Features

A land of good cattle, good grass and good people—what few people there are

As the 46th least-populated state in the U.S., South Dakota is prime country for agriculture.

With the recent downturn in market prices, producers are looking for ways to add value to their calves before they hit the market. One alternative is backgrounding. Cimarron River Cattle Company, a custom feeding operation near Kismet, Kansas, specializes in backgrounding calves and preparing them for the feedlot.

Southern Utah – where Indians scribed their history on cliffs, Butch Cassidy hid from the law, and John Wayne became the Duke. The area has been known as the land of cowboys and Indians.

When God made man,
He seemed to think it best
To make him in the East,
And let him travel west.
– Anonymous

So the story of Josh Eilers goes like this: Eilers, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Texas and a returned U.S. Army Ranger, is sitting in a bar and chatting with an attractive blonde.

With the recent fall of cattle prices, producers everywhere are looking for ways to make extra money from their quality beef. Jimmy Taylor, who runs roughly 12,000 acres of leased and owned ground with a herd of approximately 600 cattle near Cheyenne, Oklahoma, collects premiums on carcass quality by focusing on genetics to produce top-grade beef.