About Our Family
Select any of the small photos to see the larger view.
From humble beginnings:
When we were first married, we lived on the Western side of Washington State. Mike drove over an hour a day one way to get to work and I was going to college. (I’m sure that today, the commute for Mike would be at least double that time, along with the frustration of sitting in bumper–to–bumper traffic!) We yearned to move to Eastern Washington and have a cattle ranch. Mike was raised on a dairy farm but ranching for me was just a huge desire. When our boys were two and four, we were afforded the opportunity to make the giant move. Within a year we owned our own business and purchased a home. Our step into livestock started small…sheep…which both our sons showed through their school years.
When Robb was in high school, he wanted to branch out into cattle. He purchased a Hereford heifer with hopes of showing her. He was given the opportunity to go to Denver that same year to help work with Simmental cattle owned by Mike Stoltey. The big bug bit hard! Our small herd of commercial cattle and the Hereford soon found their way down the road, and purebred Simmental came to the forefront of our lives. At the time we started raising them, Simmental cattle were “traditional” in color…basically yellow or yellow and white spotted, a few reds, no blacks. They originate in Switzerland and are probably still yellow or yellow and white today. The Simmies at our ranch started changing color in 1987 and we were on our way to a change that is still evolving today. We found ourselves not only showing in local and state fairs but by the time our cattle were red, we had progressed to Canada, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City and Louisville. What a ride!
About us
In the spring of 1990, we formed a partnership with our son Robb. We purchased our main ranch headquarters that fall. The newspaper ad listed it as a “stockman’s dream,” and what a dream it was! In 1991, Robb and Debbie Bartolac were married. They met while showing cattle back in the mid ’80s. By the time they met, we had built a fairly good sized herd. Implanting our embryos was done surgically, directly inserting the embryo into the fallopian tube of the recip. We had been crossbreeding Simmental bulls with cooperator owned Angus cows to create our F1 cross cattle for several years. Our bull customers were excited with the results they were getting by using the F1 bulls on their cows. It was a natural step for us to begin raising our own purebred Angus along with our purebred Simmental.
L to R, back: Chance, Debbie, Mike, Paulette, Robb.
L to R, front: Mackenzie, Colton, Chelse.
Robb and Debbie have been blessed with two girls (Chelse and Mackenzie) and two boys (Chance and Colton). They, in turn, have been blessed with a love of animals.They each have their own cattle, some of which sell in our annual production sale.
We farm close to 900 acres of ground, which includes producing Timothy hay that is sold and exported overseas. Three very dedicated full time employees help make this all possible.
We would love to visit with you and discover ways our Purebreds and Hybrid Meatmakers can add to your bottom line. Give us a call.
