I am always excited when a new staff member begins their journey of working with us at the Ranch – I’m excited for them! There are so few large ranches remaining in our country (and in North America), that I know that their experience is likely going to be an unusual one. And that uniqueness doesn’t occur just because of the size of the property.
The size and scope certainly creates an unusual length of time to become familiar with the property, and familiarity translates to efficiency and effectiveness. I maintain it takes 3 or 4 years to reach a point of becoming an effective employee. It takes time to get to know the names of the 100+ fields, gate locations, where the saltboxes and springs are, how the topography impacts the effectiveness of gathering cattle and checking on them. These are just a few of the aspects that create new challenges (and rewards) for our new employees.
The size also creates the need to have a greater number of staff compared to the average farm and ranch, and this brings dynamics that most ranch hands/cowboys/cowmen have never had. Working with a larger crew requires one to have interpersonal skills to manage a greater range of relationships, and most of us know that relationships require effort in order for them to be healthy and productive ones. With the exception of the Administration and Management, all staff live on the Ranch… it is its own small community.
The other relatively rare experience that new staff likely have is that which comes from working in a comparatively undisturbed grassland area. In somewhat recent years, one Ranch Hand described how special it was for him to have seen a bear, elk, deer, badgers, coyotes, hawks and eagles all in the same day… that’s not an experience that many have had nor will ever have. And that’s just the wildlife factor – then there’s the diverse range of grasses and forbs etc.
Over the years, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of hearing from (and meeting) several past employees. They’ve typically been in their 70’s or 80’s and I learned how their experience of working at the Ranch impacted them so positively. Sometimes they’ve sent me a letter or an email and sometimes I’ve gotten a phone call. Sometimes they wanted to make arrangements to come back to see the place. And sometimes, they’ve just shown up unannounced because they were travelling on a holiday and thought it would be nice to drop by. In all cases, they expressed how much it meant to them to be a part of it.
While many of these people had worked at the Ranch for a few or handful of years, some had only worked for a few months. Their experiences were profound and I was the beneficiary of hearing their stories. These connections also extended to the siblings, spouses and children of past employees – the McIntyre Ranch clearly had an impact on their lives. I was proud hear them and have been honored to play a key role in carrying the torch to maintain an environment so that others in the future can share a similar story.
As the management of McIntyre Ranching Co. Ltd. sees it, there are four main assets that are essential to its business; the land, the livestock, the infrastructure/equipment and the staff. The business does not exist when one of these assets is missing. And when it comes to the staff, it’s not possible for one woman nor one man to run the business on one’s own – it takes a good team. Management of the Ranch recognizes this essential ‘asset’, and just as it strives to find the balance in managing the land, the livestock and the infrastructure, it has the same commitment to achieving the balance of offering a special environment for those who contribute to making it all possible.
