After thinking about Ellen Degeneres' viral anti-meat tweet a couple of weeks ago, Glenn thought maybe it was time to shoot a letter to her. Don't know if she'll ever get to it, but we just thought we'd better cc it to you all. Dear Ellen I’m a cattle rancher in the broad expanse of the American West. I wear a cowboy hat, ride a horse and …
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A Soil Story: Regenerative Ranching
The year: 1849. The place: Pahsimeroi Valley, Idaho. It is a late September day in the broad valley, and you are standing in tall basin wild rye grass, about 6 feet tall, just up from the extensive complex of willows that defines the Pahsimeroi River bottoms. The grass is robust, and thick. Its quarter inch diameter stems will rub skin raw at this …
You Must Have Gone Crazy
Snow blanketed the high country last night. I woke up at daybreak this morning to see a mantle of white across all of the Hat Creek ranges. It was perfect that we brought the beeves back from the mountains on Saturday. It was time. The cattle and horses would actually be fine continuing up there. The grasses would be reinvigorated with the …
You Get What You Pay For
Recently, we ran a promotion with a friend who has been a fan of our beef for years. His customers are very health conscious, and clearly are willing to spend money on the best supplements, technology, and sports equipment. While a large number of his customers gave our beef a try, a few made comments about the price. One …
When Fall Rushes in Like a Lion
What had been a tempest of wind finally abated enough that I could hear again; it was no longer ripping through the treetops of the thick Douglas-fir forest we were herding 280 head of beeves in. The adrenaline rush that had driven me for the past two hours was finally ebbing—I took long deep breaths in relief. It was going to be OK. I thought …
Reflections of a Range Rider
This week’s story is from one of our summer conservation riders, Jessie Maier. Jessie came to us from Paicines Ranch in California, where she had worked primarily with sheep. Her goal for the summer was to improve her stockmanship and learn about conservation herding and regenerating landscapes. Mentoring young range conservationists is an …
Old Pickups Die Hard
When you have cattle and crews on the range, the days are long. And they can be longer than long. Adversity rears its ugly head, and people tire. Patience wears thin. Sometimes it is hard to be nice, and words slip out of your mouth abruptly rather than the better way of with a little butter and honey. And then there’s the wrecks. People get …
Stampede
The earth shaking rumble of the oncoming freight train in my dream was real enough to startle me awake. I sat bolt upright in my tent where I was sleeping quite soundly. It had been a long previous day. My crew and me had switched with the previous range riders in the afternoon, and then rode horseback, herding the cattle until just before dark. It …