The Curran's own and operate Circle Ranch, an outfit that is based in Ione, about a 3-hour drive from Sattley. Some of the ranchers we visit, primarily ones in coastal areas, are able to keep their cows on property year around due to a forgivable Mediterranean climate. But I'd say the majority of the ranches we visit have to move their animals seasonally to greener pastures... literally. 

In our last episode we spoke with Jason & Dean Hunt along with Justin Mora about ranching in Humboldt county with an emphasis on managing the areas Roosevelt Elk population.

On that trip I had the pleasure of meeting peter Bussman, a rancher that was on hand to give biologist Carrington Hilson and I access to ranch property in an effort to find elk, which we did. 

In talking with Pete, I found that he comes from a long line of ranchers in the area, created a redwood tree farm in blue lake and volunteers his time to cook for large events over wood fire. We toured his cattle operation in the Arcata, drove to Blue lake to see his tree farm, and then cooked enough new york strips (he did ALL the cooking) for nearly 200 people and enjoyed them for dinner at the historic Carson Mansion in Eureka as guests of the Ignomar Club.

The reason for my visit was to talk about Elk. Specifically, Roosevelt Elk. These elk are endemic in the area but for a long-time, populations have waxed and waned. More recently the population has thrived... the Elk don't have many existing predators, are hard on fences and are prolific breeders. The Elk prefer the same feed that cows do and have the ability to access it.

The Elk's size, population and reproductivity makes management difficult. In this episode we speak with ranchers Jason & Dean Hunt and Justin Mora about how they deal with the Elk and about what systems they have to manage them. We also speak with Carrington Hilson from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife who is tasked with gathering data on the Elk population in Humboldt County which should aid in better management practices in the future.

In this episode we speak with rancher Kevin Lunny about ranch history and what it's like operating in such a unique and beautiful environment.

A bull sale isn't much unlike a dog show... at least to these eyes. The animals are just a lot bigger. An important part of a bull's genetic makeup is that he is docile. Walking down the row of stalls where the bulls are being prepped to be auctioned is more akin to a beauty salon than a barnyard. This is where I first discovered that they have blow dryers and hairspray for cows.

In 2 weeks we'll hear about how their 4 Angus bulls did at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding sale.

I met rancher Steve Arnold at the Vintage Cowboy Winery where he was surveying water damage to the floor of the tasting room from a recent storm. Most of the time when I visit ranches I am first greeted and inspected by ranch dogs. This case was no different except rather than being greeted by a border collie or Australian shepherd I met a pair of Boston terriers... Hudson and Budrow.

With a few days notice we threw a Hail Mary reaching out to Ventura’s Rich Atmore. Rich runs a cattle operation with his sons in Ventura along with R.A. Atmore & Sons an environmental contract service providing weed abatement, erosion control, vegetation management and environmental restoration for various entities like municipalities and utility companies.

Rich is a bit of a unicorn for this podcast as he’s the first first-generation rancher we’ve interviewed. Rich is tall, clad in denim and though he frequently enjoys talking about his impending retirement, has a youthful appearance and a matching exuberance for his operations, employees and family.

Rich picked me up in a side by side and drove me around the property. His cows are calving right now so about half of the cows are being trailed by small calf’s with the others about to give birth. We then sat down to chat about how he got into ranching, his various operations, and his harrowing experience in 2017’s Thomas Fire.

That visit seems to be from a long time-ago. The folks that produce this podcast are big believers in continual improvement with the goal of best serving our membership by relating stories from remote ranches and dairies to people that may not have the luxury of visiting them. We've tried a little bit of everything. This episode, our 20th episode, will be the last for our first season. We decided to drop in on the Koopmann's and cook a steak recipe... steak au poivre. I had caught up with Natalie Koopmann at our mid-year meeting and we got to talking about recipes. The Koopmann's offer beef for sale directly to the consumer and offering recipes proves beneficial to their clientele.

We've created a program where we bring hospitality professionals for ranch and dairy visits a few times a year with the intention of creating a better connection between producers and those that serve as the ambassadors of ranch and dairy products to the consumers.

We were given a walking tour of the ranch and were lucky to hear from Tim and Jill Curran about many aspects of their operations and we also heard from Haydn Clement a technician from the Chico State Meat Lab.

For those unable to attend we're providing a recap of the trip with the help of Molly Dennis who attended the tour and who is an industry veteran. To gauge the efficacy of the educational components of the trip we end the interview with an intensive multiple choice test.

 We then speak with helicopter Pilot Brian Barret by phone about his unique profession, then 5th generation rancher Cindy Bowen about the history of the Carver Bowen ranch, her brother Jeff about the purpose of this shipping day and close it out with Sheila on the larger meaning of all of this. 

We later sit down with Tim's son and Daughter in law, Clayton & Natalie Koopmann to discuss the future of the ranch and their newly formed retail operation. 

Then we make them some burgers.