Rock Hills Ranch is home to about 400 Black Angus cows. We are mainly a cow-calf operation, meaning we maintain a fairly consistent herd of cows that raise a calf each year.  The calves are born from March through May and stay with their mother until we wean them in early November.  These calves don't get anything but mother's milk, grass, and free-choice mineral to keep them healthy.

 

There are several directions we can take the calves after weaning.  The heifers (females) will stay at the ranch for the winter where they eat hay and a little corn and dried distillers grains (aka DDG, a byproduct of ethanol).  Many of them will be kept until two years of age to replace the old or unproductive momma cows.  The rest will be sold in early spring.

The steer calves (castrated males) destination depends somewhat on the markets.  Lately, we have been shipping most of them to a feedlot, where we pay the feedlot owner to take care of them until they are ready for butchering.  Sometimes we keep them at the ranch, caring for them the same as the heifers, for one to three months and then sell them to someone who wants to fatten them; the term for this is "backgrounding."  And sometimes, we sell most of them right away.  It is usually a combination of these options in order to spread out our risk.  It's the not-all-your-eggs-in-one-basket approach.

Lately we have been able to find out just how good our cattle are.  We've always been complimented on our ranch-raised freezer beef, but it is exciting to hear from the company that buys the cattle that so many of them grade Choice or better.  Sort of like your kid getting an award – you knew he or she was great, now others have verified it.

In recent years, some activist groups have made light of apparent abuse occurring in the livestock industry.  It frustrates us that there are people in our industry that don't give these animals the same kind of care as we pride ourselves in giving.  Handling cattle (or any animal) in a calm, low-stress manner is best for everyone, man and beast alike.  We are continually making improvements to working facilities to make life less stressful for the cattle.  Not only is it safer and the right thing to do, the cattle are more productive, and therefore profitable, when handled correctly.  Our cattle are not pampered – they do have to earn their keep – but are given the care that's required to keep them healthy and productive.  That said, we are aware that some of the groups shooting the videos of livestock abuse often have the ultimate goal of destroying the livestock industry and are eager to make our industry look bad.  We would be glad to show you our cattle and tell you about our handling methods and facilities.  You can decide for yourself while cow 312 eats treats out of your hand.

If you would like more information about the way we raise our cattle, or are interested in buying cattle from us, please visit the Contact Us page!