My visit to 6 Ranch

Last year, I read a notice on a Google group I'm a member of, about purchasing beef from a rancher in Eastern Oregon. We did, and greatly enjoyed it. This year the ranchers, Craig and Liza Jane Nichols offered a barbecue and tour of 6 Ranch for those who were interested. My mother and Aunts also bought beef from 6 Ranch and so we made our way to Enterprise Oregon for the weekend. The tour of the ranch was a highlight of the trip.

Corriente are often used for the rodeo, but they are delicious to eat too.
Liza Jane Nichols is a fourth generation rancher. She took over 6 Ranch from her parents.
This is the old farmhouse. One of their daughters is in culinary school and they are hoping to fix up the farmhouse someday for a restaurant and guesthouse.
This is Liza Jane.
And here is Craig.
We began our tour at the old farmhouse where we learned the history of the ranch and how the Nichols family began raising Corriente beef for sale. The family used to raise beef cattle. Liza Jane stayed home with their three children and Craig worked as a cowboy for hire. He would be home for three to four days and then gone for 10 to 15. This meant that Liza Jane did a lot of the ranch work herself.

Beef cattle, need a lot of support, from vaccinations to helping the cows give birth. Craig knew about Corriente from the rodeo, and so they began raising Corriente along with their beef cattle. The Corriente were raised for the rodeo, while the beef were raised for eating.

Corriente cattle came over from Spain in the 1500s. The Spanish turned a lot of them loose and through the centuries, they have taken care of themselves. In Florida they are called "Cracker Cattle" and in Baja they are known as "chinampo." All of the terms mean the same thing--they are essentially the white trash cattle. They are smaller than beef cattle, and they will eat anything, but they prefer scrub. Craig said that when they try to run them near the river, where the nice, lush grass is, the cattle climb above that, to the hillsides where the scrub is. Also, because they are so small, they can negotiate the hills surrounding 6 Ranch better.

Craig and Liza started eating Corriente Beef and enjoyed it. For several years their friends and family members enjoyed the beef and last year was the first year they sold to the general public. I enjoyed it last year too.

Over the years, they shifted more and more of their operation away from beef cattle and more toward Corriente and every year they were a little more in the black. Because the Corriente cattle needed so little care, Craig was able to stay on the ranch full time and Liza Jane was able to get a job outside the ranch. She currently works for the Nature Conservatory, when she isn't working on the ranch.

After learning about the ranch, we met the "ranch hands." Aside from Craig, Liza Jane and their three children, these dogs are the only ranch employees.

They were very excited to start work.

Here, they have moved the cattle over to the fence. They are making eye contact and getting the cows ready to move to the pen.

The cows are on the move.

The dogs herd the cattle where they want them.

And right into the pen.

Here is our first look at the Corriente cows. These are the yearlings, and the cows are used for the rodeo. Next year, they will be sold for meat.

After watching the ranch hands work, we went across the highway to see the watershed restoration. Liza Jane was really excited about this.
This is the cabin Liza Jane's parents built. The creek that runs next to the property was "channelized" to build the highway next to it and to prevent flooding. The straight line the creek now runs in does that, but it also makes it difficult for fish habitat. Cobe Menton works for the Grande Ronde Model Watershed and he encourages landowners to rehabilitate the water on their land so there is more habitat for everyone.

Liza Jane explains about the changes.

Cobe's son looked for bugs while his father explained the work that was done on this section.

My Aunt examines a bug

Attempts are made to get the dog to eat various bugs and worms, but the dog isn't interested.

This bend in the creek you see was recently created. Where the creek used to be a straight line, it now has five "bends". This helps the river run at different rates and gives fish a place to rest. All the muddy spaces you see will be planted with vegetation and next year you won't be able to see straight down the channel.
Every place there is a little whitecap, something has been placed there to cause the whitecap.
There are also resting places built in.
You can see where the new banks are. They are already growing new vegetation.
More new banks.
Three lovely ladies by the banks.
My mom liked this rock.

Here I am in front of the bend.
I was very excited to see these railroad cars because I read about them in the paper. The county bought the railroad tracks and then leased them for storage of these cars. The cars are all along the road to Enterprise. Residents aren't thrilled they are there, and they do mar the view.
When they raised beef cattle, this was used as a chute for vaccinations. With the Corriente needing so little care, it is rarely used.
I could tell by the way that Craig and Liza Jane talked about their ranch that they enjoy their living.
Liza Jane and Craig traded a parcel of land for this parcel which includes a barn and riding ring.
More corriente. Beef cattle at this age are usually slaughtered, but because the corriente are smaller, they grow for another year before slaughter.
The 6 Ranch brand.
Liza Jane and Craig tell us more about the raising of the cattle. When it is time for slaughter, they have a man who comes to their ranch. They usually do about six at a time. The cattle are calm, having not been transported anywhere, and their man is so quick the last one is just becoming aware that something is up when he goes down.
The meat is processed in a facility in Wallowa, then packed, frozen and boxed for each customer. Having read the Ominvore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I asked if they would benefit from a USDA approved mobile butcher. Right now, the USDA has no mobile butchers, but I had read that small farm operations would like to see something like that developed. The Nichols agreed. The success of their operation depends on two men: the man who slaughters the cows and the man who packages them. If something were to happen to them, they would have a difficult time processing their meat.
Me on the ranch.
We liked the dogs, but one of them rolled in manure and was suddenly not so popular.
Next came the barbecue at the house.
One view from their house.
And another stunning view.
My very delicious dinner. Featuring, of course, hamburgers from the ranch.
They also had chickens.
I'm not a huge Georga O'Keefe fan, but I was drawn to these skulls.
These corrente calves were rasied by a milk cow.
Here's the hearty foster mother.
I had never seen these, and had to ask what they were. Apparently the ground isn't good enough to sink a posthole, so instead, these are built to hold up the fence.
This is why this is ranching country, not farming country.
Craig & Liza Jane's son. He will be the fifth generaton rancher.
Relaxing after the meal.
This couple was from Portland too. From them I learned about being a veteranarian at the Zoo.
A short nap was in order after the sun and the meal.
Craig got out his guitar and sang us songs he had written. They were witty and one of them included yodeling.(!)
It was a perfect day.
To learn more about 6 Ranch, you can visit their web site at http://www.6ranch.com/index.html