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The I-70 drive through semi-arid eastern Colorado could seem stark to some, but waiting on the west side of Limon is a hidden gem on the High Plains where surface water may be short, but a love for the land and quality Red Angus genetics runs deep at River Bend Ranch. For nearly 40 years, Joe Frasier and his family have taken a holistic approach to managing their land resources. He and his two brothers realized early on that to be successful in an area with only 14 inches of annual precipitation, they would need to operate in a way that encouraged good grass growth and allowed for necessary rest.
Cattle on the River Bend Ranch graze rangeland divided into 78 paddocks, some as small as 10 acres near working facilities, but most ranging from 110 to 200 acres. Many are set up like wagon wheels, with a water source in the middle and fences serving as the spokes. Depending on current conditions, cattle are moved every four to eight days to maximize the available nutrients, plant growth and biodiversity in each paddock.
“Our grazing rotations are important to our overall ranch philosophy and management system,” Frasier said. “Not only have we been able to improve the different species of grasses that we have, but there’s also been several droughty years that we’ve been able to extend our grazing beyond what others have because we have stockpiles that we’ve been resting.”
Frasier’s daughter, Kelsey Pope, said the most recent ongoing drought has been especially tough, but her family’s history of forage management allows for a quicker recovery when the moisture does come. “We essentially want the cattle to take one bite off of a plant—basically giving it a haircut—and then move on to the next one to really help keep the grass at its best,” she said. “Then when we get a couple inches of rain, everything greens up pretty fast. It really doesn’t take much for it to bounce back; it’s a challenge but it’s also a blessing that we can survive on so little.”
In addition to learning how to properly manage their forage resources, the Frasiers set out to improve their genetics with a breed that would increase carcass merit and that could easily adapt to the sometimes challenging environmental conditions. Red Angus fit the bill.
“Red Angus cattle work really well here in our high-pasture area at 5,500 to 5,600 feet elevation,” Frasier said. “They are moderate-sized and are really good about going out and grazing. They’re not in an area with a lot of fescue or Bermuda that’s easy to graze; they have to go out and work it and they do that.”
As a stocker and small commercial cow-calf operation, the family introduced their first Red Angus genetics in the early 1980s. Over time, the Frasier brothers began operating independently, and today, Frasier and his wife, Cindy, run Red Angus cow-calf herds with their son, Ryan and his wife, Lindsay; Pope and her husband, Ronny; and five young grandchildren. Their daughter, Emily Frasier, works in the landscape design industry in Olathe, KS, but has an interest in ranch activities and owns cattle that run with the family herd.
River Bend Ranch is managed in three herds—heifers, embryo recips and mature cows—and each group is AI’d about two weeks apart to help ease labor strain during calving season. “We initially went to all AI because we were a commercial test herd for Red Angus for about 10 years and provided our collected data on young bulls to help prove their genetic merit,” Pope said. “Although we are no longer a test herd, we saw the value in that process and use it to continue making genetic improvements to our herd.” To best utilize available forages and meet cows’ nutritional requirements throughout the year, calving at River Bend Ranch runs mid-April to mid-June. Calves are placed on a VAC 45 pre-weaning vaccination program and then branded and fence-line weaned in November. While the family often retains ownership, calves are also enrolled in the Red Angus Feeder Calf Certification Program to provide flexibility in marketing opportunities.
Calves are backgrounded on the ranch and eventually sent to feed yards in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. Naturally produced fed cattle—those raised without injectable antibiotics or growth hormones—are marketed to Meyer Natural Foods and are required to live 75% of their lives outside of a confined pen and can only receive basic respiratory, clostridial and corona vaccinations. Meyer adheres to the Global Animal Partnership sustainability and stewardship program, which requires an extensive audit of humane handling, herd health and nutrition protocols every 15 months.
To help accommodate the auditing process and to improve overall management of their herds, the family uses a robust cloud-based record keeping system to track calving and weaning dates and weights, vaccinations and herd health records, breeding and pedigree records and sold animals.
They have also started their own successful branded beef program, Private Label Locker Beef, which Frasier said continues to grow by word-of-mouth advertising. “We’re only an hour from Denver and had some friends there who originally approached us about selling our beef directly to them, and now the word just continues to spread,” he said. “We really look at it as an opportunity to talk with our urban customers about the whole beef cycle and have even invited some of them out to the ranch for tours.
“We’ve had visitors who were very interested in knowing about our antibiotic usage and overall approach to caring for the animals, and our record keeping system made it pretty easy to show them it’s something we take very seriously.”
With a commitment to environmental stewardship and sound animal husbandry practices at the forefront of their operation, River Bend Ranch was recently awarded the distinguished 2022 Beef Quality Assurance Cow-Calf Award. The recognition is a culmination of the low-stress handling techniques, cattle health management protocols and enhanced record keeping efforts that Frasier and Pope said come natural on their ranch.
From the rotational paddock system that creates opportunities to handle the cattle more often, to the portable corral system complete with Bud Box and Silencer animal restraint device, Frasier said reducing animal stress is always the goal. “Most of our cows get to a point where they see us coming, and internally, they know it’s time to move to new grass,” he said. “Even when we’re leading them into a working facility, they know something is going to happen but they remain calm.”
He also attributes much of his family’s success with the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program to having the same veterinarian for nearly 20 years. “A strong veterinarian relationship is an important step in BQA and has really helped our family establish certain criteria for administering antibiotics, and if there’s a treatment to be made, how to do it and document it correctly,” he said.
As the fifth generation of the Frasier family becomes active on the ranch, Pope said BQA principles are key in teaching proper handling techniques, where and when vaccinations and antibiotics should be given, and how to best respect the animals.
“Our entire family is BQA certified, and we have welfare practices in place because we think it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “It’s also important for our industry as a whole, especially to show consumers that this is something we do voluntarily to go a step above to care for our animals and produce safe and nutritious beef.
“We feel very blessed to be living this lifestyle and want to ensure that we are sustainable enough for the next generation to have the same opportunity.” — Macey Mueller for the Red Angus Magazine
