Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Wyoming Farmer Says Yaks Make Good Stock, Good Meat
Casper Tribune-Eagle ^ | January 17, 2004 | Cara Eastwood

Posted on 01/17/2005 3:18:23 PM PST by Shermy

CHEYENNE -- With fierce-looking horns and shaggy black hair, the yaks that live on Willis Larson's ranch look like a cross between domesticated cattle and sasquatch walking on all fours.

But despite the intimidating impression that they first offer, the scraggly coated bovines are actually tamer than cattle and train easily for use as pack animals, Larson says.

Yaks also produce a low-fat, flavorful meat that has begun to attract health-conscious people looking for an alternative to beef.

When he talks about his yaks, Larson's voice softens and he speaks about the complexity of each animal's personality.

"They're clowns, and sometimes they'll tease me," he says, smiling. "They'll kind of get in a circle and run around me. When they all run together, they look like one big flying carpet."

Yaks fling their tails up when they run, and their heavy hair flips around them as they buck like deer.

Raising the animals has been easier than Larson and his wife, Robbie, expected.

Yaks are native to Tibet, Mongolia and China, and didn't arrive in the United States until the 1970s, when they were imported for zoos. There are still only about 2,000 yaks in North America, and the few breeders form a tight-knit group and communicate often about their herds, Larson says.

Those who breed the animals sing their praises for the fine hair they produce, their disease resistance, their ability to cope with extreme cold weather and, most of all, for the taste of their meat.

"There's no comparison to beef -- yak is way better," said Jerry McRoberts, owner of McRoberts Game Farm in Gurley, Neb. "It's juicier and has a totally different flavor."

He is considered one of the nation's experts on yaks and owns almost half of the yaks in North America.

"True-bred yak are probably more docile than cattle; they've been domesticated just as long," McRoberts adds.

Families in Tibet and Nepal treat yaks like members of their families, according to an informational video on the animals. Inside the traditional Tibetan family home, yaks live on the first floor, and the families sleep upstairs where the animals' heat helps provide warmth.

Tibetans use yak hair to make ropes and clothing and use the milk to make butter and traditional tea. The animals' dung is burned in cooking fires and is used as mortar in home building.

Larson marvels at his yaks' ability to deliver calves and defend their young. When a pregnant yak nears her delivery date, she begins to stretch in a manner that Larson calls "yak Lamaze."

"She'll start stretching about a week before she's due and she'll separate herself from the herd," Larson said. "When the calf comes, it happens in just a few seconds."

When he enters the pasture with his herd of 64 animals to feed, the yaks crowd tightly together near the feeders, making soft grunting sounds. Larson walks confidently among them, partly to re-establish his dominance.

"Yaks are herd animals, and they've got a pecking order," he says. "You've got to make sure that you stay at the top."

The large bull keeps a wary eye on the humans in the area, but the females munch on hay without seeming to notice Larson. As he loads hay into the feeder, the animals passively chew and continue to communicate with soft grunts and snorts.

Larson says he decided to raise yaks after researching different exotic animals and talking to breeders at the National Western Stock Show several years ago in Denver.

"We did a lot of research before we decided to go with yaks," Robbie Larson says.

Compared to cattle, yaks are remarkably easy to raise and need much less food and preventative medical care, Willis says.

McRoberts agreed.

"They have incredible metabolic requirements since there's not much to eat for much of the year in the Himalayas," McRoberts said. He said a 600-pound yak cow only eats about one-fourth of what a 1,200-pound Angus cow consumes.

The Larsons grew so fond of a male calf whose mother rejected him after his birth last year that they've raised him in their backyard. Now named Andy, the 8-month-old animal, greets Robbie every afternoon when she comes home from work.

"He walks up on the deck and comes right up to the sliding glass door and looks for me," she says, laughing. "When I put my hand out, he sucks on my fingers."

Robbie says her husband is well suited to raising yaks.

"He's a real animal person -- everything's spoiled rotten, but he kind of has a different sense with them, a good communication," she said.

McRoberts says Willis is quickly becoming a knowledgeable member of the yak ranching community.

"He's learning, and I think he's very competent," he said.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Wyoming
KEYWORDS: ranch; yakityyak; yaks
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-65 next last
To: Lijahsbubbe; Cousin Eddie; aculeus; dighton

Eddie: "Yeah, I got the daughter in the clinic, getting cured off the Wild Turkey. And, the older boy, bless his soul, is preparing for his career."

Clark: "College?"

Eddie: "Carnival."

Clark: "You got to be proud."

Eddie: "Oh, yeah. Yeah, last season he was a pixie-dust spreader on the Tilt-O-Whirl. He thinks that maybe next year, He'll be guessing people's weight or barking for the Yak woman. You ever see her?"

Clark: "No."

Eddie: "She's got these big horns growing right out above her ears. Yeah, she's ugly as sin, but a sweet gal. And, a hell of a good cook."


41 posted on 01/17/2005 4:32:10 PM PST by Thinkin' Gal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shermy

Sweet! Only in Wyoming...


42 posted on 01/17/2005 4:35:41 PM PST by GOP_Raider (With a QB named Kerry, is it any wonder the Raiders finished 5-11 this year?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

How does it (Yak) compare to Buffalo?

======

it = 2 letters

Yak = 3 letters

Buffalo = 7 letters

I sincerely hope this answers your difficult question !!! '-))



43 posted on 01/17/2005 4:36:07 PM PST by GeekDejure ( LOL = Liberals Obey Lucifer !!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: muir_redwoods
SOUNDS LIKE THE NEW DRUM BEAT FOR OSTRICH.... or Llamas....

Things were just better when race horses were deductible expenses.

44 posted on 01/17/2005 4:38:36 PM PST by pointsal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Shermy

Yak---The other red meat....


45 posted on 01/17/2005 4:48:15 PM PST by Red Badger (And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you FReep!........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SoDak

Haven't had Elk. . .. yet.


46 posted on 01/17/2005 4:53:25 PM PST by Salgak (don't mind me: the orbital mind control lasers are making me write this. . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Shermy

47 posted on 01/17/2005 4:57:15 PM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shermy

Yup, if its not buffalo, its ostrich, and now its Yak. There is always some new/old creature that has escaped our attention for 5000 years that will just blow the doors of beef cattle.


48 posted on 01/17/2005 4:57:39 PM PST by Plutarch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
Energy-saving, too.

There once was a young man named Max,
Who avoided the gasoline tax.
The reason, you see ...
Was 'His Vespa burned pee'
From his grandfather's herd of tame yaks.

49 posted on 01/17/2005 5:19:08 PM PST by DuncanWaring (...and Freedom tastes of Reality)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tacis

You stole my line (almost). Wolves will acquire a taste for Yak meat, I am sure, and if the Yaks (Yaks?) are mean to the wolves they will have to be eliminated, of course. We cant have Yaks bothering wolves and grizzly bears now, can we?


50 posted on 01/17/2005 5:27:46 PM PST by Probus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: vetvetdoug
Appears to me another Ponzi scheme for the agricultural community. Alpacas, ostriches, emus, beefalos and llamas come to mind. The press will give them free advertising and the initial yak breeders will make a fortune the next three years and then the bubble bursts. I, like you, have seen it over the past 30 years.

Goats...stick with goats. The most widely consumed meat in the world.

51 posted on 01/17/2005 5:31:13 PM PST by THEUPMAN (#### comment deleted by moderator)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: THEUPMAN
Boer Goats were left out. Boer goats were the last Ponzi scheme I saw with animals in this area.
52 posted on 01/17/2005 6:05:26 PM PST by vetvetdoug (In memory of T/Sgt. Secundino "Dean" Baldonado, Jarales, NM-KIA Bien Hoa AFB, RVN 1965)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: NotJustAnotherPrettyFace

????

Is that like pillow talk?

LOL!


53 posted on 01/17/2005 7:23:13 PM PST by Petruchio (<===Looks Sexy in a flightsuit . . . Looks Silly in a french maid outfit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Capt. Tom

Where did you find that picture of my ex?


54 posted on 01/17/2005 7:25:02 PM PST by Petruchio (<===Looks Sexy in a flightsuit . . . Looks Silly in a french maid outfit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Petruchio
Yak-ety Sax also known as the Benny Hill Show Theme Song.
55 posted on 01/17/2005 8:11:19 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Petruchio
You can also drive all the people crazy who happen to be near you when your cell phone rings with this Yak-ety Sax Ringtone!
56 posted on 01/17/2005 8:13:57 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Petruchio
Or click here for a sample of the real deal! ;-) (#1 track - click on the megaphone button...)
57 posted on 01/17/2005 8:17:35 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Petruchio

BWAHAHAHAHAHA - you're not nice ;-).


58 posted on 01/17/2005 8:18:01 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
Beefalo. Ostrich. You name it, all failed to catch on.

Yeah, because they are all inferior to beef in obvious ways. I don't want to compromise on cuisine quality for what is likely a marginal return on healthiness at best.

I think the only red meat "game animal" that I like as much as high-quality beef is high-quality elk.

59 posted on 01/17/2005 8:27:07 PM PST by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Capt. Tom

They look likes cows wearing dresses.


60 posted on 01/17/2005 10:04:14 PM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all things that need to be done need to be done by the government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-65 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson