In the rugged and expansive high desert of eastern Oregon lies the small town of Juntura, nestled between the south and north fork of the Malheur River. Here, the Bentz family continues a 140-year legacy of resilience in the horse and cattle ranching industry. Times have changed since their great-great-grandfather drove a freight wagon with a team of mules along the highway that still stands today, but the Bentzes’ commitment to tradition, perseverance and respect for the land remains steadfast.
“Our ranching heritage and industry are built upon people with determined faith and strong values that care for the land, the cattle and their families,” Linda Bentz told WLJ. “Just as our grandparents and their grandparents had struggles to overcome, so do we face new struggles with each generation.”
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The Bentz Ranch prioritizes family and teamwork, with every family member playing a pivotal role in keeping the operation running smoothly. This spirit of unity was especially evident when tragedy struck nearly 10 years ago with the loss of patriarch Mike Bentz in a plane accident on the ranch. In the face of loss, the family came together to uphold the legacy of the generations before them, ensuring the continuation of the ranch’s traditions and values.
“We teach our traditions of the Western way of life and that hopefully they will carry on into the future, too,” Bentz said.
Desert ranching
Ranching in the desert presents its own set of resource challenges, particularly when utilizing public land allotments through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Bentz’s daughter, Erika Fitzpatrick, emphasized the importance of public land leases and the commitment required to cultivate relationships with BLM.
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“Public land leases are incredibly important to us, and they really do require ongoing relationships that we’ve really worked hard on to build,” Fitzpatrick told WLJ. “There’s a lot of challenges and pressures on public land use.”
Some of the resource challenges in the arid landscape include feed and water management. Invasive annual grasses pose fire risks and impacts on forage and feed availability, which requires the ranch to stay active with utilizing weed management practices such as applying herbicides. Water challenges arise, but irrigated pasture on the ranch helps insulate against particularly dry years.
The ranch is continuously prioritizing environmental stewardship, knowing that rangeland management affects everything down the line, from nutrition to reproduction. “I believe that ranchers are the best conservationists around,” Fitzpatrick said. “They have one of the biggest incentives out of all the people that may have an interest in these public lands. Our livelihood is dependent on them being healthy.”
The ranch’s commercial Angus cattle, branded under the V Box Brand, are bred for functionality and resiliency to withstand the harsh desert climate. Moderate frames and moderate milking are prioritized to maximize efficiency in the environment. Cattle are mouthed to ensure they can continue to survive in the desert. Structural soundness is crucial, ensuring cattle can cover long distances to access water.
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Fertility and longevity are additional key selection traits. “Our first goal is to get a live calf on the ground and make sure the cow is resilient enough to breed back for the next year through sound genetic breeding and good nutrition,” Bentz said.
Cows calve completely on their own, and while heifers have some oversight, they mostly take care of themselves as well. First-calf heifers that fail to breed might be given a second chance and pushed back to a fall-calving season, but they won’t get a third. As a result of the emphasis on fertility, the ranch’s heifer breeding rates are in the high 90% range.
Spirit of the West
The ranch’s horse breeding program is run under the Spur Brand. Horses are raised on the desert from birth, showcasing a true testament to survival of the fittest. Their first introduction to humans is at weaning time, and over their lifetimes they are exposed to real-life experiences such as branding calves and moving cattle over long distances across the desert.
In addition to raising horses, the family also hosts the Ranchers Horse Sale. The invitational-only consignment sale was founded 30 years ago by Linda and Mike Bentz, along with Jim and Alicia Bentz and Hoot and Dick Raney. The sale was first hosted in 1993 at the Harney County Fairgrounds in Burns, OR, and eventually grew to be hosted in Juntura at the family ranch. Nearly 500 people attend each year, coming together for fellowship and quality horses.
“We want horses that will work for our customers at the Ranchers Horse Sale for years to come,” Bentz said. “A horse is an investment, so it must be well represented, reliable and tested with many hours in the saddle.”
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The sale was created to offer an opportunity for local ranchers to make additional income from the horses they’ve used as working ranch horses. The day is full of opportunities for consignors to showcase their horses, beginning with a ranch trail course preview and live branding preview. Consignors must also submit photos and videos ahead of time.
“We’re trying to give as much information as possible to our customers so that when they get there to the sale, they will come with questions and be able to pick out the right horse for the right person, because there’s just no perfect horse,” Bentz said. “We tell them everything—the good, the bad—as much as we possibly can.”
After a year of uncertainty, the year following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic brought record prices to the sale. The high-selling horse sold for $56,000, with horses averaging about $19,000. This year, the averages remained strong, reflecting continued demand for quality ranch horses.
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The sale is hosted only through a live in-person auction to keep the integrity of the buying process. “We want the person there personally,” Bentz said. “To make that big of an investment, they need to see that horse, touch that horse, feed that horse. If they can’t be there, they need to send somebody who they completely trust.”
She added that it may be counter to what most sales are like today, and they may miss some of the larger over-the-phone sales, but it’s a risk they’re willing to take to ensure happy customers.
Fitzpatrick said, “We want to keep being a trusted source, and we want to keep it going through our family’s involvement. We really see it as a fun community event that can draw us together and bring a bunch of commotion to our little valley for a day.” She continued that she sees the sale as their closest link to the public and a valuable opportunity to engage with them.
Bentz added, “It’s our Western heritage, our traditions that we have as a community. We want not only our families to be proud of the way of life, but others to be proud of where we’re going with our livelihood.”
Strength in family
Family remains the heart and soul of the business for the Bentz ranch. Of the five siblings, four siblings and their families remain directly involved on the ranch.
“The ranch supports these families, which is a pretty incredible opportunity for us to all be able to be here working together on it,” Fitzpatrick said.
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At the time of their father’s passing, the siblings were at stages in their lives where they were contemplating their future paths. Together with their mother, they chose to unite and return to the ranch to carry forward its legacy. Each sibling assumed a role on the ranch that aligned with their strengths and passions. Today, all five of the siblings, their spouses and families live within 30 miles of each other and are all involved in ranching, either on the family ranch or on their own.
“I’m so appreciative to Mom and Dad for having trained us at that young age to be ready to step into some roles that require a fair amount of everyone,” Fitzpatrick said. “All credit goes to them training up all of us to being ready to continue forward, having ran the business together in a partnership.”
Bentz acknowledged that like any family or business, challenges inevitably arise, but the family makes it a priority to work through them together. “It’s a lot easier to work together instead of against each other, because it takes more energy to fight,” she said. Respect and trust in one another’s abilities goes a long way.
Alongside cultivating strong relationships with family and neighbors, Bentz highlights their shared Christian faith as a core value. “There’s nothing we can take to heaven but the relationships we build here on earth,” Bentz said. “And if you’re fighting and struggling, it’s just not that much fun in a work environment.”
Fitzpatrick added, “We always knew that the relationship of our family was the most important thing and that we never wanted anything to come in the way of that, even the ranch’s legacy.”
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Nearly a decade after Mike’s passing, the family is actively engaged in shaping their succession plan. “It’s time for them to grow their own families in new ways,” Bentz said. “I think it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for each family to look to see how they are going to manage their own ranches in the future and to successfully pass on to their kids.”
The next generation is already flourishing, with 12 grandchildren in the family.
As far as the evolution of the ranching industry goes, the mother-daughter pair is optimistic for the future.
“We all have a pioneer spirit within us, we are strong people,” Bentz said. “I think we need to always look at that—our strengths and not our weaknesses—and look toward pioneering new solutions to our problems of today.”
Fitzpatrick added, “Anyone who’s here in the industry today is, by definition, resilient already. We just have to continue to build in that resilience for the coming generations to be able to withstand whatever changes come.”
There is a silver lining to the family’s story—this spring, Bentz married Rich Rice from Clements, CA, who also experienced similar loss in his life.
