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8 CapitalPress.com December 1, 2017 Colvin Ranch in its fifth generation By SHERYL HARRIS For the Capital Press Now in its fifth generation, Col- vin Ranch continues to produce all-natural grass-fed beef and pas- tured pork. Ignatius Colvin arrived on the Oregon Trail in 1851. The 550-acre ranch he established is near Tenino, Wash. Once it was a stagecoach stop; today, Fred and Katherine Colvin manage the ranch “with a part-time employee and the dog and a cat,” adds Colvin with a chuckle. As with many ranching and farm- ing families, their kids have moved away and will not be carrying on the tradition. “We’ve put things in motion to keep it going — keep it from being subdivided,” Colvin explains. One of those things is the conser- vation easement the Colvins put on the ranch about 10 years ago. It re- stricts use of the land for wildlife and as grasslands for the ranch. Courtesy of Fred and Katherine Colvin Fred and Katherine Colvin use no grain to finish their cattle. They say studies show grass-fed and grass-finished beef is “higher in vitamins E and C, beta-car- otene and the ‘good’ fats that help reduce cancer risk ... and has fewer total fats and calories than grain-fed beef.” “We have about 150 native prai- rie plants,” Katherine says. “Camus, balsam root, golden paintbrush, but no thistle or scotchbroom.” Colvins get around any critical habitat designation for the native plants because they already do more than is required. “We developed a grazing system dividing the land into about 30 pad- docks so nothing is overgrazed. We don’t want to weaken the grasses, es- pecially in spring,” Colvin says. What’s good for the land is good for their operation, he says. Humane livestock handling con- siders what the animals do naturally and uses that knowledge to get them to do what you want. The Colvins say it’s easier than forcing animals to your will, and less stressful on the animals. No antibiotics are used on their animals. “We vaccinate,” Colvin says, “but that is to prevent infection. An- tibiotics are used to cure infection. Our goal is to raise healthy animals; then they don’t need antibiotics be- cause they don’t get infections.” The ranch’s pastured pigs are pur- chased as weaner pigs and are pro- vided with outside areas on dirt or pasture with shade, cover from the cold, and a wallow to control their temperature. This summer was drier than most. “It dries up every summer,” Col- vin says. “We don’t irrigate, so we depend on rainfall. What grows March through June lasts through summer, then we get some fall growth. We feed alfalfa and blue grass hay because they have more protein and help digest the low- er-quality dormant grasses.” “We have a lot of good things here,” Colvin says. “We have good grass for the cattle and no hard win- ters. And we have a good population base to market to.” Still, he admits there are chal- lenges to those who would be ranch- ers today. In Western Washington especial- ly, land is scarce, what there is may not be good cattle land, and the cost of the land is high. More good reasons to properly maintain his ranchland. Vet raises sheep in E. Washington By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS For the Capital Press Stock Trailers for all your agri-transport needs. Bumper Pull and Gooseneck models! Steel stock trailers from Titan, Banens, and GR. Aluminum stock trailers from M.H. EBY. Truck Beds! Steel Diamond K Sales Truckbeds from PJ, Great is the Northwest Northern, Bradford and Dealer for ARROW CM. Aluminum Truckbeds CATTLE HANDLING from M.H. EBY. EQUIPMENT Diamond Halsey, OR Trailer Sales Your All Service Dealer 541-740-5135 or 541-953-7548 or 541-369-2755 View our inventory: diamondksales.com L17-3/100 Homesteaded in the 1800s by the Feustel family, this farm near Lamont, Wash., is now owned by Art and Jill Swannack. Jill is a veterinarian — she graduated from vet school at Washington State Uni- versity — and raised sheep growing up in western Washington. She married Art in 1987 and brought her sheep to Feustel Farms. “Those original six sheep were North Country Cheviots, a very hardy breed, but portable electric fences weren’t great at holding them in,” she said. They looked at other breeds and chose Polypays, which are prolific, easy to han- dle and their udders hold up over the av- erage lifespan of eight lambing seasons. “And they stay inside the fences,” Jill said. She and Art have three children. Carmen is 21 and at WSU majoring in ag biotechnology. Leah is 19, attending Montana State University at Bozeman, and planning to go to vet school at WSU. Matthew Weaver/Capital Press File Lamont, Wash., veterinarian and Washing- ton State Sheep Producers president Jill Swannack holds a lamb. Son Owen is 16, and his interest is raising pigs and playing basketball. Currently the Swannacks have 700 ewes, a few goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, horses and alpacas — a little bit of every- thing. The kids are in 4-H and FFA and have been showing sheep since they were young. Sheep are great because they are small enough for kids to handle, she said. The sheep graze crop residue and wheat stubble part of the year but some of their pasture is rough country. Predators, including wolves, are al- ways a problem. They’ve had some wolf kills in their flock. Coyotes are the other big challenge. “We use electric fencing to keep coy- otes out of the sheep, and we hunt coy- otes. We also use guard dogs. We have some Anatolian dogs and our pup is a Maremma,” Jill said. “We worked with USDA on bringing some newer breeds to this country, including Karakachan — the Bulgarian Shepherd.” It was interesting to see various dogs, but Swannacks have been happiest with Anatolians and mixes. “Their short hair coat means less maintenance (brushing/clipping) and they can travel. We graze on the edge of Palouse farmland in rocky areas where it’s hard to see all the sheep. You need a dog that is willing to travel, keeping track of them,” Jill said. Sheep work well on the rough pas- tures, and are a good tool for weed and brush control. They eat many things cat- tle don’t eat; you can run a sheep with ev- ery cow and this increases stocking rate on the same number of acres.
