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Farm-to-table grass-fed beef ranch near Sundre carves out niche

As almost any rancher will attest, a cowboy’s work is never done.

As almost any rancher will attest, a cowboy’s work is never done.

And as James van Staalduinen of Tall Timber Cattle Co. describes the ins and outs of running his cattle operation near Sundre during the Alberta Open Farm Days open house tour on Aug. 13, it’s clear there’s no time to waste.

What’s also evident is just how much he loves what he does – providing hormone- and drug-free grass-fed beef directly to his customers.

He’s producing farm-to-table, local, ethical, and grass-finished cuts of beef. Raising cattle is in his blood.

After a crash course in the nuts and bolts of rearing cattle – he covers everything from castrating and branding to haying, calving, feeding, range management, and repairing equipment – he shuts off the side-by-side in the tall aspen and spruce bush to admire a group of cows as they lap up the salt he’s just brought them.

After a couple of quiet moments, he makes a point of describing how he feels about it all when he takes the time to admire his stock.

“This is the best part – don’t let anyone tell you different,” he says, as he sits watching the cattle.

“Nothing’s broke. And look at those nice cattle we produced.”

He said his cows all have personalities. He has one who wants to be scratched every day.

And they can all present unique challenges. Some will not feed as well in winter as they do in summer, for example.

“Some cows draw down in the winter and you can see bones, which, as a rancher, you don’t want to see,” van Staalduinen said.

“So, you’re looking for cows that are hardy, and in calving season you don’t have to worry about them,” he said.

Their herd of approximately 140 head are made up of breeds van Staalduinen describes as Commercial Angus – black white-faced, and red white-faced.

If a cow gets sick and needs to be treated with any kind of injection, the animal is removed from the chain that supplies their on-site beef store and will be sold to another market, eventually ending up in a grocery store.

They’ve sold whole or part animals as far away as Drayton Valley and Edmonton, but he said they do their best business in places like Cochrane and Airdrie. Customers can go online to make an order, and have it delivered right to their door.

Van Staalduinen said one of the advantages of the farm-to-table approach is they avoid outside market forces that can make a rancher’s life miserable, such as suddenly changing input costs that vary with world events.

“I get to be the grocery store, and set my price, having worked through the numbers and knowing what I need out of that cow to make a living,” he said.

Working as hard as he does, he said it’s only fair that he makes a living wage.

The good-natured 29-year-old has a little brother who is an accountant in Toronto. The accountant likes to tease his rancher brother about how busy he always says he is.

“He says, ‘You’re always busy, busy, busy – busy getting coffee, busy driving around, busy doing nothing,’” he laughs.

Van Staalduinen doesn’t envy his little brother’s financial well-being.

“He does better than me, but I have more fun,” he said, adding he’s building a community of support with local customers.

“They get really good beef, they know their farmer, they can feel really good about what’s in their kids’ stomachs, and I’m making enough to survive,” he said.

To learn more about Tall Timber Cattle Co., go to talltimbercattleco.com.


Howard May

About the Author: Howard May

Howard was a journalist with the Calgary Herald and with the Abbotsford Times in BC, where he won a BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Association award for best outdoor writing.
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