Livestock
The two major livestock activities are the stocker cattle and
cow and calf operation.
Stockers are pasture-fed at
from January - July and are moved to feedlot having gained an
average of 250 lbs. The pasture is rested through
the remainder of the summer and fall with limited use by the
cow/calf herd. Animal Science students
participate in raising the stockers as an Enterprise Project.
Cow and calf operations is a limited livestock operation, but
is educational for interns and enterprise students as well as
requiring minimal operational inputs. Cows
calve in the spring and the calves are raised for 7 to 9 months
and then weaned and sold at two years old in a beef enterprise
for additional Ranch income and for Ranch use. Some of
the heifer calves are retained for breeding replacement in 18
months. All of the steer calves are raised for eventual
use in the grass- and grain-fed beef market. Natural
Beef products are available to the public.
An important
component of the Swanton Pacific Ranch grassland philosophy is
based on Holistic Management (HM) that has been developed by
Allan Savory and the Center for HM.
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