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.