How We Move 500 Cows Daily

written by

posted on

February 17, 2018

It would seem like a pretty daunting task to move 500 cows on a daily basis, but in reality cows are creatures of habit and get used to being moved daily. During the winter months we move our cows every day across our stockpiled pastures. They eagerly await to be moved every morning so they can get to new feed.

At Christmas I got a drone and enjoy flying over Sean when he is out moving the cows in the morning, so here is a short video of Sean rolling up the electric fence for the day and the cows eagerly awaiting their new pasture.

For those who enjoy the details: We management intensive graze our cattle during the winter months, meaning we move our cattle to new pasture everyday. Most ranches feed hay all winter to their cattle, which we used to do too, but we find that our cattle are much happier receiving "new" feed everyday even if it's stockpiled from the summer. By bunching our cattle together there is a much better distribution of manure over our pastures which is perfect for the spring when the grass starts growing, no need to use fertilizers! They also trample a lot of the feed which is just fine, because it adds organic matter to the soil making it more fertile and helps it to retain better moisture. Overall we have seen great improvements in our soils and cattle since we stopped feeding hay and move them every day during the winter months.

Boise grassfed beef

Boise Meats

Boise Pastured Pork

boise

cunningham pastured meats

Grassfed

grass fed

grass finished

moving cattle

management intensive grazing

More on the Big Four: JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef

🧩 “Who Controls Your Beef?” 🥩 The Big Four: 85% of America’s Beef Controlled by 4 Companies 💬 “When just four companies process most of the beef in our country, we don’t just lose competition — we lose connection.” — Liz Cunningham Panel 1: The Players ProcessorOwnership% of MarketKnown ForJBS USABrazil (JBS S.A.)~25%Largest meat processor in the world; ransomware attack 2021 shut down 20% of U.S. meat supplyTyson FoodsU.S.~22%COVID shutdowns led to mass cattle backlogs; ongoing price-fixing litigationCargill Meat SolutionsU.S.~22%Commodity-driven global agribusiness; joint settlements for antitrust violationsNational Beef (Marfrig Global Foods)Brazil~18%Foreign-owned; major importer/exporter balancing U.S. beef and South American supply 📊 Together: 85–87% of all beef processed in the United States Panel 2: The Hidden Costs 💵 Price Control: Coordinated market behavior drives rancher profits down and retail prices up. 🥩 Supply Risk: When one major plant shuts down — like JBS in 2021 — U.S. beef supply can drop 20% overnight. 🌎 Foreign Influence: Two of the four are Brazilian-owned, meaning U.S. beef production decisions are made overseas. 🐄 Lost Independence: Family ranchers can’t compete with massive volume pricing. Processing access becomes bottlenecked. Panel 3: The COVID Reality Check 🚫 Plant shutdowns → millions of pounds of cattle euthanized 🍽️ Empty grocery shelves → record-high prices 🤝 Small processors couldn’t expand due to USDA red tape “It’s not the cow. It’s the how. Our food system isn’t broken — it’s bottlenecked.” — Liz Cunningham Panel 4: What We’re Doing Differently At Cunningham Ranch & Northwest Premium Meats: Locally processed beef from Jordan Valley, Oregon/Treasure Valley, Idaho USDA inspected, small-batch handled Full traceability from pasture to plate Dollars stay local — supporting Northwest families - Cliff's Country Market is now the home of Cunningham Pastured Meats💚 Food You Can Trust — From Families Who Care Panel 5: What You Can Do 🛒 Buy Local Beef — direct from ranchers and small butchers and locally owned family markets like Cliff's Country Market in Caldwell, ID 🗣️ Ask Questions — know who raised and processed your meat 🤝 Support Legislation — like the PRIME Act that gives small processors freedom 🍽️ Share the Story — because change starts around the dinner table 📍 Learn More at CunninghamPasturedMeats.com

More on How Grazing Got Complicated- it's a "heated" debate

🌾 How Grazing Got Complicated Back in the early 1900s, before federal oversight, ranchers and homesteaders often clashed over access to grazing land. By the 1930s, the BLM was formed to manage who could graze and where. Then came the 1960s — and with it, new fencing requirements, reduced grazing allotments (AUMs, or Animal Unit Months), and tighter federal restrictions. But, this isn't just a difference of opinion, this becomes a "heated" debate when fires are not well managed and threaten our lands and the solution is rooted in good stewardship of the land as nature intended.

🪰 The Screwworm Threat: A Silent Stressor on Ranchers

For decades, the New World Screwworm was an agricultural success story — a pest eradicated through science and persistence. But now, it’s back in the headlines… and back on ranchers’ minds.

Subscribe & Save 5% Storewide + Free Item with Every Order of $175+!

Subscribe & Save 5% Storewide + Free Item with Every Order of $175+!

How We Move 500 Cows Daily

More from the blog

More on the Big Four: JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef

More on How Grazing Got Complicated- it's a "heated" debate

🪰 The Screwworm Threat: A Silent Stressor on Ranchers

Menu

Follow Us