​What’s Good for the Cattle, Is Good for the Wetlands

Progressive work in the Utah wetlands earned JY Ferry and Son, Inc. the 2024 CAB Sustainability Award.

by Lindsay Graber Runft

September 19, 2024

Sensitive, unique, ecologically productive. Healthy forages palatable to cattle. The wetlands and land for grazing—when managed correctly, they are one and the same.

Located north of Salt Lake City, brothers John and Ben Ferry manage their century-old business, JY Ferry and Son, Inc., along with family. The multi-faceted business encompasses ranching, farming and wildlife management. With a determined focus on enduring for generations to come, the family has made strides in land restoration and genetic progress within their Angus cow herd. These efforts earned them the 2024 Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Sustainability Award, presented at the CAB Annual Conference in Verona, New York, this September.

Grazing for a Good Lifecycle

“There’s a good cycle to wetlands,” says Joel Ferry, John’s son and current executive director of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources.

Serving as a habitat for wildlife, the wetlands also have a hydrologic purpose. They act as both filter and sponge, cleaning the water and absorbing it when soils become saturated. Drying out, the wetlands slowly release water, which keeps the land green longer into summer. More plant life means greater grazing opportunities.  

“Grazing is a really important part of that cycle,” Joel says. “It stimulates a lot of regeneration of the wetland vegetation.”

Though they are a vibrant and ever-changing ecosystem, wetlands can become stagnant over time. Without cattle grazing there, the ecosystem becomes decrepit, not ecologically productive.

Speaking from experience, Joel attributes the rise in nesting birds and thriving cattle to the increase in forages and feed for both.

In the wetland areas they manage, the Ferry family mimics natural patterns of wet and dry cycles. Some years, their cattle graze the grasses there, oxygenating soil and stimulating growth. Other years, they dry out some areas, causing wide cracks that let oxygen penetrate deep into the soil. This yields growth of different vegetation with an increase in bugs and birds, restarting the circle of life.

As an added benefit, grazing keeps at bay such invasive plants as the water-hoarding reed phragmites, noxious weeds that steal resources from other plants, fish, birds and wildlife.

“In any system, overgrazing can be detrimental,” Joel says. “But in a wetland, if you manage it properly, grazing is very beneficial.”

Speaking to the evolution of grazing strategy in Utah, he says the mindset has changed. What was once considered disadvantageous is now the solution. With education at wildlife refuges and state waterfowl management areas, rotational grazing has been implemented. Thousands of cattle now graze pastures around the Salt Lake, including the phragmites. That helps control its spread and restore the ecosystem, all in an eco-friendly and sustainable way.

“It’s good for ranchers, it’s good for the ecosystem, it’s good for the birds,” Joel says.

Sustainable Lands, Sustainable Family Business

Wildlife management is one leg on the three-legged stool of JY Ferry and Son, Inc. The other legs, cattle and farming, fall under John and Ben Ferry’s hats. John takes care of the cows, and Ben manages the farm.

Diversity has been key to success and sustainability.

“Even when Hereford was king, we were black,” John says. “We’ve tried different things, as far as terminal crosses, but we’ve always come back to Angus.”

The ranch operates a custom feedyard and runs approximately 1,200 Angus cows.

Replacement heifer selection traits of emphasis include yearling weight, birth weight, milk, docility and marbling. Herd management is geared toward value-based marketing.

“The market is there for quality,” John says of today’s consumers. “They want marbling, flavor and taste.”

He often reviews carcass data from the packer and considers it a measure of progress. If his home-raised Angus cattle grade below 80-90% Choice, John looks at two factors: genetic selection and nutrition. He knows the long-term average is near 85% Choice with 30-40% meeting Certified Angus Beef ^® brand specifications.   

“You see your load of calves go down the road and think your concern has ended,” John says. “It hasn’t. It goes all the way to the table.”

A sitting member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, he recognizes the consumer’s importance to his business and the entire beef supply chain. The Angus cow offers something consumers want, he says: Quality.

“Angus is in the driver’s seat,” John says. “The progressive nature of the cattle, the genetics, they’re the gold standard.”

For Ben, whose main priority is crop farm management, the task is challenged by various soil types and climates.

The ranch sits in a river valley at 4,200 feet above sea level, protected by mountains on each side that provide a watershed from snow. And though they manage several wetlands, the ranch’s headquarters due north of the Salt Lake features arid, saline soil. 

Though a canal system carries water, the land isn’t immune to drought.

“When dealing with Mother Nature, she doesn’t do anything two years in a row,” Ben says. “So it’s always an education, and most of the time she sends you a tuition bill for a class you never took.”

A few years ago, northern Utah drought saw reservoirs at about one-third of normal levels. Farmers and ranchers faced water rationing. Crops were managed to meet the water availability in a rotation system used for growing wheat, corn and hay.

“Farming in this valley is an art,” Ben says.

Combining years of experience and progressive technology, he steers the farming enterprises toward preparation and predictability, pillars of sustainability.

To Ben, sustainability means survival.

His farming philosophy includes practices that protect the land and its nutrients: no-till planting, cover crops and soil sampling for ultimate soil health. And downstream: developing the watershed and managing a habitat so wildlife and cattle can coexist.

His overall philosophy is family wide. Build for the future, the next generation.

Sustainability in agriculture can mean a lot of things. At JY Ferry and Son, Inc., it bridges quality beef production, land stewardship and wildlife management. What’s good for the cattle is good for the wetlands—and good for another generation of the Ferry family’s multi-generational business.

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