December 1, 2017
CapitalPress.com
7
Owyhee cattleman embraces all types of change
the first carcass data we will
get — to see how cattle are
actually doing end-product-
wise.”
Bachman
transitioned
By BRAD CARLSON
For the Capital Press
of doing things, for sure,” he
said.
“I’m always trying to think
of something new,” Bachman
said.
Brad Carlson/For the Capital Press
Lynn Bachman checks the moisture content of orchard grass hay.
er ranchers would be. He’s
pretty well-read, spots trends
in the industry, and stays up
on the latest ways to add value
to cattle.”
Ranchers historically used
the best data available to man-
age herds, property, and gov-
ernment grazing allotments,
but today’s information is
more accessible and power-
ful, said Idaho Cattle Asso-
ciation Executive Vice Presi-
dent Cameron Mulrony. Data
analysis helps in assessing
grazing needs and forage car-
rying capacity by “animal unit
month,” for example, he said.
Analyzing genetic data
helps ranchers identify the
best bulls and produce calves
with the best chance to gain
weight efficiently while pro-
ducing quality beef cuts, said
Mick Boone, who has a reg-
istered seed-stock Angus herd
in south Nampa. Back in a
business he left decades ago
amid harsh market conditions,
he blends new and traditional
approaches.
“You physically have to
be involved with your cattle.
You can spot things the com-
puter can never spot,” like an
illness or why a cow did not
calf, Boone said.
Bachman Land & Live-
stock, recently aiming to im-
prove genetics in its Black
Angus herd through artificial
insemination, in 2016 con-
tracted to supply grass-fin-
ished cattle to meal-kit provid-
er Blue Apron Inc. Bachman
said the venture, initially ex-
pected to account for less than
20 percent of revenue, aims to
generate a premium price and
valuable information.
Ideally, “we can capture
more value from those ge-
netics we’ve been improv-
ing over the years,” he said.
“We’ve always used financial
data, but this will be some of
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Cows flash seemingly
trusting looks toward rancher
Lynn Bachman as they move
from one Bruneau River Val-
ley pasture to another, as if to
acknowledge that he knows as
much about the land as they
do.
Bachman stays active in
the community as he man-
ages Bachman Land & Live-
stock, his family’s patchwork
of owned and leased ground
featuring modernized irriga-
tion, a niche herd for a new,
high-profile client, and some
orchard grass hay for the pet
market.
He broadens his perspec-
tive and sense of place in part
by monitoring an irrigation
district’s infrastructure, serv-
ing with a volunteer fire de-
partment and gathering infor-
mation about an early-stage,
multi-stakeholder proposal to
restore stream banks.
“Most ranchers want to
preserve it for the next gen-
eration,” he said, referring to
the land. “If you are not sus-
tainable, there is no way to do
that.”
Bachman, at 35 one of the
youngest presidents of the
Owyhee Cattlemen’s Associ-
ation board in recent memory,
exemplifies a generation of
environmentally conscious,
data-driven ranchers aim-
ing to position a historically
commoditized business for
sustainable, value-added suc-
cess. He’s the third consec-
utive Owyhee Cattlemen’s
president who is younger than
40 and willing to embrace
change.
“Lynn embodies the
younger person who takes a
modern approach, and tries to
incorporate and take advan-
tage of newer programs and
ways to market cattle,” said
Murphy-area rancher Chad
Nettleton, who preceded
Bachman as Owyhee Cattle-
men’s president. “He’s more
cutting-edge than maybe old-
into managing his family’s
Bruneau-area operation after
a five-year stint in the con-
struction industry, where “I
learned a lot of different ways