Our History
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In 1913, Jacob and Eva Ochsner settled on 320 acres 20 miles north of Torrington. The ranch became an official homestead in June of 1918. His grandson, George Ochsner, and his wife, Ruby, eventually took over the ranch with the help of their four children: Tena, Rodney, Dixie, and Blake. The ranch became a registered cattle operation in 1956 with the purchase of our first registered Hereford cows. We later made the addition of registered Angus cows in 1990. With our eyes set on genetic progress, we began our Artificial Insemination program in 1966, which is used extensively to this day. Then, in 2012 our first Embryo Transfer calf was born, kickstarting our use of ET technology.
Currently our ranch, spanning over 36,000 acres, is operated by George, sons Rodney and Blake, and son-in-law Steve Roth. Additionally, the 5th generation of ranch ownership will be continued through Rustin Roth and Blake W. Ochsner, who are both recent, full-time additions to the operation.
Tena, Blake, Ruby, George, Dixie, & Rodney
The Cattle
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As of 2023, we operate with an average cow base of 600 registered Angus and Hereford cattle. Bull progeny are sold private treaty beginning November 1st, while our heifers are retained as replacement females with opportunities to be marketed as nationally competitive show heifers. Steer calves and non-replacement heifers are wintered at the ranch headquarters, giving us the ability to offer private treaty market livestock for 4-H and youth exhibitors.
In addition to our registered cattle, we annually purchase over 850 head of commercial calves each fall from our bull customers. Heifer calves are sorted and selected to enter our breeding program, where they are AI’ed to nationally marketed Angus sires and covered by a battery of our own low birth weight Angus bulls. These heifers are preg-checked, summered, and marketed in the fall as commercial bred heifers in accordance to their ultrasound determined calving date. Finally, purchased commercial steer calves are wintered in our feedlot and sold via video sales while grazing during the summer.
Our Quality Standards
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When selling our bulls, we strive to offer not only problem-free sires, but also cattle that will inject quality and genetic progress into our customer’s progeny. We simply will not sell a bull if it is not good enough to be used on our own cow base. To ensure these standards are met, every bull must pass a breeding soundness exam and while being both structurally correct and genetically progressive.
Females in our breeding program are also held to high standards for both our registered cow base and the marketed commercial bred heifers. Along with females needing to be functional and practical, we also put major emphasis on all maternal factors and docility. This selection criteria in place ensures long lasting cows that are quality mothers who are easily managed during calving season.