Ranching a way of life for 5th generation
ANSLEY - Kory Ostrand is the 5th generation to farm and ranch on the land south of Ansley, in 1884 his Great-Great-Grandparents, August and Caroline Ostrand came from Sweden and registered their homestead near Mason City.
Kory is teamed up with his wife Danielle, along with their four children. Brexton 8, twins, Avery and Olivia 6 and Merrik 2. The family makes a perfect team, working side by side, moving cattle, farming the row crops and keeping the 400 head of registered angus cows and 100 head of registered Angus bred heifers organized. On a day the cattle need to be moved from one pasture to the other, besides the adults, you will see the children on horseback and having the knowledge of what it takes to keep the herd moving along. Committing to a register herd, of any breed takes a dedicated amount of time, but all that pays out in the end when you have a successful bull sale.
2021, celebrates the 20th year Ostrand Angus has hosted a bull sale. Purchasing his first registered Angus heifer from Boyles Angus when he was nine started the Kory Ostrand herd. Being active in 4-H Kory took his proceeds from 4-H and built his herd one by one. “4-H had really lifted my feet off the ground, it is learning how life works.” Stated Kory. The Ostrands hosted their first bull sale 20 years ago when Kory was a junior in high school with 12 bulls on the sale. When he was ready to head off to college, Kory’s herd numbered between 50-60 cows.
Receiving a degree in Diversified Agri Business from Southeast Community College in Beatrice and being able to do an internship at Risel Angus, Kory was ready to keep going with his registered herd.
Now, on February 17, Kory is getting ready for their 20th sale it will be hosted for the first time on the Custer County
ranch where it all started. On the roster for the sale will be 140 head of yearling bulls and 40 head of yearling replacement heifers all raised on their ranch. Over the past 20 years, their sales have been held in Kearney or Sargent but the family is very excited about bringing the sale back to its roots where the herd began.
The big expansion to the herd came in 2012 when Kory was approached by Mark Slagle to purchase 300 head of the Slagle mature cow herd. Unbeknown to Kory, Mark had attended one of the Ostrand sales. Slagle looking to slow down saw the Ostrand herd a perfect fit for the Slagle line to continue. “It could not have come at a better time; it took a lot of thought and prays.” Reflected Kory about how he and Danielle chose to take the next step in their ranching operation. Slagle kept his replacement heifers at that time, the Slagles and Ostrands then teamed up to host sales together at the Slagle ranch in Sargent.
After Mark Slagle passing in 2019 due to illness, Ostrand’s purchased the rest of the Slagle bred heifers and cows.
To get to sale day, it all starts back in the spring syncing and artificial insemination (AI) of the cows and heifers. With that comes a lot of work and science, “It actually starts two years before they are sold. We synchronize a group of cows to come into heat at the same time. The cows are all bred AI within a 48hour period depending on when they show standing heat. This is a labor-intensive job but makes it all worth it when you have a uniform set of calves all born within a 7-10-day period come calving time.” Stated Kory.
The timing of AI works out that the heifers start to calf mid to late December with the Cows starting in January. It equals out well, the number you can breed in a day in the spring, reflects then when the calf crop starts to come and how many a day in the winter. In mid-January the herd was about 50 percent calved.
After the spring AI, the
herd is off to the green pastures where water is continued to be checked as well as delivering salt and mineral, and checking for herd health. The cattle are rotated to new paddocks that are cross fenced within their pasture. According to Danielle, “there isn’t much downtime around the ranch. We go from one busy season to the next. Each day is a new adventure, but we are thankful we can do it all together.” Once the cattle are on grass and don’t take as much time day to day, they are busy with the row crops needed to sustain the feed required for the herd over the winter. Then when the row crops are harvested, it is time to bring the herd off grass and back to get ready for calving.
Besides the immediate Ostrand family, Kory is a partner on the ranch with his father, Neil Ostrand, who runs a commercial Angus herd. Kory also relies on help from cousin Chris Hogg and neighbor Ben Johnson for help in feeding, breeding season, calving and moving cattle.
The original Ostrand homestead is nestled in a beautiful valley. Kory gives credit to his grandfather Bennie Rex for his forethought in laying out the shelter belts making it so today the cattle can calf out in a protected area from the high winds and weather that Nebraska winters are known for.
For health reasons, Kory keeps the calves together in calving groups, not mixing the new born calves with the older calves. Again, the foresight on how the original homestead was laid out assists him this way in his operation.
On a nice January day, the mornings are spent tagging out the calves and moving the pairs once calved. Then the afternoons are busy with the information for the bull sale catalog, getting all the important information on paper accurately. Add in the snow the area saw the week of Jan. 25 “when the weather changes, it means all day moving cows and newborn babies through the barn to get warm, when the barn is full the calves warm up in the garage.” Explained Kory about the day to day work when the weather changes. “There are also many late or even long nights when it is cold and snowing. Danielle also assists with daily paperwork, sale advertising, catalog work, helping with videos and photography as well as bringing lunch to the barn during the big days of sale preparation with the cattle and tending to the four children.”
Kory defines his herd as performance driven, sustaining the bigger cows to do their part to wean calves with 50 percent of body weight. “A lot of our customers raise and feed out their cattle, what we can give them for their commercial herd is important.” Stated Kory.
Reflecting back on COVID and how the past year affected his family, “when it was time to AI last spring, the kids were right there with us. They first got their school work done,” said Kory and talking about the children working right along side of them. “Having the kids help meant we used horses’ verses 4-wheelers. More time working on
horses led us to a new adventure of barrel racing and junior rodeo with the kiddos,” Kory stated. “It’s wonderful family time and the kids are already talking about starting up again this spring. I’ve learned to slow down and find enjoyment in investing and in teaching my children the ranch lifestyle. This is our way of life, not our job. It’s rewarding to see the children become independent with some simple jobs already and watch their love for our ranch grow. We enjoy working as a family, making memories as we go.”
Some might say the Ostrand family is living the life, it is a life of ranching and farming every day, it is a life as a family and possibly paving the way for the 6th generation of Ostrand Angus.