North Fork Ranch Offering Brochure

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PHYSICAL & OPERATIONAL DESCRIPTION North Fork Ranch has historically been utilized for a variety of equestrian and livestock operations, but has been operating as a successful commercial cow-calf operation under the current ownership for the past nine years. Presently, under a properly executed Management Intensive Grazing Program, the owners rate the carrying capacity of the Ranch at 24,000± AUM. Currently, the Ranch runs 1,850 pairs plus 75 bulls and 25 horses on the heavily sodded grass pastures during the spring, summer and early fall months, and utilize the riparian bottoms, native grass hillsides and dryland hay fields during the late-fall and winter months. The current owners have emphasized improving the Ranch’s existing 3,770± dryland hay fields and over 1,000 acres have been recently re-farmed and planted into an alfalfa hay and grass mixture. Historically these fields have generated between 1.0 – 1.5 tons per acre. The owners anticipate that production will increase with 600 acres of new alfalfa seeding completed in 2017. In normal years, the dryland hay base should provide all of the annual feed necessary for the Ranch when in full production. The Ranch currently feeds about 1.75 tons of hay per cow over the winter and typically keeps about 2½ tons ‘in the stack’ annually. The Ranch uses a well-designed network of pastures on a rotational basis to provide the flexibility to utilize and optimize the primary ranch resources – hardy native grasses and clear, clean water. The working corrals are steel-pipe construction. These corrals have been designed and built to handle the demands of the large commercial cattle operation efficiently. There is a covered calving and livestock working facility that houses a Western Ranch hydraulic chute and well-designed and efficient sorting pens and alleys. This very efficient and well-built set of working improvements comfortably handles all of the demands of a commercial cattle operation of this scale. The total Ranch acreage is generally classified as follows: Total Deeded 19,993± Acres North Fork Unit 17,373± Acres A&N Ranch Unit 2,620± Acres Native Range 13,577.32± Acres Native Range 681.95± Acres Dryland Hay 3,361.82± Acres Dryland Hay 411.66± Acres Improved Pasture 433.86± Acres Improved Pasture 1,526.39± Acres Total Leased Native Pasture TOTAL DEEDED AND LEASED 2,487± Acres 2,487± Acres 22,480± Acres Under the current ownership, calving season on the Ranch typically runs from mid-April into June. North Fork Ranch management has transformed the ranch operation to calve later in the spring to take advantage of the typically warmer weather and the availability of abundant green grass to turn out cow/calf pairs. This practice reduces weather related calf mortality and decreases the amount of hay required to feed mother cows. Weaning is typically completed in October. The later calving season allows cows to calve on green grass and the pairs to be directly turned out onto green grass pastures surrounding the improvements and then moved to summer pasture in the higher and more removed portions of the Ranch. The pastures are all well watered with a system of live-water streams, natural prairie pot-holes and reservoirs supplemented by good stock-water tanks that fill with a combination of surface, spring and piped water. The grass and water resources on the Ranch are abundant and historically have been sufficient even in drought years. — 4 —
The calves are branded in the calving pastures in the spring, and the pairs are rotated between summer pastures on the deeded and leased ground several times over the course of the summer maximizing the grass resource by giving grazed pastures time to rest and grow between rotations. At weaning, steers typically weigh approximately 510 pounds and heifers run approximately 490 pounds. After weaning, the cows spend the remainder of the fall and into winter on the dryland hay ground, creek bottoms and native range until the feeding and calving cycle returns. With a consistent soil profile and typical rainfall that exceeds 20 ‒ 25 inches annually, the dryland hay fields have historically yielded around 1 ‒ 1.5 tons of alfalfa and grass hay per acre with one cutting and fall and winter grazing for bred cows. Many of the hay fields have undergone annual improvements and recent re-seeding that will increase hay production when fully mature and fertilized. The current owners have emphasized building soil health in the fields and have invested heavily in soil building fertilizers that should continue to improve production into the future. The Seller is confident that continuing with this fertilizer program in these fields could yield an additional 1/2 to one ton of forage per acre. The current owners have re-seeded over 1,000 acres of the hay fields to alfalfa in the past few years. CONSERVATION EASEMENTS North Fork Ranch is situated in some of the most pristine wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states. This location has received interest from many notable conservation organizations over the years. The ownership has always been conservation minded and has granted several conservation easements to protect the wild and scenic nature of the Ranch and conserve fish and wildlife habitat into perpetuity. These easements were drafted to maximize wildlife conservation for fish and game animals and limit future development and subdivision, but they do not restrict agricultural operation now or in the future. The pertinent easements are available for qualified buyers to review upon request. — 5 —
Page 1 and 2: NORTH FORK RANCH BABB, MONTANA | GL
Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTION North Fork Ranch is an
Page 10 and 11: ELEVATION & CLIMATE The elevation g
Page 12 and 13: OUTDOOR RIDING/ROPING ARENA The 300
Page 16 and 17: WATER RIGHTS According to the Depar
Page 18 and 19: RECREATION & WILDLIFE All hunting a
Page 20 and 21: SUMMARY STATEMENT North Fork Ranch
Page 22 and 23: Swan Land Company has been authoriz
Page 26: Genuine. Devoted. Proven. 866.999.7

North Fork Ranch Offering Brochure

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