No Downtime

Come winter, it gets dark early in McFadden, Wyoming. That means that farmers and ranchers start their days early to get chores done before dark The Sims family has been ranching cattle in Wyoming for the past 65 years. In that time, they’ve learned a thing or two about ranching in winter. For one thing, you don’t rest on your laurels and secondly, don’t be deceived by a mild winter’s day. Brothers Scott and Olin Sims know you have to be flexible…to take advantage of the warmer weather to get a jump on projects.

Family members lay down hay for the ranch’s 1800 head of cattle. It is hay that was harvested last summer and set aside for these winter month. The family says that stacking hay is the most economical way for them to feed their livestock year round. They also market hay and have neighbors bring cattle by to feed on their rangeland.

Winter also means the family can catch up on new projects including a new bunkhouse. The Sims also operate a sawmill that’s been a family side business since the 1940’s. The sawmill is just one of a half dozen ways the family generates extra income. Oil companies compensate the Sims for the right to put oil derricks on their land. Energy firms pay them to set aside ridgelines for future wind machines and they’ve even considered opening up their 21 thousand acre spread to hunters and snowmobilers.

The Sims want to insure that family members will have the means to stay on the ranch and have the income that future generations will need to keep their lifestyle alive.

Scott Sims says, “It was my grandparents dream to be ranchers it was the same way for my dad. It would be a disappointment to them for us to walk away from it. We share the same love for the land as they did and we hope this ranch can go on for generations down the line”.

Thanks in part to their efforts to preserve wildlife on their ranch; the Sims family recently received an Environmental Stewardship Award from the U.S. government’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. They were one of only seven ranches nationwide to receive the annual honor.