Young member completes month-long working trip to Oregon

Nathanael worked on baling hay for export to the Japanese horse racing market

In June, young Hereford breeder Nathanael, 16, took on a month long self-funded working trip to learn about cattle farming in Oregon, USA. Here he details what he got up to, and how farming near the canyons differs from life at home in Wales.

Nathanael says: “I travelled to Enterprise in Oregon, USA, to visit family friends and to experience the agricultural world internationally. I was involved in their large-scale hay harvest and experienced the cattle ranching industry, which was all very different to British agriculture due to the difference in climate and landscape.

“The area that I stayed in was a large, flat area around 4,000ft above sea level with small towns. Farms at this level had large fields for crops and cattle, most of which are irrigated due to the lack of rainfall during the summer months. I was also near some canyons, the most notable is called Hells Canyon with its lowest point of the Snake River at around 1,100ft above sea level, and the highest peaks either side extending up to 9,000 feet.

“The cattle ranching system in this part of the USA is very different to the average beef herd in the UK due to the large areas of wild country that have little grass. The system I studied involved three different herds from different ranchers working together on 70,000 acres with the cattle year-round. The cycle begins in October when they gather the 500 breeding females and wean their calves over 30 to 45 days. Those calves stay to be fed and sold to finishing units, which is typically sold as high-quality, grass-fed meat for supermarkets.

"The cows leave on foot by late November to head down to the canyons, and this takes around one month altogether. The reason for this is because it tends to be much warmer lower down in the canyon, where the snow is only in small amounts, meaning it is much kinder on the cattle. The cattle are watched by workers and are slowly moved along to fresh pasture and are provided with salt blocks.

“The cows calve between February and March, unassisted. In May they begin their trip back to the high country and this takes them one to two months, then once they arrive, they stay there till October and the cycle begins again. Almost all cattle handling is done manually, and often on horseback.

Cows are predominantly Hereford and Angus crosses, with other breeds mixed in

“They run multiple different crossbreeds of cattle to achieve a hardy cow and calf that can survive the harsh conditions of winter months. One of the cross breeds liked is the Angus-Hereford cross cow that is then put to a Hereford bull for the calf. This creates an easy care, hardy but docile mix. There are also multiple other mixes of breeds used including Simmental, Charolais, Red Angus, Gelbvieh and Tarentaise. There are also 60 pure commercial Hereford breeding cows used as a base to create the mixes of breeds.

Timothy hay was baled at below 11% moisture to prevent risk of fire in the humid shipping containers

Alfalfa hay irrigation

“I also experienced some of the business’ arable side and was baling Timothy hay, which is a high input crop to produce super high-quality hay for racehorses. The hay I harvested is likely to be shipped to Japan for the very popular horse racing industry there. This hay must be below 11% moisture due to the high humidity in the shipping containers, to prevent risk of fire. I also was involved in the irrigation of alfalfa hay and moving the wheel lines with sprinklers up and down the fields.

“The trip overall was very enjoyable for me. I feel so privileged to experience all that I did in such an amazing location. I would like to give my sincere thanks to the Traditional Hereford Breeders’ Club for its support and encouragement.”