Diversifying Livestock and Business

This South Dakota ranch's plan for survival includes cattle, sheep, and water distribution along with rangeland management and other income sources.

- By Mitch Kezar

Robert Boylan leaned his lanky frame against a corral fence on a windswept day on his ranch in Butte County, South Dakota.

Cattle and sheep run here, and the pairing is an essential part of Boylan's diversification plan.

"Honestly, I think I run cattle so I can wear a cowboy hat," he says, a big grin spreading across his face. "I run sheep to make the payments. Sheep take advantage of what nature gave us out here better than the cattle do. Sheep take care of a lot of weeds, especially early on in the season and they don't really touch the grass early, either."

Wool prices have been good for Boylan in the past couple of years and the price of lamb has been surprisingly high.

Boylan talks about his ranch history and the struggles of ranching in modern times.

"I don't know of any ranches that can make it without diversification," he explains. "You either need a spouse working in town with insurance or, well, we've started a little bike rally bar, which is busy before, during, and for a while after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, just up the road." The bar helps pay for a couple of months' worth of groceries, and the Boylans have also branched out by building a wedding venue on site.

"I built a wedding barn for my daughter as a promise. And it has really blossomed. We've had 13 weddings in one year. We'd like to do a little dude ranch, too, but I just don't know if we've got the time," he says.

Cattle and Sheep

Currently, Boylan has about a thousand sheep on the ranch after destocking. He made the decision to sell some sheep to protect his main resource, the grasslands, when drought caused scarcity of grass and water. He also has about a thousand cows left.

Boylan's sheep lamb on the prairie late in May, in concert with nature. He docks his lambs' tails in early July, and then they go on the rotational grazing program.