Coming next week, THE AMERICAN RANCHER visits the Hill family who works together in their southwestern Colorado ranching endeavors. At the Saguache location, Gary and Alice, Corey and Aubrey, Tate and Kelly and Kristi and Josh all own land and cattle. Their land is divided into sections of range and meadows that are set among mountain peaks. To the south and west, 100's of thousands of acres of forest country of steadily increasing elevation contrasts the lower country about the home place.

The Hill family operates a large cow-calf operation of about 4000 mother cows. The cattle are primarily Angus. Tate and Kelly use Limousin cattle within their herd. Cattle in this country must be able to withstand the demands that altitude places on livestock. Using both deeded and forest permit land, the Hill family makes their operation work well. The cattle return to the lower meadows in the fall and calve in the winter. As summer sets in, branding takes place and it is a family affair. Afterwards, the cattle are trailed some 22 miles up to the high country where they range throughout the summer.

In the forest permit area, the Hill family has a rider who resides in the area and keeps an eye on the cattle as they range there for the season. Cattle are moved regularly in the mountain pastures. As we've seen before on other operations, use of forest permit areas is actually good for the land. Cattle stimulate the landscape through grazing and ranging the forests. Ranchers, who observe their cattle on these permits, also provide a watchful eye against the incidence of wildfires and other destructive problems that can arise and escalate quickly into disaster.

Saguache is a small community north of Alamosa about an hour. It's name is a Ute language word meaning "blue earth or water at blue earth." It was organized as a statutory town in the 1890's and sits at over 7000 feet. Portions of Saguache County are part of the Rio Grande National Forest. Most of the work on the Hill Land And Livestock is done by horseback.  Good horses have long been a tradition at this Colorado ranch. The summers can be hot about Saguache and timely rains are welcome. The Hill family, like most other ranchers, run a substantial hay operation. The work at bringing in the harvest is continuous and is very crucial for getting through winters where temperatures can dip 20-30 degrees below zero.

Out in this country a set of well thought out working pens makes roundup time much more efficient process.  Corey and the family will load out 20 or more truckloads of cattle at a given time. The more precise the process is, the better it is on all including the cattle. Corey and Aubrey have a great home surrounded fertile fields with a flowing stream that runs through the middle of it. Kristi and Josh live north of Saguache in the community of Nathrop. Kristi helps manage the family ranch and Josh Staudt is a representative for Superior Livestock and markets cattle for many stockmen. They have two great sons and also run cattle in Texas as well.

Since the beginning of Superior Livestock Auction, the Hill family has been customers. Each summer, usually at Steamboat Springs, they sell their calves for fall delivery. For years, the Hill family competed in rodeo as a family and had interests in horse racing. Alice was a champion competitor in her prime. She has conducted a busy life raising a family and taking care of the needs of her own as well as those who worked on the ranch. Over the mountain from the Hill headquarters and off the main highway back into mountains is one-of-a-kind 320-acre resort that offers guests a taste of the Old West. Old Cow Town is a quality guest ranch that offers an authentic Old West experience, including a saloon, dining hall, chapel, museum, bunkhouse, retail store and hotel. Activities include hunting, fishing, cattle drives and horseback riding. It's a fun place to get a taste of the old west.

http://superiorlivestock.com

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