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Last Updated on Thursday, 07 August 2008 09:25

Written by Liz LeSatz

Lusk – Instability is a word agriculturists know all too well, and many have turned to diversification to help balance the uncertainty. The sixth annual Diversified Ag Tour spotlighted some of these producers and gave other agriculturists tools to take back home.
    More than 40 people were on the trip and Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Division Director Cindy Garretson-Weibel said it was one of their best turnouts. Sponsored by Wyoming Women in Ag and the Wyoming Business Council, the Diversified Ag Tour featured Niobrara County farmers and ranchers.
Gaukel Grown and Ground
    In 1999, Keeline-area wheat farmers Julie and Kevin Gaukel were faced with the need to generate more income to support their family. “We didn’t want to have a job we endure to support the life we love,” said Julie.
    The answer was to diversify, and Gaukel Grown and Ground was born. The family produces 13 varieties of all natural stone-ground whole-wheat products including flour, mixes and cracked cereal. The company is a family affair and Kevin, Julie and their three children grind the flour, develop the recipes, create the packaging, do the marketing and sell the products.
    Their passion for agriculture resonates from the family and is evident in their willingness to teach the next generation. The Gaukels conduct “living classrooms” where classes of elementary school children come to learn about the work and contribution of agriculture. So far the students have been from Niobrara and Converse counties but the Gaukels encourage others to promote living classrooms in their area.
    “I’ve had kids come out to the farm and ask, ‘This is where food comes from?’” said Kevin, a fourth-generation farmer. “That’s a big inspiration to keep educating.”
Rockin’ 7 Ranch
    Brad Reese has a passion for hunting and ranching. So, after college a commercial hunting lodge on the family ranch, the Rockin’ 7 Ranch, was built and the result has brought diversification in a variety of ways.
    The success of Reese’s diversification experiments have been mixed. Reese and his family hit a winner with their deer and antelope hunting packages, but failed with a trial-run in bird hunting and a meat processing plant. Instead, the Reeses found unusual success in offering prairie dog hunts. The tour’s crowd roared with laughter as Reese described his hunters shooting off hundreds of rounds at the varmints and loving every minute of it.
    Reese said his experiences have taught him three important lessons. The first lesson is to devise an operation with a “moat” around it. He said the diversification project should be protected from competition in order for producers to name their own prices. Lesson two was to start small and be flexible. He warned against stretching too thin and straying away from the original operation. Finally, Reese advised producers to think about their diversification project’s margin.
    “Don’t buy yourself a job,” he said. “You need to decide how much trading you want to do with your way of life for the business.”
Wyoming Aquaculture Center
    The Wyoming Women’s Center is a place people would rarely associate with fish. However, the women’s prison in Lusk is putting inmates to work and teaching them valuable life and job skills in the raising of tilapia fish.
    The Aquaculture Center has been up and running since August 2006 and is already creating success for the business and the women working there. Inmates must meet certain requirements and are interviewed for the program. The 16 participants learn everything from care of the fish to daily water testing.
    The fish are raised from less than an inch long to about 1.5 pounds before being shipped. They are sent fresh or live to markets with their first shipment going to a Denver market.
    It was apparent the inmates love the work they do in the aquaculture facility. Prison officials said the participants are learning valuable job skills many of them didn’t before possess.
    “Some of these women didn’t ever have anything expected of them before now,” one official said.
    The aquaculture center hopes to be profit earning in two years and hopes the growth, learning and value of the program never stop.
Waldock Partnership
    With energy booming in the state, oil and gas companies are wondering what to do with the worn out tires from their enormous equipment. That’s where Waldock Partnership comes into play. The only tire processing facility in the state, the company takes tires from the mines and recycles them.
    Old tires have a surprising number of uses. Quinton Waldock uses tires for livestock feeders, quasi loader buckets, fall protection for playgrounds and plant mulch. He even uses magnets to pull the steel from the tire sidewalls to sell.
    The business started 15 years ago and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Waldock said at this point he’s promoted his products through price incentives and educating people about the materials’ uses.
    “At some point the volume of tires in this state is going to be a problem,” he said. “I’ll take care of as much as we can.”
    Liz LeSatz is the Summer 2008 intern for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be e-mailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Last Updated on Saturday, 10 March 2012 12:39

Written by Saige Albert

Powell – The difference in quality between a pasture-fed and pasture-finished beef product is prevalent, and, according to American Grazingland Services owner Jim Gerrish, too many producers settle for the lower quality grassfed product.
    “When grassfed first got started in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, people said that grassfed beef had less fat, less cholesterol and fewer calories,” says Gerrish. “Grassfed beef does, because it is typically not finished to the Choice grade.”
Pasture finished
    “The quick and dirty is that a whole lot of grassfed beef is killed when the person raising cattle runs out of grass,” says Gerrish. “The cattle won’t be as marbled or as tender, and you won’t have a good piece of meat.”
    Running out of grass does not mean an animal is finished, he adds. Determining when an animal is fully finished is a skill that requires experience, says Gerrish, noting there are some indicators to determine when Choice is reached in a pasture-finished beef animal.
    “When the brisket droops below the belly line, you have reached Choice,” he explains. “We also look at fat deposits behind the tail head. When it starts to look spongy, the animals are hitting Choice.”
Forage farming
    “Pasture-finished beef requires a broad set of skills,” says Gerrish. “You have to produce cost effectively, and you have to be a very good grass manager.”
    “To get a good rate of gain and good marbling on pasture, it is necessary to have high-energy pasture,” he comments. “The challenge is to provide finishing quality forage as many days of the year as possible.”
    Gerrish also notes that the quality of pasture and the intensity of management is on the same level as dairy management, and providing high quality forage year-round can be challenging because of a short growing season.
    “We grow all of our grass between May 15 and Sept. 15 – that’s only about 120 days of feed,” he says. “The way we stock the place, however, allows us to stockpile feed, and we’ve started running more pairs.”
    Gerrish utilizes a high-intensity grazing system and he moves his cows on a daily basis. Pastures are heavily grazed for one or two days, then allowed several weeks’ rest. Using temporary fencing, the system is efficient and provides cattle with the necessary resources.
Selling a story
    “Local, natural product sells just as good as organic,” says Gerrish. “If you do have a true certified organic and fully pasture-finished beef, that is where the highest premium is right now – it ranges from a 60 percent to a 140 percent premium.”
    The difference between obtaining a 60 and 140 percent premium is found in marketing strategies, says Gerrish.
    “Ranchers also have to really understand the consumer preferences concerning the nature of the beef they produce,” he adds.
    In marketing a high quality, grass-finished beef product, a connection with the consumer is helpful.
    “So much of the disconnect with consumers is in the story – they want to know who you are,” he explains. “Never sell yourself short on the story that you can tell.”
Better than organic?
    “From a management standpoint, I prefer pasture-finished to organic,” says Gerrish. “Pasture-finished or grass-finished is a much better market to get into.”
    He cites a number of reasons for utilizing a pasture-finished system, rather than operating as a certified organic operation, marking flexibility as a top priority.
    “Flexible stocking rate is critically important,” explains Gerrish. “That means bringing cattle onto the place when you need more, and shipping them out when you don’t.”
    Balancing a stocking rate by purchasing certified organic yearlings is very difficult and very expensive, according to Gerrish, who adds, “Organic producers can’t just bring sale barn cattle into the operation.”
    Another advantage in a pasture-finished system is the ability to utilize all healthcare tools available, if necessary.
    “We use very little fertilizer and very few pesticides, but at the same time, those tools are available if we need them,” explains Gerrish. “Certified organic operations have taken those tools out of their toolboxes.”
    Pharmaceuticals also apply, and create additional complications for organic if animals get sick.
    “If ranchers need to medicate, it is a lot more expensive and will be a lot more paperwork, with more hoops to jump through in an organic situation,” he continues, noting that production cost increases also include soils amendments and specialty feeds.
    “Profitability starts with a sound production business,” says Gerrish. “Ranchers have to be able to grow grass-finished beef cost effectively.”
    Gerrish was the featured speaker at the Northwest College Spring Roundup on Jan. 19 – 20. Saige Albert is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 09:52

Written by Jennifer Womack

Lingle — A small-scale hobby growing pumpkins has taken root as a full-fledged business for Lingle’s Ellis family. For the rest of Wyoming, it’s an opportunity to see a growing number of children exposed to agriculture.
    “I’ve been raising pumpkins for 30 years,” says Dan Ellis. “It started with a couple of plants. Then it was a 10-foot row and the next year it was a 50-foot row. Then it was all the way through a field.”
    Today over 30 varieties of pumpkins can be found on the Ellis’ farm and ranch a mile west of Lingle. That number doesn’t include the gourds, produce and corn that are also part of the family’s farm-based business. Visitors can pick their own pumpkins, find their way through the corn maze, purchase mums and choose from a variety of decorative fall items.
    “Because they’re fun,” says Dan when asked the reasoning behind the wide variety. “We go from pumpkins that weigh a pound to a variety called Prize Winner. On a more normal year they’ll get 120 to 140 pounds. You have to have a pumpkin for everybody.” There are Cinderella pumpkins, shaped like the fairy tale carriage, and there are the more traditional — dark orange, ribbed, with a sturdy handle — jack-o-lantern pumpkins.
    Pointing to the road leading to the pumpkin patch he says, “This is desolation row.” He advises a passing youngster, “Don’t pick one bigger than you can carry. They get heavier the closer to the bus you get.” Just a few yards later her pumpkin is added to those abandoned roadside and she returns for a smaller selection.
    Pumpkins aren’t a common crop in southeastern Wyoming, or in Wyoming as a whole. It’s a labor-intensive choice with the year’s harvest picked by hand, one pumpkin at a time. Dan says the crop, on a per-acre basis, uses less water than corn. “One year I clean picked a field, bringing in everything orange. It made 32 ton to the acre.”
    Since that time, however, Dan hasn’t been that detailed in his harvest. He instead opts to pick those that are ideal jack-o-lanterns. Those pumpkins are sold to wholesale markets across the region with each customer seeking a certain type of pumpkin based on their market and the type of pumpkin being offered by competitor stores. Dan sees a growing demand for locally grown produce. When diesel hit $4 a gallon he says he could also grow and deliver the pumpkins at a lower cost than the produce trucks leaving grocery warehouses.
    “They have to have stems and they have to sit decently. It’s hard to make a face on one that won’t stand up. We’re more selective on what we pick for the wholesale market.” They’re also careful when it comes to handling the pumpkins.
    “If you stack them more than three high the stems break,” he explains.
    Broken stems aren’t the only challenge in raising pumpkins. As with all crops, Dan says they have their own set of pests. He monitors closely for squash beetles, spraying at the earliest sign. Corn rootworm beetles, which will leave corn in the fall to dine on pumpkins, can also be a challenge. Weeds, says Dan, are the other challenge. He rotates the crop to keep the problem under control and cultivates as long the vines allow.
    What Dan and his family don’t pick the cows eat when they’re turned out on the vines and corn stalks for winter grazing. It took the cows a while to learn to eat the pumpkins, but they’re now considered a treat. Dan says the cows break them with their noses.
    Pumpkins and gourds have been a part of the Ellis family’s business plan for five years. Two years ago they expanded further, setting aside a field of corn for a maze. Working with a company out of Spanish Fork, Utah, Dan says they come to his farm when the corn is five to six inches tall. This year that was the middle of June. Marking the field, they spray paths killing the corn in areas that will eventually make up the maze.
    The 2009 maze, depicting the Lingle mascot, covers an 11-acre field. Dan and his wife Karri’s son is a senior at Lingle High School this year, which explains the pattern selection.
    Visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends through Nov. 1. On Oct. 4-5 the family will offer a moonlight maze, given the full moon, from 8-10 p.m. Oct. 10-11 is school pride weekend when participants can get $1 off by wearing their school colors. Oct. 17-18 from 8-10 p.m. is the flashlight maze, scheduled in conjunction with the new moon. During the week Dan says they host school groups, church groups and others.
    While it sounds like an outing for youngsters, Dan says, “We’ve had a couple of senior citizen groups come down and do the maze.”
    Cost is $9 for adults, $7 for kids five to 12 and kids five and under are free with an adult.
    In the years to come the Ellis family hopes to keep growing their business right along with their pumpkins. They’re inviting vendors and hope to host groups like the antique tractor club. They’re also weighing their greenhouse options, considering whether or not high tunnels would be a wise business investment for expanding their produce line and season of availability.
    “It’s agri-tainment and agri-tourism,” says Dan. He jokes, “If they ever start trading pumpkin futures I’ll need to find a different crop.”
    Delivering pumpkins to the grocery store in Torrington he says he was blocking the front door to unload them into the storefront display. Passersby made comments like, “Oh good, it’s pumpkin season,” and “I just love fall.” He laughs, “I don’t get that when I take a load of corn to the elevator.”
    Jennifer Womack is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 09:53

Written by Christy Hemken

Laramie – At the late September conference known as “Food Safety, Security and Sources – A recipe for tough times” held on campus in Laramie, the agenda included topics ranging from food safety versus food freedom to food labels to food safety law.
    In her opening address, William Mitchell College of Law professor Donna Byrne, who also authors the Food Law Prof blog, spoke to the issue of national trends in legal issues affecting food.
    Those national trends include labeling, food safety and food defense, as well as government-funded food programs and legal attempts to influence people’s health behavior. “Food defense includes bioterrorism, and food as a part of national security,” she said.
    On the technological end, she said there are many amazingly complex and exciting technological advances in the food industry and other industries that affect food.
    “In medicine there’s been more focus on personalized medicine, and looking at gene makeup and figuring out what will work with an individual,” said Byrne. “That leads to molecular nutrition and how food molecules interact with us on the genomic front. It’s very technical and molecule-focused.”
    However, she said the focus on the inner workings of food takes us away from food. “There are more and more things about food that we laypeople can’t understand very well,” she said, referencing nanotechnology which reduces molecules down to one billionth. “We’re starting to create food stuructres that small – 100,000 times smaller than we’ve been dealing with.”
    She said research on putting a layer around Omega 3 fatty acids is an example of a nanotechnology in food. “That way you can get Omega 3’s from food and not have it taste like fish oil,” she said.
    Regarding national food safety, she said food poisoning isn’t uncommon, and never has been, but the recent outbreaks are different.
    “Many of them come from unexpected sources, and they’re widespread and evil,” she said. “Salmonella lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals, so we expect it in animal sources, but not cantaloupe, lettuce, green onions or peanuts.”
    The same goes for E. coli, which is expected in animal sources. The 2009 recall by JBS Swift came after 23 illnesses in nine states. The recalled product list of muscle cuts that had been ground into hamburger was 82 pages long.
    However, E. Coli has also been found in bunch spinach from California. “Somehow animal pathogens are getting into unlikely sources,” she said.
    She said this leads to questions on how well FDA guidelines are being implemented. “We don’t have much of a sense that we’re able to keep our food supply safe,” she noted, adding that leads to the question of bioterrorism. “If it can happen accidentally, what could happen intentionally? Consumer confidence has taken a hit.”
    She said the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 affected some food safety practices and requirements.
    Regarding trends related to green food, she said there is an unfulfilled demand for green products. Add that to the food safety concerns, and she said it sets up a climate where consumers have the sense they don’t have as much control and they begin focusing in a variety of ways on safety and health.
    That’s where the conflict comes into play, between science-based legal trends that increase technology and regulation and the small-scale local foods movement.
    “There’s a tendency to want to require people to use the technology we have, like irradiation, to make sure food is safe,” said Byrne. Other new technologies include filtration for egg whites.
    “As we develop better technology for combating food borne risks, there’s a tendency to want to legislate it and require state-of-the-art processing for anybody who sells food,” she continued.
    “All this creates tension between science-based regulation and the small, slow movement coming from the grassroots consumer end,” she noted. “There are different philosophies about food, the other end of the spectrum includes nothing about molecules.”
    She said there’s also a conflict where some people see it as consumer freedom – they can buy raw milk if they want to, or drink milk from their own cow if they want to. She said one way consumers get around food regulation is through identifying the source of their food and participating in community supported agriculture.
    “Recordkeeping is onerous on small farms. There’s a tension between what we see consumers pushing toward and the ability to use sophisticated tracking and technology to produce, market, ship and store our food,” she said.
    Find Donna Byrne’s blog online at http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/foodlaw/. Christy Hemken is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .