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Meadow Springs Ranch is a working ranch. We are what's known in the cattle industry as
a cow / calf operation - meaning we keep mother cows and sell their calves annually. The
calves go from here to another type of ranch that runs yearlings. They are all beef cattle.
Meadow Springs Ranch was one of the first ranches in BC to apply for, and get approved for,
the Verified Beef Program.
We also make our own hay on the ranch - some years, if we're lucky, enough to get us
through the winter. Some years we end up buying hay by the semi load.
The ranch is a quarter mile wide and one mile long, which is 160 acres, called a quarter
section. The fences are mainly the typical log snake fences seen throughout the Cariboo.
When out exploring one will often come across one of the older original "Russel Fences",
and the occasional "stack yard".
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click on this photo to enlarge
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We do all of our cow work on horseback - the old fashioned cowboy way. Below you'll see
photos at branding time, during round up, at haying time, of field re-seeding, and even
a couple of us chopping holes in the ice to water the stock in the winter.
The photo above and to the right shows the layout of the ranch from the air. If you click on the
photo it will enlarge and you'll be able to see the hay meadows, where the buildings
are situated, etc.
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One of the old homesteads of the South Cariboo, the ranch is completely surrounded by
Crown Land. The photo to the left shows, what was then known as the Thompson Meadow, being
hayed with a team of horses pulling a mower in about 1940.
Some of the original Gold Rush Trail wagon road (photo to the right) that
used to be the main road to Barkerville in BC's gold rush era crosses our road. This,
and other trails and roads, make for endless adventure - be it by car, hiking, horseback
riding, cross-country skiing, or snowmobiling. There are lots of trees, natural meadows,
six year-round natural springs, and even our own private lake.
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