A conversation about local food just isn’t complete without the inclusion of livestock farmers – after all, a lot of us eat meat.
Since the flooding of thousands of acres of grazing land that came along with the Revelstoke Dam, most livestock farmers have all but disappeared. As always, a few exceptions remain (thank goodness.) While there are a number of folks in the Revelstoke area who have found room for chickens, there are only about a handful of people who still raise cattle. Of those, only one family has managed to raise enough beef cattle for re-sale. They are Adele and Jim Graham who own and operate Greenslide Cattle Company.
When Adele married Jim in 1984 he managed a herd of about 50 animals. I learned that this herd’s roots date back to the early 1960’s with just two head of cattle purchased by Jim’s father. The Grahams, along with a number of other families who built homesteads along the flats just past the airport, were the first to bring cattle into this region. Prior to the flooding of the valley bottom, I am told that everyone who lived in this valley had access to local beef (pork, and chicken too for that matter.) Today, very few of us have access to locally produced meat.
Even in these early times, however, the Graham family herd never exceeded more than about 30 animals. Today, Jim and Adele’s passion for cattle ranching in this steep mountain valley has resulted in a herd of almost 200 animals.
“Most people have no idea that we even have cattle around here” Jim laughed. This is because the majority of the animals spend their summers grazing natural forage pastures not easily accessible by road. Being creative in securing grazing land surrounded by changing water lines with which to economically feed the animals is what has allowed Jim and Adele to pursue their dream here.
In a valley like this one where road access to the remaining bits of pasture land are covered in water for much of the year, Jim thought: “Why not build a boat?” And that is what they did, they built a barge designed to shuttle approximately 30 animals (depending on their size) to reclaimed farmlands leased from BC Hydro. This ingenuity has resulted in the largest, most successful herd known to this area.
As the two of them continue to think outside the box and as their passion for their cattle grows, Jim and Adele have slowly shifted their market focus. Adele explained that her understanding of the need to live more locally has increased over the years, and she wants this business to reflect that. She said, “it used to be that we would buy lots of grain grown from out of town because that’s what people wanted. But now, we are really trying to fine-tune the number of animals we can manage so that we don’t need to bring in feed from anywhere other than what we can cut right here.” This year, had it not been for the large quantities of snow still blanketing the ground late into spring, they would have hit their target on the head.
Adele also went on to share their eventual goal of ”being able to sell the animals to a completely local market.” At this point in time, Adele and Jim are able to sell up to 30 antibiotic and hormone-free animals to Revelstoke residents a year. Even with the changes in regulation requiring all slaughter and processing to take place within a government inspected facility, they don’t have to trailer their animals any further than a small facility in Salmon Arm – which they do, one small load at a time so that the animals don’t spend any time in feedlots. Jim and Adele could probably sell more meat locally than they do now (they have a well-established waiting list) but they are being careful not to take on too much, too quickly.
From an environmental perspective, cattle raised in the more common industrial model have been shown to be incredibly energy intensive, primarily due to the feeds they are fed and the transportation distances of getting animals to processing plants and then to market. By comparison, smaller scale operations that are careful not to over-graze their pasture lands, and forage their animals in natural (as opposed industrially planted fields) are far more energy efficient. Not to mention, the animals live better quality lives and produce a healthier protein for the consumer.
In the case of Greenslide Cattle Company, the cattle are rotated through a number of natural foraging locations, one of which is currently shared with a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Last week, Adele and Jim caught a glimpse of the bears shaking apples off an old tree and comfortably sharing the sweet feast with the cows eagerly awaiting the fruits on the ground. Now that sounds like Revelstoke-based cattle herd!
Hailey Ross writes Growing in Revelstoke on behalf of the North Columbia Environmental Society in partnership with the United Church. The column contributes to a joint project aimed at increasing the sustainable production of local food and intergenerational knowledge sharing.
For your chance to learn from a local-foods expert, join us at the next workshop in the Garden Guru Series: Saving Your Seeds with Sandra Davis & Margot Wyllie. Wed, Aug. 17th, 7pm @ the United Church. By donation.
