150,000-Acre Historic Eastern Oregon Ranch
Certified Organic
McEwen Ranch Becomes Largest Pure
Organic Angus Ranch in Country
BURNS,
Ore., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The historic McEwen Ranch
announces today its 150,000 plus acres have been certified organic
by the USDA's National Organic Program. This is the culmination
of a three-year process during which the land must be free of
all chemical inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
With its organic certification, the McEwen ranch, which at one
time was a part of the historic Miller-Lux cattle empire of the
late 1800's, is believed to be the largest organic-certified ranch
in the United States. It is also one of the finest organic grass
ranches in the Pacific Northwest, with extensive and high-quality
native grass cover throughout. The managers of the ranch have
negotiated an exclusive deal with Dakota Beef, the nation's leading
organic beef provider, for all the cattle the ranch can produce.
The organic certification
of the McEwen Ranch marks an important step forward for the organic
beef industry. "The issue with organic cattle isn't about
the quantity of supply," said Dennis Crowell, manager of
the McEwen Ranch. "The issue has been a quality of supply
and we intend for this ranch to change that." The McEwen
Ranch currently has the capacity for up to 5,000 head of organic
cattle and with modest additional capital investment and increased
staffing, the ranch has the grass and water capacity to significantly
increase the amount of organic cattle that can be raised on the
land. "It's time for the organic beef industry to shift the
paradigm and start to focus on quality, rather than trying to
get the green stamp on just any piece of beef," Explained
Matt Grove, President of Dakota Beef LLC. "The tremendous
quality of these McEwen cattle is what makes this deal so important
to Dakota Beef," he added.
To ensure only
the highest quality cattle will graze on these prime ranch lands,
the managers of the McEwen Ranch have spent the past year working
closely with the Bill Davis, owner of the Rollin' Rock Ranch and
Chairman of the Certified Angus Beef Board of Directors, who produces
performance breeders of premium certified Angus bulls and have
provided the ranch with all the bulls for its operation. The Rollin'
Rock and Hinman Angus have a combined 85 year history of selective
breeding of certified Angus cattle. "We're extremely proud
to have provided the McEwen Ranch with outstanding bulls from
our seed stock for its Oregon ranch lands," said Bill Davis.
"The McEwen Ranch has taken a huge step towards controlling
the largest quantity of certified organic Angus cattle in the
country," he added. The first Angus bulls were brought to
the United States from Scotland in 1873. These hearty cattle can
thrive in a wide variety of challenging environments and are prized
for producing consistently tender, flavorful beef.
Background on The McEwen Ranch
The McEwen Ranch represents a remarkable assemblage, consisting
of numerous significant ranches within its boundaries that would
be virtually impossible to create today. The McEwen is a true
heritage ranch, steeped in the history of the Old West. It's home
to several noteworthy historic corrals, homesteads and other sites
of historic importance. The ranch lands were once hunting grounds
for the Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock tribes and was also the location
of historic British Hudson's Bay Company and American fur-trapping
expeditions in the 1820's. The lands, 90 miles west of Boise,
ID, are also the site of a historic military wagon road constructed
shortly after the end of the Civil War and were at one time home
to the historic "Flying T" and "Diamond J"
brands.
Today, the McEwen
is one of the largest working cattle ranches in the Pacific Northwest,
comprising approximately 150,000 acres of rugged and spectacular
western landscape. Its low-valley areas (3,400 ft. elevation)
offer outstanding wintering for cattle due to mild climate. It
combines the qualities of a superior cattle ranch with a game
preserve and recreational retreat, and possesses exceptional habitat
for big game, upland birds and native fish. Ranging in elevation
from 3,400 feet to 6,037 feet above sea level, this magnificent
grasslands, rugged mountains, far-reaching juniper forests, broad
valleys and spectacular canyons. The Property includes 50,217
acres of deeded land, grazing rights to approximately 100,000
acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, and extensive water
and mineral rights throughout.
Dakota Beef LLC is the leading certified organic beef company
in the country, operating its own USDA-inspected and certified
organic processing plant in Howard, South Dakota. Founded in 2000,
the company only sells certified organic beef products guaranteed
to be free of antibiotics and growth-promoting hormones. Dakota
Beef cattle are meticulously raised and well cared for, resulting
in consistently flavorful and tender beef.
SOURCE Second Oregon LLC
PR Newswire Association LLC, Distribution
Services Department, 810 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019
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