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Shaw Cattle Company is owned and operated by Greg and Cleo Shaw along with sons and daughters-in-law Sam & Janel and Tucker & Angie. The operation is headquartered in southwest Idaho about 40 miles west of Boise.
This is a seedstock operation that consists of approximately 350 Hereford cows, 300 Angus, and 150 Red Angus. Herefords have been the backbone of the operation for over 50 years with Red Angus added in 1991 and Angus added in 1997.
The cow herd is wintered and calved at the headquarters and the spring calving herds are taken to Cascade to graze mountain pastures for the summer months.
This is a working cattle operation with the right kind of philosophy. Their cattle must be sound, hard-working, and unpampered to suit the Shaw Cattle Co breeding program. |
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Soulen Livestock is headquartered in Weiser but like many western operations, they pasture some livestock far from home. Their range is 180 miles in length. Lambs are trucked from summer range in the fall when they are weaned but other livestock are trailed.
The operation consists of about 1000 commercial cows and 8000 ewes. The ewes are lambed in April on open range near Weiser and moved to McCall about June 10 where they graze on private land for about a month and then move to national forest about July 10. Lambs are weaned the end of September. They feed a portion of those themselves and sell the balance through Superior Livestock.
The ewes stay on the mountain until late October and then are trailed down. In mid December they move to the high desert where they graze until the end of February at which time they are moved back to Weiser and shorn.
Margaret Soulen-Hinson is a third generation livestock producer and her husband Joe graduated in 1971 from WVU in forestry. |
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Highlights from the 2006 WVCA Tour. |
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Soulen Livestock - Weiser, ID |
Shaw Cattle Company - Caldwell, ID |
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Idaho and Oregon Snapshots |
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Upper Left - Hyde Church
Upper Right - Galena Pass
Left - Lamb barbeque at Soulen Livestock
Below Left - Entrance to Collett Ranch; 1000 cows in Oreana, ID
Below Right - Entrance to Hyde Ranch (Bill & Bev White; 250 Angus cows on irrigated pasture and high desert BLM lands.
Bottom - Group photo at Soulen Livestock |
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David and Ann run 1000 cows, mostly on high desert and make some hay for winter feed, but also graze during the winter. They live in a remote area of Owyhee County and drive seventy-five mile to get to the grocery store. Their two sons are also active in the ranch operation. The Rutans market their calves through Superior’s Winnemucca, NV sale.
While visiting with David and Ann, we also met Tim Lowry (photo below). Tim has been very active in the Owyhee Initiative; several groups sought wilderness designation for one-million acres in Owyhee. Tim and others have worked to identify 500,000 acres for this designation |
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Jerry runs approximately 250 Hereford cows in Owyhee County. This was the only operation that we visited that is located entirely on deeded land. Owyhee County is 73% government land. |
Jerry Hoagland - Wilson, ID |
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David and Ann Rutan - Jordan Valley, OR |
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Mike is a rancher, historian, writer, blacksmith and restorer of transportation used in the old west. He describes the Jordan Valley/ Owyhee area as the old west. Among his restorations are two stage coaches and a wagon that his ancestors used to travel from Virginia to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. He runs approximately 1000 cows. |
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Mike Hanley - Jordan Valley, OR |
