Niehus Ranch Offers Beef Directly To Public
JAY, Okla. — Niehus Ranch raises cattle to sell directly to the public.
Susie Niehus has been helping to run Niehus Ranch since 2008. She took the time to speak about ranching and faith, as well as deliver a few tips for other ranchers in the springtime.
The ranch started when Susie Niehus’ husband, Nate Niehus, bought the original property in 2004, Susie said.
Niehus Ranch officially started when the two got married in 2008, she said. The couple works with local butchers and delivers cattle to the butchers, and the customers pick up their beef from the butcher.
Customers pay Niehus Ranch for the beef and the butcher for the processing, she said. Niehus Ranch raises commercial Angus and it is in the process of bringing some Wagyu cattle into a couple of the pens this summer, she added.
Born on a cattle
ranch
Susie Niehus was born on Schwerin Farms Incorporated outside of Siloam Springs, she said.
“I am a third-generation cattle rancher,” Susie said.
Susie said she has been in the Siloam Springs area since 1980. She was a member of the Siloam Springs FFA, where she showed cattle as her Supervised Agricultural Experience project.
After graduating from
Siloam Springs High School in 2004, she attended Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
The couple used to do cattle auctions but found that they were costly, so the couple decided to switch to selling beef directly to the public, she said.
Rooted in faith
Niehus Farms is a business rooted in faith.
“Our faith is a huge part of everything we do here,” Susie
said. “We’re huge believers of loving God and loving people. All of our business principles revolve around loving our neighbors.”
The Niehuses said they would never sell something to someone that they wouldn’t want to put in their own freezer.
Niehus Ranch doesn’t use any chemicals in its feed. The ranch buys a feed that is a mixture of rice pellets, dried distilled grain and corn from Cattleman’s Feed in Colcord, Okla, she said.
They also vaccinate, deworm and treat the cattle for flies and lice, she said. Niehus Ranch also implements low-stress cattle management practices, she explained.
“So, when we handle them, we try to handle them in a way that doesn’t cause them to be worked up or to become frustrated over time because these are all cattle that we’ve raised,” Susie said. “They stay calm in the pens, which makes their babies stay calm in the pens and our cow herd, over the years, has become very docile.”
Off the ranch
When she is not tending to cattle, Susie works as a children’s minister at First Christian Church in Grove, Okla., she said. She also is a part of the women’s ministry and designs the web page for the church.
She said she preached at more churches than she can count and even spoke at a leadership seminar in Stillwater.
Plus, she has also spoken at several prisons, including the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison in McAlester, Okla. The McAlester prison is also home to the death row unit for male inmates, according to oklahoma.gov.
Susie also works to help
raise her son Naaman and daughter Natalie. Niehus’ son Naaman has already begun to show cattle and has won the Grand Champion Heifer Limousine and Grand Champion Showmanship, Susie said.
Passionate about the
cattle business
Susie said her family is passionate about raising cattle and making sure its customers have quality beef. The couple offers ranch tours for all who want to see a working cattle ranch, she said.
The ranch has six harvests a year, the most recent one being on April 4, she said.
She took a few minutes to provide a few tips for preparing a ranch for spring. As the weather gets warmer, calving season begins, she said.
She recommends fertilizing the ground and making sure weeds are properly controlled. Hay equipment is serviced and prepped for summer hay bailing, she said.
Hay nutrients have a direct relationship to the type of grass the hay is made from, she explained. Hay is a grass replacement when grass does not grow.
Before spring approaches, it is also time for cattle to receive their semi-annual vaccinations and parasite control, Susie said. Niehus Ranch vaccinates its cattle in the spring because they are penned for weaning and deworming, she explained.
The family limits handling the cattle because it is stressful on the herd, so she does as much as possible when the cattle are still penned she said.
Lastly, as each beef harvest happens, another group of cattle is sorted and put on full feed, Susie said. The cattle are rotated so the younger cows can be put on full feed 90-120 days before harvest, Niehus said.
The family is always working towards growing the ranch by adding more cattle and acquiring lands, and hopes that this is something their kids will want to do, Susie said.
“We are thankful to be able to raise our family in this lifestyle and ultimately be able to provide beef to our friends and neighbors,” Susie said.