Playing the Long Game: What Works at G Bar C Ranch

Fri, 24 May 2024 15:30:55 GMT

By mid-morning you can already feel the sun’s heat on your skin, a reminder that the searing Texas sun looms large at G Bar C Ranch north of Dallas, even in early May. On this unassuming Thursday, several dozen ranchers, conservationists and ag retailers have gathered in the shade amidst the verdant green pasture and limestone outcroppings to learn from G Bar C’s second-generation rancher, Meredith Ellis, at the kickoff of Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour.

The tour is moving across the U.S. this summer, spotlighting regenerative ranches and hosting field days where producers can meet and learn from each other.

“We’re showing what can be done at G Bar C Ranch today, what resources are available and the steps that they have taken to get to this point,” said Jimmy Emmons, Oklahoma rancher and SVP of Climate-Smart Programs at Farm Journal.

According to Emmons, in- person field days like the Sustainable Ranchers Tour are crucial to helping ranchers improve their livestock, land and profitability.

“It’s all about the journey—it’s not a quarter-mile race, it’s a marathon,” Emmons said. “We improve one step at a time, one practice at a time.”

Learn more about the Trust In Beef’s Sustainable Ranchers Tour

This morning, as the crowd of producers gather and sip their coffee, ready to glean insights to take back home, most eyes are watching the sky, observing gathering storm clouds on the horizon. Even if rain would dampen an otherwise sunny day at G Bar C Ranch, in Texas—a state plagued with persistent drought—rain is always a welcome sight.

Ellis, a seasoned rancher in her early forties, gathers in front of the crowd, ready to share the ins and outs of her ranch operation. Unlike most days where she works in relative solitude, today she is flanked by soil scientists, researchers and technical experts, ready to share their perspective and insights in a day of boots-on- the-ground demonstration and learning – rain or shine.

(Farm Journal)

Flipping the Script: No Longer About Pounds of Beef

“It looks like a pollinators paradise out here with all the wildflowers,” AgriTalk host, Chip Flory, told Ellis at the Sustainable Ranchers Tour. “The combination of the native grasses and the grazing grasses you’ve got…it’s part of the plan, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely, it’s part of the plan and we’ve documented over 660 species that call our ranch home. On top of that, about 110 species of birds that call our ranch home,” Ellis replied, eying the horizon. “Managing that landscape with ruminant animals as they’ve existed for millennia throughout our national grazing lands is something I’m very passionate about.”

Despite multiple degrees and years of experience under her belt, according to Ellis, she will always be the apprentice at G Bar C Ranch. Carrying on the life’s work of her father, GC Ellis, and ranch manager, Michael Knabe, Ellis takes to heart her family’s legacy of caring for the land and the cattle that call it home.

Historically, like many ranches across the U.S., G Bar C Ranch has focused on pounds of beef produced as a measure of profit and success. But, in recent years, Ellis has taken a hard look at what it costs “to get from point A to point B”, discovering that, in the long term, focusing on maternal genetics in her over 200 mother cows are key to both profitability and a healthy herd.

“What’s most important to me is that we keep and retain our own replacement females,” Ellis said. “We’re looking at making females that fit our program, that fit our landscape. Our interest right now is in efficiency and maternal aspects—having some happy mamas that are real happy be here [on our land].”

While Ellis currently participates in the conventional beef supply chain, selling her black Angus calves at the sale barn in El Reno, Oklahoma, managing her herd amounts to more than just raising meat for market.

(Farm Journal)

Soil Health: At the Root of Everything

According to Ellis, she views her cows as just one of the many species that enjoy the rolling hills, grassy pasture and clear water on her 3,000-acre ranch.

“There’s no aspect of the ecological system that goes overlooked on this ranch,” said Ellis. “We try to adapt our management practices in order to take care of every aspect of ecology that we have.”

I consider our ranch to be a living laboratory, continued Ellis.

“That means that if there’s a researcher, a rancher, whoever it be, anytime that I speak with someone and get interested in what they’re doing, I walk away with a little gold in my pocket,” she said.

Collaborating, learning and improving is critical to adapting ranching practices in the face of extreme weather, natural disasters and drought in North Texas, according to Ellis. Finding new strategies to foster biodiversity and healthy soils through thoughtful, prescribed grazing practices has been a north star guiding ranch management at G Bar C Ranch.

To Ellis, not only do prescribed grazing practices support a heathy, profitable herd, but they also promote soil health – the foundation of a thriving, well-managed, resilient landscape.

Read about G Bar C Ranch’s NCBA’s Environmental Stewardship Award Program recognition

Texas based NRCS soil scientist, John Sackett, takes soil health’s benefits even one step further.

“Soil health, in a sense, drought- proofs our ranches,” said Sackett. “If the soil is healthy, it can take in more water, so we have a higher effective rainfall, and we have healthier plants that are better able to withstand the drought.”

Keeping Working Lands Working

Big picture, it’s not enough to manage a healthy herd and promote thriving ranch lands. The reality for many is that stewardship includes safeguarding ranchland against development and urban sprawl for future generations. For many Texas ranches today, this is not a given.

“In this day, successional planning is one of the biggest hurdles in keeping working lands working,” said Ellis.

In fact, the Lone Star State gains 1,400 people moving to the state daily and the drumbeat of urban sprawl is only getting louder, shared Chad Ellis, CEO of Texas Agricultural Land Trust, echoing Meredith Ellis’ concerns.

Like drought, year after year of urban sprawl continue to threaten open spaces across Texas, with no reprieve on the horizon.

“We’re losing over 1,000 acres a day of working lands,” said Chad Ellis. “Lands [like we see at G Bar C Ranch] that are providing goods and services to the public.”

When Meredith Ellis looks to the future, she envisions leaving an economically and ecologically resilient G Bar C Ranch for the next generation of the Ellis family with ranch lands that boast clear water, rich soil and a healthy, thriving cow calf operation.

“That’s what it’s all about—my nine- year- old boy,” Ellis said.

Follow coverage of G Bar C Ranch and the Sustainable Ranchers Tour on AgDay and U.S. Farm Report:

On Fire for Stewardship: Finding Synergy in Cattle Ranching and Land Conservation

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:20:31 GMT

Fire. “Baptism by fire,” that is when Katie Blunk, DVM, took the reins on her family’s ranch near Freedom, Okla., as operator of the Lazy KT Ranch and Jackass Ridge Beef.

Blunk’s journey back to her roots unfolds with a blend of heritage, conservation and progressive ranching practices driven by a passion for both animal health and environmental stewardship.

Serving as a field veterinarian for USDA-APHIS-VS in Reno, Nev., Blunk felt the pull of her childhood roots.

In 2012, she and her husband Michael Horntvedt, packed up their asses, three wild burros to be exact, and headed to start the next chapter of their lives and the Lazy KT Ranch legacy.

Returning to the Blunk Ranch was not without its challenges as it lacked the basic infrastructure needed for cattle ranching - no habitable structures, water wells or functional cattle facilities.

But amid these inital hurdles lay an asset tha proved invaluable - a commitment to land stewardship.

Following the passing of Blunk’s father, her mother, Rose Blunk, stepped up to manage the ranch’s lands. Overwhelmed by the encroachment of Eastern Red Cedar trees and years of neglect, Rose sought aid from the National Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the local precribed burn association. Implementing conservation strategies such as cedar cutting and prescribed burns, she set the transformation in motion.

The Perfect Pair

Prescribed burning is central to the conservation effort at Lazy KT Ranch - a practice that Blunk refers to as their primary and most economical tool.

Through meticulous application, good fires have been harnessed to rejuvenate the Oklahoma ranch, especially when coupled with a well-managed cattle operation. The strategic use of cattle and their cloven hoofed action, proper stocking densities and rotational grazing patterns creat a synergy that catalyzes both ecological health and economic prosperity, Blunk explains.

The ranch’s Angus cow-calf operation overseen by Katie and Michael ripples into diverse ventures including marketing of seedstock bulls and bred females, retained ownership opportunties, and the branding of the Jackass Ridge Beef label for their direct-to-consumer beef.

Blunk explains, “Rejecting the limitation of labels such as maternal versus terminal, we are inspired by the ‘You can have it all’ philosophy from Mark Gardiner of Gardiner Angus Ranch.”

Their breeding program thrives on data-driven decisions, relying on expected progeny differences (EPDs) and Method Genetics genomic indexes. A focus on calving ease, docility, growth, moderate stature and elite carcass EPDs (marbling and ribeye) underpins their approach.

“All these things have allowed us to weather the storm and stay the course by creating multiple, flexible marketing outlets for all classes of our cattle,” Blunk explains.

Elevating Value

Blunk contributes much of their herd’s success to science-based decisions and intentional management practices. Artificial insemination, early ultrasound pregnancy diagnostics and real-time genomics from DNA testing are key to their genetic acceleration. Upholding the integrity of their operation is a comprehensive herd health protocol plus a foundation of sound nutrition and stockmanship.

“We create value-added cattle that have really paid off through market fluctuations and enabled us to have a very resilient operation, managing through drought with our cattle marketing successes, pasture health and preservation of natural resources,” Blunk adds.

For Blunk, the ranch is not just a livelihood - it’s a canvas upon which memories are woven, ecosystems restored, water flow is revitalized and wildfires mitigated.

The holistic vision encompasses high-quality Angus genetics, home-raised premium beef and a commitment to preserving the land for generations to come.

With a blend of tradition, conservation and innovation, Blunk remains a torchbearer for land stewardship and sustainable ranching - proving genetics run deep.