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Puzzle Ranch Field DayJoin us as we travel to the Palestine area June 2 to see how two Swiss brothers, Alain and Jean Galley, work their sustainable ranch in the sandy soil near the Trinity River. We will gather at 10am and finish up about 3pm to allow travel time. Cost to attend is $20 and includes lunch. Please let us know you are coming by May 25, 2007, so we can plan the lunch and can give you directions. You may pay in advance (online, via phone or send us a check) or when you arrive. We all expect to learn a lot from these innovative world class ranchers."Our goal is to develop a ranch with time and livestock rather than money and machines," said Alain. The Galley fenced (so far) over 3,000 of their 6,000 acres into 45 80-acre permanent paddocks which are ocassionally sub-divided by temporary fences as needed to move their 1,8500 beef cattle and 7,500 hair sheep every couple of days. The area rainfall is 50 inches, but the watering system is set up for irrigation, just in case. Base forage is bermudagrass and ryegrass for a 10 month grazing season with supplemental hay to round out the year. They have 3 contract laborers from Mexico on H2A visas as sheepherders on rotation with 2 months family time in Mexico per year. The Galley brothers divide their time among their 2 ranches in Mexico in addition to the Texas ranch. Sheep and beef are balanced by weight, so there are roughly 10 ewes for every cow. This balance helps prevent parasites and predation on the lambs, reducing coyote problems to minimal, even with no guard dogs, llamas or night penning. "The only preventive medicine that really works is genetics," Alain said. " Consequently, we rarely worm our sheep. We get rid of the animals that have parasite problems. That's the way you make real genetic progress." The cows are Red Angus crossed on Tuli (from Zimbabwe) and Nelore (from Brazil) bulls. That cross is then bred to South Devon bulls for their exceptionally tender meat. The sheep are Dorper, for the heat resistance and great meat, crossed on Barbados. "Jean and I have been lucky to have had the chance to travel the world and see what works and what doesn't," Alain said. "This ranch is a combination of Swiss capital, Mexican labor, American grass and markets, African and Brazilian livestock genetics and New Zealand fencing technology. We are very thankful to the USA for allowing us the opportunity to put all of this together."
To attend this Field Day, please print out, complete and bring with you this Visitors Agreement.
To learn more about the Galleys and their operation, go to http://www.stockmangrassfarmer.net/cgi-bin/page.cgi?id=418 or http://www.countryworldnews.com/Editorial/ETX/2004/et0617brothersranch.htm
Directions to the ranch:
From the south:
Maps: You may register by:
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