About Us
Welcome to the LeVeque Ranch
Welcome to the LeVeque Ranch outside of Cascade, MT where we have the ability to raise grass fed, grain finished beef. We also offer grass finished Icelandic lamb, raw honey, some animal byproducts, as well as some registered breeding stock. We use sustainable practices and are good stewards of the land. We are still here five generations later providing local, nutritious food. Our family ranch is here to provide good food for you and your family while maintaining an educational and open relationship about where and how your future meals are raised. Over the years we have learned and continue to learn how to manage what land we have in a way that the future generations will be able to continue what we do. Raising quality, well cared for animals, means we have healthy animals that we can offer you. By following beef quality assurance standards, and using low stress management practices, you can be assured these animals have a good life while they are here. We use common sense, and depend on mother nature for the rest. We hope that if you are new to ordering direct from a ranch that you will ask all your questions, consider coming and visiting us if you want, build a trusting relationship, and we hope you will be happy with any products you purchase from us and any information we can give you.
Know where your beef is raised, and know that it was raised well.
Healthy and well cared for animals make the best tasting ones. We like to provide our customers with quality and nutritious beef. By buying local you can be certain that the beef and lamb you are spending your hard earned income on is the way you want it.
Our hay is purchased within 200 miles of the ranch. By buying hay locally we can have a better idea of the quality of hay we will be feeding and that we aren’t bringing any new species of plants that would be troublesome to our ground and animals.
Our beef is antibiotic free. We do treat and care for sick animals when its needed. But these animals that receive this kind of care are not going to end up in your freezer. We keep constant and accurate records of all of our animals to ensure that they get the best care and you get the best product.
We use proven vaccines in our herds to manage possible diseases and to protect them. We believe that it is in the best interest of the animal and good herd management t0 do what we can to keep our animals from picking up harmful bacteria and viruses that are common to our area that can be picked up from the environment, carried by pests, and neighboring herds.
We follow Beef Quality Assurance guidelines and are certified. Even though working with large stubborn animals can be challenging we have learned and continue to learn best practices for working and managing our animals. We believe in low stress handling and are always improving our facilities and upgrading our practices to reflect that belief. We attend seminars, stay involved in the agriculture community, partner with others and learn what we can to better ourselves and how we do things. We have taken inspiration for some practices and facilities from a well-known animal advocate, Temple Grandin.
Our values
Manage Land Sustainably
We have about 2500acres of land, 350 of those acres we farm, either grow hay for the animals when the rain is good, and sometimes we are able to grow a little wheat or barley that is also for feed. What little farming we do we practice minimal till, trying to preserve the quality of our top soil. We use cover crops to add to our organic material and also limit wind erosion. We manage our weeds in a way that chemical use is minimal and our goal is to keep the plant diversity in our fields at a healthy mix. It seems like we are always moving water and fences as rotational grazing practices have improved our use of the land and the health of our fields. It could be said that our grass/soil health is one of the most important things to us as without it we wouldn’t be here doing what we love.
Quality and Ethical Care
We believe in feeding our cattle and sheep balanced diets to meet all of their changing nutritional needs throughout the year. We also have a mineral program that is essential for their health, and they think its tasty too. Our goal is to keep animals under minimal stress, changing our practices and facilities to aide in their comfort. Following Beef Quality Assurance practices means we take care when administering Vaccines to be sure they are given in the right locations and following label directions for dose, use, and warnings like withdrawal periods. Animals are worked through facilities in a way that minimizes stress and injury while maintaining a safe environment for them and us. Continuing education is also something that is very important to us as we all have room to grow and make changes to the betterment of ourselves and our livestock.
Family
We believe in the small ranch family dynamic. In and industry that is turning very quickly to the “get big, or get out” mentality, we fight to stay relevant. We teach our children our values and the importance of these good practices that we follow day to day. We also enjoy educating our family, friends, and the curious passerby as to why we do the things we do and how we have managed to grow and sustain the family ranch. The ranch got its start in 1896 and has only improved since then. We need ranchers to keep raising food for America and to provide the quality of food Americans expect. We need to keep small ranch ideals at the forefront.
Having Faith
Everyone in our family has a little bit different view on faith, but one thing we can agree on is that in our day to day lives mother nature has the power. We all pray in our own way but it’s our choices and the weather that keep us planted. We manage our stress the best we can and lean on each other in the rough times. In the good times we are thankful for what we have been given and what is to come.
Education
Making sure the following generations get the right education and training is paramount. It is also our job as stewards of land and animals that we do the best to keep educating ourselves. We make a commitment to attend Ag leadership conferences, cattle and sheep seminars, grazing/soil/range academies, and conventions where new information for our industry is shared, and improvements to equipment are showcased. It is important in a world where it is easy to be misinformed and deceived that we do our best to also educate our customers and the public to the whys and how’s of our industry. Even if our opinions differ, we think it is important to advocate for ourselves and our animals in a respectful way. We have strong ties to groups like FFA, 4-H, Farm Bureau, and Farmers Union.
What We Do
We’re here to offer locally raised and locally processed Beef. We are raising grass fed grain finished simmental, angus cross cattle to put on your plate. We are also a working Cattle and Sheep Ranch that has been in the family since 1896. We raise registered Texel & Icelandic sheep and Sim x Angus cattle.
Who We Are
We are a 4th and 5th generation cattle and sheep ranch, working to bring you the best quality beef, honey and livestock we can produce. Located in Cascade, Montana close to Great Falls. With Glacier National Park to the North and Yellowstone to the South. Coffee is on, come visit! Learn more about our history, click the button.
