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12 April 2017

By Lilly Brogger

Wyoming is cow country — historic ranches steeped in the culture of cattlemen andcowboys dot the plains of the windy sagebrush covered state. Major towns aresplit by hundreds of miles; some call it desolate, but this open space is actually

acres of productive grassland, a resource T&T Cattle Company takes full advantage of. Finding the balance between progress and tradition has pushed Wyoming natives Bobbyand Brendan Thoman to take a critical look at the beef industry. A market crash forced thefamily to sell their cattle in the 1990s and the brothers found themselves wanting to con-tinue the family’s ranching tradition without being at the mercy of the oftentimes tumul-tuous cattle market. This led them to marketing grass-fed genetics and eventually packagedbeef. Antibiotics, preventatives and grain have no place at T&T Cattle Company but not forthe popular reasons; their methods are just as much about the sustainability of their ranchand cattle as selling a natural product. They start with genetics, and practice intense man-agement focused on building herd immunity and cows that can fend for themselves andminimize input costs. Highly number driven, they keep detailed records, and have earnedstatus as an ASA Performance Advocate (PA).

Grass Fed, Fleckvieh Bred

History The ranch, T&T Cattle Company, began four genera-tions ago. Bobby and Brendan’s paternal great-grand-father settled near Kemmerer, Wyoming, brought by oiland coal and their grandfather worked as a carpenter onwooden drill rigs. Their maternal great-grandfather wasa butcher, using his livestock to stock his small store inKemmerer, which lasted until big stores closed theirdoors in the 1980’s. The family obtained land and live-stock, which passed down to the next generation, andeventually Bobby and Brendan’s parents, Bob and Kelly. Bob and Kelly married in 1976, and started runningHerefords alongside her family’s cattle. She learned toAI, and they began using Fleckvieh bulls. They soonkept around 30 cows to use exclusively for raising bulls.By the mid 80’s, they ran over 400 head of commercialcows. In the mid-90’s, they purchased heifers and bredthem with the intention of turning them over as bredheifers, but a market crash forced them to sell all of their cattle to recover their lost investment.

The ranch remained in the family, and after bothBobby and Brendan finished studying engineering at the University of Wyoming, they decided to return tothe lifestyle they grew up with. Brendan worked as amine engineer but jumped on the opportunity to beginranching again, “I couldn’t see myself continuing therelong term, it was great, but I always had a passion forcattle and ranching.” The brothers purchased three registered heifers in the fall of 2009 and began working towards building abusiness. Their focus on a grass-fed market grew from a combination of environment, seeing value in alterna-tive management methods and building a stable mar-ket. “We were looking to avoid all the pitfalls ourparents had fallen into — the market fluctuations, andthe boom-bust cycles. We started looking at the marketaspects first, how to build a market that wouldn’tdepend on what the price of cattle were at the salebarn,” explained Bobby.

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Two brothers focus on the basics of ranching in Wyoming, finding success in grass-fed genetics and beef.

High Desert Home Two-hundred miles splits the ranch, one part beingthe original place near Kemmerer, located in the South-west corner of the state, and the rest near Riverton, inthe center of Wyoming. Bobby and Brendan’s parentsstarted at the place near Kemmerer, which Bobbydescribes as high-desert rangeland, “It’s very tough tomake a living out there, it’s good ranch country butpeople were trying to farm it.” He recalled his parentsalways buying hay and looking for land where theycould raise their own. This led them to Riverton, whichnow makes up the other piece of the ranch. This combination of land works well for raisinggrass-fed beef; the high elevation rangeland makes idealsummer country, which the self-sufficient cattle are wellsuited for, while the alfalfa serves both as hay groundand pasture for finishing steers. “This area is unique inthat we can finish steers a lot faster. Most people aretaking 24 months and our average is around 18 to 19,”explained Bobby.

Attention to Detail While the history of T&T Cattle Company followed a traditional path, the current management does not.Bobby and Brendan are intense managers and havebuilt a herd that minimizes input costs and labor. Their 100 head of registered Simmental, Red Angus and Angus cross cows now require little day-to-daymanagement, calving on their own and allowing both to work part-time jobs. Detailed records are kept on every animal and main-tained throughout their productive lives. All replace-ment animals are ultra-sounded and these numbers are used in addition to EPDs to decide which geneticsshould be used. “We do ribeye-to-weight ratios on theheifers, and if we have heifers that ratio low for back-fat, that means they’re poor doing and we’ll cut themout,” explained Bobby. He acknowledges the power ofnumbers, but still takes a close look at the animal aswell, “We believe form follows function”.

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A half Fleckvieh cow and her quarterFleckvieh bull calf on summer grass.

A quarter Fleckvieh heifer.

From the Inside The Thoman brothers believe herd health should be managedfrom the inside out — no pour on, dewormer, antibiotics, or vac-cines are used. If an animal truly needs antibiotics, the animal getstreated and marked as such to ensure exclusion from the grass-fedprogram. Culling consistently wormy cows and focusing on nutri-tion allowed the phasing out of these imputs. Apple cider vinegar is fed free-choice to all animals and used forits nutritional value and to promote digestion. “Our biggest improve-ments came when we started using apple cider vinegar,” relatedBobby. “As our mineral program got better, we were able to back offall our vaccines”. A trace mineral sea salt is used and mixed withRedmond clay, a toxin binder preventing bloating and carrying tox-ins, like those from harmful weeds or mold, out of their system. Abaking soda and a kelp mineral mix adds to these tools. Cattle arenot confined, which the brothers also attribute much of their herdhealth to, as well as the consistent selection of “healthy genetics”. Finished beef is labeled as “non-GMO”, since cattle graze on non-

GMO alfalfa, and when asked about the general publics percep-tion, Bobby and Brendan both believe that thematter comes down to promotion, not necessarilyhealth. They note the profit big businesses havecreated and much like their genetic choices, theyevaluate for themselves whether or not new isalways better. “It’s funny how you didn’t needthese things 20 or 30 years ago, but all of a suddenyou need them today, so what are we missing nowthat we had then?” asked Brendan. “When there are health concerns, it’s better to err on the side ofcaution,” Bobby added.

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The cowherd also gets a yearly evaluation,“When a cow calves, she gets evaluated onmothering ability, disposition, udder size, teatsize and then we give them an overall ratingfor udders. If there is anything that needs help they’re on our target list,” said Bobby, “I use progeny records to rate all my bulls onudders. If we can’t help the next guy fix udderproblems then the bull becomes a steer.” This record-keeping has earned them sta-tus as an ASA Performance Advocate (PA),recognizing breeders consistently submittingdata on calving ease, birth weight, weaningweight, yearling weight, yearling hip heightand ultrasound data.

Grass Fed, Fleckvieh Bred

Bobby and his wife, Erica, with their children,

(left to right) Tallon, Averee, and Caden.

Brendan and his wife, Ira.The Thoman family; Bobby and Brendan are two of twelve kids. They attribute theranch’s success to help from their family.

Grass Fed, Fleckvieh BredOld-School Genetics When it came to choosing genetics, theyfound many flaws in modern breeds of allkinds because of their adaptability to feed-lots and dependence upon grain to finish.They looked to the Fleckvieh their parentshad utilized to tap into the “old-school”genetics they believed would work for theirland and towards their goals. “When wewere looking at grass-fed genetics, we knewwe needed something that would flesh easy,since we don’t have grain to keep things fat,we don’t even use silage,” explained Bobby.They started with Red Angus cows, butwanted more rib-eye and thickness. Today their main herd bull, OCR Roy 116Y,is three-quarters Red Angus, one-quarter Fleckvieh Simmental, and bred by Ohlde CattleCompany. “They’re also a great maternal cow,the cross seems to really click,” said Bobby. “I think a lot of the problem with moderngenetics, and I don’t think it’s anyone’s faultparticularly, but they’re bred for the feedlot,which promotes big carcasses, and they don’twant guts because that’s a byproduct, thatcosts them money,” said Bobby, “The ranchersells calves in the fall and has to keep hiscows year round. A cow needs a lot of capac-ity to be able to stay fat on a grass-only diet.” The cows are moderate in frame, whichBobby and Brendan think is fundamentallyimportant for good cattle, but also note, “Ingrass-fed beef, and in anything where you’retrying to get the cows to work for you,

they need to be more moderate.” TheThomans are weaning 650 pound calves off1,100 pound cows, and measure cow-to-calfweight ratios to make sure each cow ispulling her weight. “If they can’t raise a calf,I’m not going to prop them up,” said Bobby.Brendan partially attributes their small cow’sability to raise a big calf to fat content in theirmilk. They test “A2A2” in each cow, whichmeasures a specific protein in milk. The brothers also look to the overall sustainability of their ranch and practicemanagement they see beneficial for agricul-ture as a whole. They point to the improved fertility of grass-raised bulls, and have customers throughout the West seeking out their genetics. “We look at the customerto give them a quality bull, if they do investthen they’ll see the benefit,” said Brendan. “Being engineers, sometimes we try toengineer our cattle,” laughed Bobby. Thisengineering has built a successful businessfor the brothers, who are currently putting all profits back into the ranch until they’vebuilt enough business to support their fami-lies. They successfully market ready-to-cookgrass-fed beef, even delivering locally, andoffer a guarantee to buy back any beef cus-tomers are unsatisfied with. Their alternativemethods of management combine with theirtraditional agricultural upbringing to create a unique, sustainable business offering a

new perspective on the beef industry.

Bobby and Brendan bothemphasized that raisingcattle can be profitable andenjoyable. “Our goal is toraise cattle that are balancedin all traits,” said Bobby,“The tendency of humannature is to chase extremes,or the ‘next best thing’. Wehave to stay focused onour goals and makingbreeding decisions carefully.” ◆

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OCR Roy 116Y has been a key

sire for T&T Cattle Company.

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