02/13/07 Ropin Ranchers

What's a cattleman to do, with the cost of feed skyrocketing and operating costs at an all time high, ranchers are tapping into their creative juices to find ways to increase their bottom line. Some have done well with fee hunting, others, like Jeff Faulkner, current president of the Idaho Catttlemen's Association look back to the roots of ranching for new sources of income. Jeff, profiled in the February Western Farmer Stockman publication, has tapped into the team roping by raising Corrientes,, (roping cattle) and putting on ropings at his ranch and at other venues. The last economic study on team roping completed ten years ago found it contributed over $ 770million to our economy. I would imagine it is nearly double that today given it's growth as a family sport not mention the fact my family is a weekly contributor. Ranchers like Jeff Faulkner have figured out how to tap into the popularity of team roping and despite the fact that Corrientes won't wow anyone at the feedlot at least a good roping steer begins paying it's way nearly from the get go and the check from the feed lot in many cases is just a nice bonus.