Our Beginings
Raising Cattle Responsibly Since 1946
In 1997, we moved from Grand Junction to Arriba, Colorado to get closer to our family and our roots. What began as the Cactus Ridge Ranch on the Western Slope of Colorado became the Milburn-Kroh Ranch on the Eastern Plains. We started raising cow/calf pairs on a quarter-section of decent grass just north of town. With additional land purchases and leased/rented ground, we grew to almost 1,000 acres by 2012.
Our Old Logo
Sixty-six years earlier, in 1946, my grandfather moved his family from western Kansas to a ranch south of Arriba. After nearly 30 years, he sold the place when he retired. In 2012, we bought back the old Milburn South Fork Ranch, and moved our entire operation to the old home place. One hot August afternoon in 2014, we were hit by a tornado. It took half of the equipment shed, the windows and doors to the shop, and destroyed what was left of the original barn built in the early 1900’s. I took it as a message from God: “Either get serious or get out of the way”. Since then, we have repaired the shed, built a new barn, and began selling Roto Grind feed and grain grinders. We also transitioned from Angus to Wagyu cattle.
Milburn American Wagyu is a Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified producer of quality, home-raised cattle. Through this certification process, we are able to ensure proper management techniques and a commitment to quality throughout every segment of our process. Our focus is quality replacement heifers. As demand increased, we began to offer frozen genetics as well.
Our carrying capacity is limited due to the amount of pasture available to us. As the result, our cattle are housed in the feedlot here on the home place for roughly five months out of the year. We “go to grass” and start calving in April. The pairs return home in November. We pay a tremendous amount of attention to our winter-feeding programs. Working closely with various Feed/Nutrition Specialists, we are able to maximize this portion of our production process.
We grind great amounts of feed. Every pound goes through our 30-year-old Roto Grind grinder. “Old Faithful” is on the third set of hammers and still grinding like it was brand new. It’s been tipped over, shot at, and pulled a thousand miles. I can’t seem to wear it out. I was so impressed with Roto Grind that I acquired dealership rights to Southeastern Colorado in 2016. I now sell Roto Grind grinders in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Texas, Utah, and Oklahoma.
In 2019, my wife of 31 years lost a lengthy battle with cancer. Most of 2020 was spent grieving, evaluating, downsizing and restructuring. Part of that process included bringing on a full time Ranch Manager. I was able steal Anna Roan from a large feedlot/farm in a neighboring county. Her son Lane had worked for me throughout high school. In 2021, Anna and I were married.
To build on that relationship, we have partnered with our kids. They manage much of our recip herd north of Hays, Kansas. There, the cattle are much closer to the embryologist, and vet doing the implant/Al work. Life is good.