SOUTH DAKOTA FAMILY WINS ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARD

DENVER, Colo. -- (August 3, 2000) - Twenty years ago, Gary and Amy Cammack purchased 320 acres of range in western South Dakota. The land was rolling prairie in poor condition. There were no trees or windbreaks to provide shelter for the cattle, and wildlife populations were declining.

The family established a philosophy of improving the range, creating wildlife habitat, conserving energy and building a productive and profitable cattle business. Twenty years later the Cammack Ranch is a place where cattle are efficiently raised and native wildlife can be found in significant numbers.

NCBA today named the Cammacks as this year’s Region VII Environmental Stewardship Award winners at the annual Cattle Industry Summer Conference. The award is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences. "Through hard work, careful record keeping and sound environmental practices, the family is the embodiment of good land stewards, and they have made a contribution to the environment while enhancing their bottom line," said NCBA President George Hall, a cattle producer from Mustang, Okla.

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association and the local office of the Natural Resource Conservation Service nominated the family for the award.

“We are stewards of the land,” Mr. Cammack said. “We don’t ranch because we have to. We ranch because we want to. It is our heritage, but more than that, it is our future.”

The Cammack Ranch has expanded to 4,400 acres, which include 700 acres of hay and enough acreage to raise 290 cow/calf pairs. The family also owns a farm and ranch supply store, and uses its ranch as a testing ground for potential products.

Improving the land to create a productive operation that wisely uses natural resources has been an evolving process for the Cammacks. Some of the basic improvements include cross fencing and locating new stock water sources to distribute grazing.

The Cammack Ranch is home to wild turkeys, partridges, grouse, prairie chickens, Canada geese, deer, antelope, fox and numerous species of rodents.

Critical to the bottom line of the operation is energy conservation. The ranch has switched to an energy-free, cattle-watering system. They installed insulated pipelines that eliminated the need to use energy to heat the water in the winter. Besides conserving fuel, the move also saves the family $100 a month in electricity charges.

On the barren prairies, the fall and winter winds can sometimes be fierce. The Cammacks planted tree windbreaks. The trees also provide more wildlife habitat and reduce fuel used for heating, once again conserving energy and helping the family to enhance their bottom line.

The family began a rotational grazing system in 1988. Rotational grazing has increased cattle stocking rates by 25 percent. The grazing method has improved the quantity and quality of the grass, and the ranch has increased its average cattle weaning weights from 500 pounds in 1985 to 722 pounds today. Rotational grazing also provides distribution of manure to all lands.

“We have worked hard to nurture and develop the renewable natural resources by forming plans that help us to improve range conditions,” Cammack said.

Always keeping wildlife in mind, when the family harvests hay, it leaves the residue on the ground to provide supplemental feed for wildlife.

The family has developed six natural springs on the ranch, and has stocked all with trout for family fishing.

Water is a precious resource in the area. The state receives an average 14 inches of rain a year. After fencing in the riparian area to prevent livestock from trampling the banks, it became necessary to bury two miles of pipelines and install six stock water tanks away from the watersheds. This practice filters livestock nutrient waste in water runoff areas.

The ranch has sponsored a range tour with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Elk Creek Conservation District. The tour was held to demonstrate the benefits of rotational grazing, water pipelines, spring development, windbreak planting, conservation tillage, cross fencing, creating wildlife habitat, isolating riparian areas and delaying grazing and haying of nesting areas.

For the Cammack family and so many other ranching families, conserving the environment is a must. The couple wants to ensure the land remains in good condition for their four sons.

The family has come a long way from the neglected property they purchased 20 years ago. Even still, 20 years from today, the family has said it wants to look at the land and find it in even better condition than it is today.

“As stewards of the land, we gain comfort in knowing that when it comes time to pass this ranch on to our children, we will have handed it over in better condition than when we first took ownership,” Cammack said. “Always be willing to stand up and defend the practices you know in your heart will sustain agriculture for generations to come.”

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See this winner's informational factsheet and reproducible images.

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