Published 3:57 am Friday, December 4, 2015
Myrtle Creek, Ore. — Being stewards of the land had been a tradition of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
So getting back into the agricultural business in 2001 was no surprise for the tribe that is based in Douglas County. The Cow Creeks purchased the K-Bar Ranch near Myrtle Creek, Oregon, in 2001 and then acquired the Rogue River Ranch near Medford, Oregon, in 2013.
The ranches provide pasture for stocker cattle and grow alfalfa, wheat and corn, most of which goes to feed for the livestock.
“Being stewards of the land is in their (Cow Creeks’) DNA,” said John McCafferty, the business operations officer for the Umpqua Indian Development Corp. “A lot of our membership is involved in ranching and timber in one way or another. A lot of the members grew up on small farms so agriculture is something near and dear to the tribe. And the tribe is good at it.”
The K-Bar Ranch is about 2,000 acres. It was established in 1960 by Ken and Glenna Bare and then became a partnership with their sons Vern and Tim in 1976. One of the conditions of the purchase by the tribe was that one of those partners remain to manage the operation. Since Ken Bare was looking to retire, Vern Bare was more interested in a hay operation and Tim Bare’s interest was in livestock, Tim became the ranch manager.
“There wasn’t much more room for us to expand in the area,” Tim Bare said of his family’s ranch. “The tribe had purchased ground around us and it had an interest in expanding its land holdings. So there was a conversation, one thing led to another and a sale was made.
“I think it was a great move for everyone in the family as well as the tribe,” he said, adding that his father did retire and that his brother moved to the Culver, Oregon, area where he started a hay business.
K-Bar Ranches Corp. purchased the 1,700-acre Rogue River Ranch at the base of Table Rock to expand its cattle herd and increase its forage production. The ranch also had a licensed feed yard, allowing the ranch to finish out its beef animals before they were turned into steaks, roasts and hamburgers.
Early this year, an adjoining 65 acres of river bottom ground along the Rogue River was purchased and another couple hundred acres are leased, making that operation about 2,000 acres.
To feature their own beef, the Cow Creek tribe turned its main dining room at its Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, Oregon, into the K-Bar Steakhouse.
“There is tremendous potential in the protein markets,” said Tim Bare, who manages both K-Bar and Rogue River ranches.
He said the river bottom ground and the mild temperatures of southwestern Oregon make it possible to grow abundant forages that are used to supplement the grazing of the ranches’ livestock. The two ranches produced about 15,000 tons of hay this past summer.
Out in the fields, there are close to 4,000 head of stocker cattle on the two ranches. The animals are purchased from various mother-cow operations from the Canadian border south to Northern California and east to Idaho. They arrive around Sept. 1 and weigh in at between 500 and 550 pounds. They graze and are fed until about July 1, leaving at between 900 and 950 pounds.
The K-Bar retains ownership of some, finishing them out at between 1,400 and 1,500 pounds at the feed yard. In addition to supplying grain fed finished beef to the steakhouse, half a beef and a quarter beef have recently been made available for sale to the public.
K-BAR Ranches Corp.
Where: K-Bar Ranch near Myrtle Creek, Oregon, and Rogue River Ranch near Medford, Oregon
Who: Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
Acreage: 4,000 acres total in production
Livestock: About 4,000 stocker calves from Sept. 1 to July 1
Forage: Grass, alfalfa, wheat and corn
Employees: 12 full-time for the two ranches
