Owners able to switch gears quickly as conditions change

By LEE FARREN
For the Capital Press

Sam and Toni Rudnick run a small full-service custom feedlot near Hermiston, Ore., and they couldn't be happier.

"I like the challenge. Every day is like being in the big game, and at the end of the day to have survived is really rewarding," Sam Rudnick said.

At Reata Ranches, the Rudnicks background calves and prepare them to go to grass, grow calves to feeder weight and merchandize them for customers, or finish and sell cattle in the spring.

"There are options. That's what we can do for our customers," Rudnick said.

Rudnick grew up in the business, riding pens and doctoring cattle at family operations in California, Arizona and Nevada. After marrying Toni, he managed an 18,000-head feedlot until the young couple bought the set of pens near Hermiston and developed their custom business. Reata Ranches feeds 5,000 to 8,000 cattle at a time.

The Rudnicks find their smaller size gives them a competitive advantage in some areas.

"Because we're small and don't have to carry million-dollar feed inventories, we can source our feed at a better value than many of the big yards. We traditionally buy our inventories when the markets are low, and then adjust our rations. A lot of the commodities we use, there isn't enough available to supply the bigger yards," Rudnick said.

For instance, when alfalfa prices were high last year, Reata Ranches was feeding wheat straw with dry distillers' grain. The Rudnicks also make silage from the corn they grow on part of their acreage, fertilized with manure from the feedlot.

"The big yards might be more efficient with big crews and large-scale purchases, but we can be more flexible and adjust for our customers a little faster," Rudnick said.

The Rudnicks have invested in new technologies to improve their operation. Computers handle the feed mixing and their feed truck carries a computer that monitors and reports exactly how much feed goes into each feed bunk. Toni takes care of inventory control, keeping track of the cattle and the feeds.

"Another thing about being a small yard is that we see those cattle individually every day. Our people are cross-trained, they are cowboys and feed truck drivers, so if our cowboys are sick we've got two feed truck drivers who know how to doctor sick cattle," Rudnick said.

The biggest problem the Rudnicks face is retaining skilled employees. They generally hire unskilled labor and provide on-the-job training.

"Once we've done that, they have the ability to go to town and make a lot more money. We entrust our employees with millions of dollars of livestock and equipment, but we're not able to pay them what competing industries would," Rudnick said.

Still, Rudnick looks pretty happy when he heads out to tour the cattle pens. "Because we are owner-operators, win, lose or draw, it's our baby," he said.

Freelance writer Lee Farren is based in Ukiah, Ore. E-mail: leewfarren@centurytel.net

Feedlot facts

The cattle business operates on four levels. First is the cow-calf operation, where calves are born and raised to a weaning weight of 500 to 650 pounds. From there the calves go to a stocker or grower like Reata Ranches, where they are fed until they reach 775 to 850 pounds. At that point they are called feeder cattle and move to a finish ration until they reach about 1,200 pounds, when they go to a packer for processing.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture lists only a handful of operations feeding 5,000 head or more. In Washington state, the Washington Cattle Feeders Association considers a feedlot of less than 10,000 head small, and has four members feeding more than 30,000 head each.

The ODA reports about 125,000 head in feedlots during the most recent inspections, with a total of about 240,000 head permitted. The WCFA estimates its members have between 150,000 and 225,000 cattle on feed at any one time.

-- Lee Farren