If you take a right at the shiny, new athletic fields and facilities where Oklahoma State University Cowboys shed blood, sweat and tears in front of cheering crowds, as the pavement fades into green, you’ll soon hit the pastures and fields that make up Burtrum Cattle, LLC.
Geographically bumping up against a public land-grant university can prove challenging for a ranch family that is trying to run a 400-500 head cow-calf stocker operation.
“Our home ranch is here in Stillwater,” says Clay Burtrum, co-owner of Burtum Cattle and second-generation on the ranch alongside his father, Mike Burtrum. “But, we work in three counties—here in Stillwater, about 30 miles northeast in Glencoe and in Pawnee.”
Along with 650 acres of wheat production, Burtrum Cattle operates between 5,000 and 6,000 acres of grass for their herd.
“You know, we’re not like the Osage northeast of here with vast land masses,” Clay says. “Most of our parcels are 160 acres here, 300 acres here, 80-acre pasture here, so our cows are broken up in groups of 25 to 30 head. Our largest group of cows is about 120 head.”
The Role of Rotational Grazing
For the Burtrums, the ranch spread requires a rotational grazing matrix that’s consistently under the microscope.
“We run those 25 to 30-head on native pastures through the winter where we have stockpiled grass through the summer,” Clay says. “In the first part of June, we’re working those cow-calf pairs and we’re moving them to the wheat ground areas that have been grazed.”
That time of rest all summer lets those native pastures regrow.
“On the Bermuda grass pastures, most of them are broken up where we can rotationally graze those cattle about every two weeks,” he says. “By rotationally grazing or letting these pasture areas rest, we’ve done better to regenerate the land.”
Clay may be seeing restoration of the land as a result of his rotational grazing strategy, but he’s also seeing the benefit in his herd as well.
“This rotational grazing has done right by our cow herd by maintaining those body condition scores and not having to use a lot of feed,” he says. “Even in the wintertime, we are not having to feed a lot of hay because we have that stockpiled forage to go to.”
Successful management of the matrix means that Clay can also battle the land encroachment forces that are always knocking at his door, namely urban sprawl and the rising costs of land leases.
“We’ve lost leases because we weren’t able to pay the high prices in this area, but we’ve been able to maintain our cow herd population,” he says.
In June, Burtrum Cattle opened its ranch gates, welcoming neighboring ranchers, local agribusiness officials and even Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur for the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour. During the tour, the common thread that wove through each session was data.
The Role of Data
It’s not entirely because for the past 43 years the Burtrums have also run Farm Data Services, a farm management accounting provider analyzing data for clients across the region, but Clay is constantly collecting data, and giving it to Mike for analysis.
The father-son duo says that partnership is the key to both operational success and profitability.
“We measure every single thing,” Clay says. “Pounds per acre, dollars per acre, input per acre, output per acre—if I can get the number for it, I give it to Mike and he measures it.”
For Mike, it’s not just about crunching numbers.
“The first leg of sustainability has got to be bottom-line profits,” Mike says. “Without profits, there is no sustainability, so the data comes in and we analyze it, whether it’s fertilization of particular farms or analyzing the projected weather.
“The weakness I see in agriculture is implementing information from the data and using that to make the change,” he adds. “It’s really easy to think that it’s the way you’ve always done it, but that is the worst way you can look at it.”
Mike says if you’ve spent the time collecting the data, analyze it to reach conclusions and implement programs based on that data.
“Don’t just let it sit there in the box,” he adds.
The Role of Technology
Collecting data on “everything” is no easy task, which is why the Burtrums are always looking for tools that make the process more efficient. Time and time again, this leads them to technology, which Clay Burtrum says has changed a lot in his time on the ranch.
“Twenty years ago, when I moved home, the cell phone was just coming out and we had a bag phone in the truck that we weren’t allowed to use unless it was an emergency,” he says. “Now we don’t go anywhere without our cell phone with us.”
Using his ever-present cell phone, Clay is able to monitor his cattle’s location and even shift their grazing pattern using Vence virtual fencing technology.
“We know where our cattle are at all times,” he says. “Every single one of my ranch hands knows where those cattle are at all times. We can move them, we can track them. That is technology to make us more efficient so that we’re not wasting money.”
Jimmy Emmons, senior vp of climate-smart programs for Trust In Food, the implementer of Trust In Beef, has seen this technology popping up on ranches across the nation. In planning for the Oklahoma stop in the Sustainable Ranchers Tour, it was an integral part of the education that Emmons wanted to feature for rancher attendees.
“Virtual fencing is giving ranchers a level of control over their cattle that we’ve never had before,” he says. “Now, not only can they keep track of their herd, but they can adaptively graze based on changing conditions and they can use the data to make better operational decisions.”
“This technology is helping ranchers look out for not only the environment and resources, but their bottom lines as well.”
The Role of Sustainability
Two decades ago, when Clay came back to the family ranch and was using the single bag cell phone, he had much different perspectives on success than he does today.
“I wanted to be the biggest in the country,” he says. “I wanted to have the most cows. I wanted to lease up every piece of land that I could because, to me, biggest was best.”
“Today, we aren’t the biggest. We don’t have the most cows anymore. We are focusing on what we do best with a smaller cow herd and fewer acres to produce a better, sustainable product that we can sell to our customers,” he says.
Battling time has solidified Clay’s perspectives and now, as he sees the end of his ranching career flickering in the future, his thoughts are turning to sustaining the land and opportunity for future Burtrum Cattle generations.
“Life goes pretty fast,” he says. “And I would like to slow down. Dad is in his 70s, and he wants to slow down as well.”
Burtrum is looking to the future.
“With all this work and with the great people working by my side, hopefully I can pass this on to my girls or even maybe my grandkids someday,” he says.
Read more coverage from the 2024 Sustainable Ranchers Tour:
Playing the Long Game: What Works at G Bar C Ranch
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Selling Sustainable Beef
G Bar C Ranch Takes Texas Ranchers Behind the Farm Gate
You can join the Tour for future stops by visiting www.trustinbeef.com.
