COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • OCTOBER 2019
Familiar challenges face fourth-
generation rancher
Long-term vision grapples with short-term hurdles
by TOM WALKER
SPENCES BRIDGE—Thomas Jonathan Walkem’s ranching roots run deep. He’s a fourth- generation rancher at 60 Ranch in Spences Bridge, and a member of the Cook’s Ferry band of the Nlaka'pamux First Nation. His family has been in the region since time immemorial. TJ, as he’s usually called,
started working the family land to help his father Charles. A degree in natural resource management from Thompson Rivers University and a diploma from the Applied Sustainable Ranching (ASUR) program in Williams Lake gives him both academic and business backgrounds to go with his practical experience. He has since received his professional agrologist designation. “The ASUR program gave
me a broad range of business skills and, in particular, emphasized diversification,” he chuckles apologetically, as he gestures towards the free- range chickens and ducks that amble around his yard. The fortunes of Spences Bridge have changed since the Coquihalla Highway went through south of Kamloops in 1987. Though there is far less traffic, the din from the Trans- Canada is a reminder of a long-gone era. “There used to be gas stations in town, and motels,” TJ recalls. Now there are none. All services are at least a half- hour away in Lytton, Ashcroft or Cache Creek. “To me, it’s not remote, but it’s a lost town. The school closed in the late 1970s and I took the bus up to Ashcroft.” Together with his wife Sara,
TJ runs 250 cow-calf pairs and about 70 yearlings. They are Angus and Simmental crosses. “I like the size of the Simmentals,” he says. He has three ranges that rise steeply out of the Thompson River valley,
northeast over the Highland Valley plateau, north and west through the Venables Valley and southeast towards Soap Lake. He says there is good grass and water, but, particularly in the Highland range, he has to compete with the aftermath of active forestry. “There was a lot of beetle-
kill wood that they were in a rush to harvest before it degraded. They left the cut blocks in really rough shape and the roads were decommissioned quickly,” TJ explains. “The infrastructure is gone and the scarred land is hard on the animals”. The condition of the roads
makes it difficult for him to get in and work the land. “It’s interesting how ranchers must follow rules around riparian zones but if a machine got stuck when they were logging, they just leave a big gaping hole,” he says. The 80 acres his family
owns plus 90 acres he leases from the band on the bench above the Thompson River gives him two cuts of hay for winter feed and fall grass for grazing. Twenty acres at the house gives him horse hay to sell.
The majority of his calves
are marketed through BC Livestock in the fall. “I keep about 10 yearlings
back over the winter for local customers, and I have a contract to supply hamburger to Silver Star ski resort,” he says. “I started looking at the benefits of grass-finished beef about 15 years ago when I was working with doctors Wendy Gardner and John Church at TRU.” He’d like to expand the
grass-finishing side of the ranch, but things are a bit busy right now. TJ is full-time parent to his son Sawyer while Sara returns to her full-time job as a social worker with Nlha’7kapmx Child and Family Services. TJ sends his finished cattle
Producer Check-off Supports Beef Industry Projects.
www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333
email:
audreycifca@gmail.com 308 St. Laurent Avenue Quesnel, B.C. V2J 5A3
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Ranching may be in his blood but TJ Walkem also has a degree in natural resource management and is a graduate of TRU’s Applied Sustainable Ranching program. He and wife Sara, with year-old son Sawyer, run 250 cow-calf pairs at 60 Ranch in Spences Bridge. SUBMITTED PHOTO
and chickens to an abattoir in Kamloops, but the size of the ducks has been problematic. He trucked them down to the Lower Mainland for processing last year. He’s opting against that this year, and won’t be selling any birds. Many were decapitated by marauding ravens shortly after hatching, and the rest – well, it’s simply not worth the drive.
He has had some signs of
wolf predation, and knows that wolf numbers are growing. “We’ll see if they are going
to leave us alone or not,” he says. “Right now, coyotes are a bigger problem at calving than the wolves.” One of the down sides of their location is the difficulty in getting part-time help. “No one seems to want to
work anymore,” TJ says. “The work ethic is dying.” The ranch has hosted
several applied sustainable ranching students from TRU, but by the time they learn the routines they’ve got to move on to their next placement. Seeing the results of his labour is a satisfying part of
the job. “We raise our own mother
cows up from heifers and seeing them mature, have their own calves, and how the genetics plays out. I enjoy seeing what I work for,” says TJ. The long-term goal is to
have his family’s connection to the land continue. “Both my grandfather and
my father worked to pass the ranch down to the next generation,” he says. “That’s always something in my mind. It’s not about what you are creating for yourself, it’s the legacy for your children.”
Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $1,000,000.00 with the first $100.000.00 being interest free. For Canola advances the first $500,000.00 is interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available to association members on their feeder cattle purchases.
email:
okanaganfeeders@gmail.com
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