Oxbow Cattle Company
Location
Oxbow Cattle Company
Missoula, Montana
Job Category
Year Round/Permanent Position
Compensation:
- Salaried
- Depends On Experience
- $35,000-$50,000 annually
- Beef allowance
- Educational Allowance
- 4 weeks paid vacation
- Health Benefits
- Housing provided
Start Date: March 3rd, 2025
Last Date to Apply: December 31st, 2024
Job Description:
Oxbow Cattle Company Mission:
- Regenerate the ecosystem
- Respect all animals
- Connect with our community
- Produce high quality and healthy food that nourishes the body and soul.
Oxbow Cattle Company is a regenerative ranching operation that raises high quality grass-finished beef and sells it directly to the community of Missoula and surrounding areas. We use the most current regenerative management practices for year round grazing of our cattle herds and are always evolving and learning to improve upon this. We take pride in our low-stress stockmanship and horsemanship skills. This job is not an 8-5, 5 days a week job, we usually work longer days and weekends. With that said we strive for a life/work balance. This position will challenge you both physically and mentally, and will be rewarding in the end.
Daily/Weekly Routine:
Daily routines vary with seasonal change of work, so the following are general guidelines with notable exceptions. A typical work day starts at 7 AM and ends at 6 PM. Work weeks are Monday thru Friday as well as being “on call” 2 weekends a month to stock the f2m (farm 2 market) store and deal with any weekend work that is needed, such as moving cows, responding to calls, unloading hay, feeding cows, breaking ice, etc.
Notable exceptions to daily/weekly routine are:
- Calving; checks every few hours from daylight to dark and if needed throughout the night. Calving is from April 20th through July.
- Farm to market store (f2m) stocking. This is done every day of the week.
- Delivering beef every other Wednesday, means we are at the mercy and timing of our processor. Depending on when they show up deliveries may extend past 5 PM.
- Daily cattle moves and daily irrigating.
- When livestock are out. We must act timely if animals are out and need to be placed back within their pasture/paddocks.
- Weather emergencies such as heavy snow on poly wire, flooding, fires etc.
- Ranch work in general has a way of throwing curveballs at you and plans change daily.
Seasonal Patterns:
- Winter: December – February: Livestock feeding & monitoring, livestock moves, e-fence construction, equipment maintenance, grazing and business planning, WOTB (working on the business) work, education opportunities, meetings, and book work.
- Spring: March – April: Livestock feeding & monitoring, livestock moves (daily), equipment maintenance, e-fence construction, permanent fence maintenance and construction, irrigation infrastructure maintenance, irrigating, and planting cover crops.
- Summer/Fall: May – November: Calving, livestock monitoring, livestock moves (daily), equipment maintenance, e-fence construction, permanent fence maintenance and construction, irrigating, range monitoring, branding, goat/sheep management, weed management, water development projects, and educational opportunities.
*The employer has the right to vary the working hours, days and time to meet the needs of the business.
Potential Jobs/Tasks:
This job will be very diverse and rewarding. Here is a partial list of potential job duties:
- Calving
- Irrigating
- Animal husbandry
- Load & haul livestock while applying low stress techniques
- Move livestock while applying low stress techniques
- Feeding & supplementing livestock
- Fence construction
- Fence maintenance
- E-fence construction and deconstruction
- Range & soil health monitoring
- Livestock health monitoring
- Equipment repair and maintenance
- Building repair and maintenance
- Weed spraying, chopping & pulling
- Leading volunteer days
- Conduct education outreach and field days
- Water development
- Wildlife habitat protection
- Stream regeneration
- Soil regeneration
- Operate side-by-side, ATV, 4 wheel drive trucks (standard)
- Gather, saddle and ride horses while using natural horsemanship methods
- Identifying sick animals and doctoring them
- Roping. Head and heel brandings and pasture doctoring
- Selling Oxbow Beef
- Delivering Oxbow Beef
- Stocking the f2m daily
- Plant and monitor cover crops as well as other plantings
- Assist with constructing annual grazing plan
- Contribute meaningfully to Oxbow Cattle Company Mission
- Most of all learn, grow and have fun
Desired Qualifications
- Proficient at riding horses
- Can do attitude
- Loves to learn
- Previous experience on working ranch
- Can drive truck and stock trailer safely and proficiently
- Previous experience working outside with small intimate team
- Leadership skills when required to oversee other ranch employees or projects.
- Exposure to low stress stockmanship
- Experience with doctoring sick animals
- An interest in regenerative agriculture
- Ability to lift 75 pounds
- Physically able to walk numerous miles over uneven terrain daily.
- Experience with fixing all types of fence, such as barbed, hi-tensil, poly wire
- Experience with heavy equipment
- Grazing experience
- Ability to multi-task and prioritize multiple assignments to ensure completion of tasks within stated time.
- Ability to accomplish work within required timelines, including short, long, and emergency timeframes
- Interest in direct marketing and selling beef.
Additional Information
- Housing is provided and consists of a small home with all of the amenities, a great view, and off grid. It is located on our lease just south of headquarters.
- You will be required to carry your own personal cell phone for communication.
- You will be required to provided your own transportation for all personal use such as travel to and from work.
How to Apply
⚠️ Email your resume, along with answers to following five questions:
- What is your experience with regenerative agriculture?
- Describe what a good and contributing team member looks like.
- This is more of a lifestyle than it is a job. Explain why you would be interested in this lifestyle rather than just having a job that pays the bills?
- What is your experience with riding horses and roping?
- How would you define Grit and give us one example of you exercising “Grit”.
View website here: https://www.oxbowcattleco.com/
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