,500 because of the drought the last few years. Usually there is two to three feet of snow on the flat during winter. This year, no snow January thru March. The heifers go to feedlot in mid-October, and select replacements in December. Barton They will breed AI 200 to 250 heifers for replace- ments, and start calving April 15. They have a calv- ing barn for the heifers, with 12 stalls to make sure they mother-up. They rope the calves at branding time. The steers are sold on Superior video and will be delivered in November at 500 to 525 lb after weaning in October or November. Wolves have been seen in North Fork, while coyote numbers are down. They will AI 500 to 800 head of the younger cows with best genet- ics. Start AI on July 5th for 21 days, then put bulls in. We drove past the bull pasture with 49 bulls, and were told when they reach 5 years old, they are gone. Another field had the yearling bulls. Ev eryone smiled when we drove up to the headquarters because all the white ranch pickups were glistening clean, and the tractors were sparkling, while the shop was clean enough to have eaten in. We did enjoy the cookies, soft drinks and water. Appreciated the five portable outhouses by the shop. We were looking at a pen of cows and calves, plus a herd bull that been brought from Boulder, when we heard a noise. With a gust, the wind was blowing the men’s hats off. It happened so suddenly it was surpris- ing to us. Our lunch was authentic Chuck-wagon cooking, using many Dutch ovens. Sliced beef, baked potatoes, beans, fry bread, and dessert was fry bread sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Branding irons for center- pieces, and the napkins were: “North Park is Beef Country” with the many brands of the area. We were at the Walden Community Center, and the community had sold tiles to raise the money to build the building. A meeting hall, plus indoor arena under one roof. Before our next stop we saw a video of the activities on Meyring Livestock Company during a year. They would brand the fol- lowing week. It was 23 miles to their ranch with the Never Summer mountain range to our left. Lucy Meyring was the first female president of Colorado Cattlemen. Her husband Danny is the 5th generation in North Park, and they continue a ranch- ing lifestyle started in 1880. The Meyrings stack hay loose and feed it using 4-up teams of Percheron horses. As Lucy said “It takes a certain kind of people to live in this country.” High alti- tude ranching is different. The house and corrals were at 8,300 foot, and hi country is 10,500. A very short growing season. The corral poles came from the high country, since they maintain and make do with what they have. The horse barn was built from the old cabins in Keller City. It is a hard life since during the winter they and the help are up at 5 to feed the 8 to 12 horses, eat breakfast and harness the horses to be ready to load hay at 6:30 a.m. We were told they could feed 500 cows, dri- ving three miles and back by noon. They run around 750 mother cows, and keep 400 calves during the winter to sell as yearlings. 4” Wave Petunia Buy 1 get 1 FREE Happy LIC #808524 Call For Free Information Toll-Free (800) 464-1403 or (530) 365-1403 6183 MEISTER WAY ANDERSON, CA 96007 (530) 365-1403 (800) 464-1403 Planting!!! Fountains & Statuaries 30% off Select Garden Center 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) through the month of June Red Bluff 527-0886 There were 200 yearling replacement heifers in the corral feed lot and 250 steers were in a. Nebraska feedlot. The calves will be fed three times a day, and gain one lb a day on hay. They figure two ton of hay per cow in the winter. It is a short season, since grass just started to grow and will start haying July 15. They have three full-time men, and summer haying has a crew of 12. The calving barn for the heifers was nearby, and at night they are checked every two and a half hours in the night lot. The 2- and 3-year-olds are in one group, while there was a calving shed across the road for the cows. In a bliz- zard, you have only 15 min- utes after birth to dry the calf and get it nursing, or it will die. They buy straw for the calving barn, cleaning it every 24 hours. They use lime daily, and disinfect the area in the spring. This is to prevent illness in the new- born calves. Should a calf have scours, diarrhea, the pair will be put in the scale barn. Danny is a hunter and got the grand slam, a year ago. Lucy’s hobby was driving a buggy for wed- dings and parades. They have no children and the nephews are not interested in continuing the ranching lifestyle. That evening we visited Saddleback Ranch, ten miles west of Steamboat Springs. It is an 8,000-acre ranch that runs 1,200 to 1,800 years during the sum- mer. They have gone into the hospitality business in recent years, with cattle dri- ves, horse back, wagon and dinner rides. Weddings, company parties, family reunions are offered in the specially built hall. Guided elk and mule deer hunts offered during hunting season, and in the winter there are dinner sleigh rides, snow mobile tours, winter horse back rides and snow tubing. We enjoyed wine and beer on the patio, and dinner inside was barbecued steak, baked potato, green salad, rolls and butter, plus brown- ies or cobbler. There was musical entertainment by a guitar player, and a dance floor for dancing. Jean Barton can be reached by e-mail at jbarton@theskybeam.com. TEHAMA ANGUS RANCH 23820 Tehama Ave, Gerber CORN FED ANGUS BEEF Aged 14 to 21 days Satisfaction Guaranteed AVAILABLE NOW!!! Find us at the FARMER’S MARKET and get your 40lb. Variety Pack! For more info call: 385-1570 or e-mail: borror@theskybeam.com