I didn’t grow up on a ranch. I’d always dreamed about living on one though. I majored in Animal Science at Clemson University and learned many of the ins and outs of running a ranch, but it wasn’t until I moved to my husbands ranch that I was able to start to grasp the practicalities of every day life on a ranch.
Ty’s parents didn’t raise cattle but he came from generations of cowboys and cowgirls. He learned about raising cattle from different people he looked up to. He asked questions to a lot of old-timers. He started buying cattle when he was 18. It was a way to invest the money he was winning in the rodeo arena and it was a lifestyle he always wanted. His dream from when he was a little boy was to have a ranch. The cows will never pay for the cost of the land, but the cows pay for the maintenance and care of it. It takes a lot to operate so much land and the cows are what pay to operate the ranch and for the equipment.
We run a cow/calf operation at the TY Ranch. We have 250 head of mother Angus cows and about 10 charlois bulls. Every spring we turn the bulls out with the cows, they breed, and the calves start arriving in December for spring calving season. The calves will grow and we will sell them in the fall. The longer we keep them on the ranch, the bigger they will get and the more money the will bring because cattle are sold per pound. If we have a really dry summer and the grass doesn’t grow sometimes Ty has to sell the calves in late summer because there isn’t enough for them to eat. During bad droughts, Ty sometimes has to sell some of the Mama cows as well because the land can’t provide.
Our ranch is 2,800 acres with 8 native grass pastures and 350 acres of hay pastures we can rotate them through. As they eat what’s available in one pasture we move them to another one.
Our hay pastures are improved grass of coastal, Bermuda and Klein grass. To create a hay pasture, the land has to be tilled and flat so the equipment can easily move over it. To manage these, we have to fertilize, weed kill, and sometimes spray for army worms or grasshoppers. We generally get two cuttings a year. Ty just wants to put up enough hay to feed the cows and horses which sometimes is accomplished in one cutting if we have had ample rain fall. However, we usually want two cuttings anyways because the second cutting of hay is usually better. We put up about 650 1,100 pound round bales and 1,000 square bales. Ty does the hay on the halves. Half of our hay cutting is enough to feed the ranch. Ty has an outside contractor come and cut the hay and the contractor gets the other half of the hay.
We start feeding the cows hay in November or December and we are usually done feeding hay by March, when the land provides enough grass again. We also supplement cake to our cows at this time too for extra nutrition to help them grow the calves and get through the winter. The better care you take of your cows the better care they take of you! They rebreed better, their teeth last longer, they grow stronger calves and have a longer, more productive life.
Our using horses are only fed grass and hay because that is what they are designed to burn. Our older horses are supplemented with a senior pellet that is easy to chew and digest. If our horses were really being used hard every day (pulling a plow, etc) then Ty would think about supplementing them with some form of grain.
We couldn’t ask for a better ranch manger than Heraclio, who lives on the ranch with his wife Maricela. He takes care of the ranch daily and he is just a solid man!
Read more about the ranch here!
Love your cooking Paige never in a million year .. I believe a 31 year old cook like you do Paige … God bless you in Ty .. love Ty Murray hands down on that… this here Oakley a Angel God give us all .. Happiest baby I ever seen… God is so good. Amen.. love your recipe Paige.. love keep up with you family life on the ranch.. I know all about it lol.. just thank God let me see y’all make me smile.. thank you God . Amen 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Loved all the pictures. Thanks for sharing with the fans.
You guys are living my dream!! God bless you. So glad your sharing it. I love it. I grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio. The saying is true ,”you can take the girl off the farm, but you cannot ever take the farm out of the girl”. Same goes for the ranch. I’m 85 and I still have my saddle, in the living room. I have had it since I was 11 years old. 😊 Thank you for sharing, again!!
That is so special! Thanks so much for taking the time to write 🙂
Always wanted to be on a ranch. But never made it as sickness and age crept up onus. Still like seeing pics of your ranch and Family…looking forward to more..
I’m glad you enjoy the photos! Thanks so much
Hello, I just desired to take the time to make a comment and say Ive really enjoyed reading your site. That was a really great article Please keep writing because I love your style a lot.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I really enjoy working on my blog!