Blythe Angus farm from Kansas tells story of diversity in cattle ranching in the US

The vastly different climates, conditions, production systems and selection criteria required mean the pathways to making gains across the board have had to be very innovative.

Still, significant progress has been made, Kansas beef producer Debbie Lyons-Blythe, the chair of the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, said.

Compared to 1977, today's farmers and ranchers in the US produce the same amount of beef with 33 per cent fewer cattle.

How'd they do it? In a nutshell, better animal health and welfare, better nutrition and better genetics.

Ms Lyons-Blythe gave a presentation at the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef conference, held in Denver, Colorado, which demonstrated just how varied the cattle game is in the States.

ALSO FROM THE CONFERENCE:

The country's average herd size is just 43.5 head, but there are more than 700,000 producers.

Ninety per cent of farms and ranches are family-owned and more than half of those are today run by the third generation or more.

There are 93 million head of beef cattle and 27pc of all US land - or a whopping 250m hectares - is grazing land.

Rainfall averages differ from 635cm to less than 130mm a year.

With her husband Duane and five children, Ms Lyons-Blythe runs cattle on Blythe Family Farms near White City.

"Our farm receives between 76 and 100cm (760-1000mm) rain a year, and we feel blessed," she said.

"To maintain a cow for a year it takes 2.5ha."

To show the diversity, she outlined ranches run by her friends.

In Loving, New Mexico, at an elevation of 930m and with 25 to 30cm (250-300mm) of annual rain, the stocking rate was 32ha per cow, with native grass in summer and irrigated annuals and perennials in winter.

In Spring Ridge, South Carolina, at 193m above sea level and with 127cm (1270mm) of rain, the stocking rate was less than one hectare per cow on no native grass, rather a mix of perennials and annuals year round.

In Kim, Colorado, a ranch at 1734m elevation, receiving 22 to 35.5cm (220-355mm) rain, was only able to run one cow per 40ha on native grass in summer and irrigated annuals and perennials in winter, plus hay crops.

The Blythe farm, at 449m elevation, is mostly native grass grazing with only winter grazing on annuals and perenniels.

The farm is set on the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie, named because of a rock structure close to the surface of the ground such that the top soil is very shallow.

The Flint Hills are unique - low rolling hills of limestone strata that cover layers of sandstone, flint and chert and the grass prairie, which turns amber, red, rush and purple and grows up to 2.5m high in a good year.

"It is our responsibility to maintain that prairie in its original pristine state," Ms Lyons-Blythe said.

"That means getting rid of the trees. There were no trees on it when the pioneers came over in their covered wagons.

"We use prescribed burns as part of our management and the goal is that within days we have regrowth.

"We are also very involved in wildlife management - we feel it is an indicator of grassland health."We manage for all sorts of birds as well as deer. The Flint Hills has a lot of milkweed so we are on the monarch butterfly migration route and have millions come through."

Blythe Family Farms runs a registered Angus herd of about 250 cows and a crossbred commercial cow herd of 250.

The operation also has a heifer development program, raising around 350 young replacement heifers which are marketed in the fall and spring.

The Blythes purchase commercial Angus and Angus crossbred heifers from their bull customers, raise them the same way they raise their own replacement females and offer them to the market.

"Duane has been very selective in the heifers he purchases, in both quality as well as health of the calves," Ms Lyons-Blythe said.

"After purchase, they are immediately vaccinated with our herd's vaccine protocols and fed a silage and ground hay ration and free choice hay. They are moved to winter grass and grown through the winter until 45 days prior to breeding season."

Before being bred, they are vaccinated again and put on an increasing plane of nutrition to ensure high pregnancy rates.

"The bulls we breed to are selected first for high calving ease and low birth weight, next for weaning and yearling growth, keeping in mind that commercial cow-calf producers must have a live calf first then be able to market the calf either at weaning or slaughter, or at some time in between. We choose well-balanced sires that are proven easy calvers," Ms Lyons-Blythe said.