Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Bering Pacific Ranches: Organic Beef, Aleutian Islands
Bering Pacific Ranches: Organic Beef, Aleutian Islands: Free Range Cattle Bering Pacific Ranches Ltd operates a certified organic cattle ranch at Fort Glenn, Umnak Island, Alaska in the Aleu...
Organic Beef, Aleutian Islands
Free Range Cattle
Bering Pacific
Ranches Ltd operates a certified organic cattle ranch at Fort Glenn, Umnak Island, Alaska in the Aleutian Island chain. This
mostly uninhabited volcanic island provides cattle a vast area to roam and
forage on the nutrient rich vegetation and drink volcanic spring water. The area is so vast that Bering Pacific
Ranches uses helicopters to herd the cattle.
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Photo by: Julian Olivas
Photo by: Julian Olivas
Ranching on the island started when Russian
settlers first brought over cattle in the early 18th century. About 15,000
reindeer share the island, which is free of predators like bears and
wolves.
Ride along with Josh Stamm as he films a mustering
Bering Pacific Ranches’ approximately 7,000 cattle consists of a cow base of about
2,500 breeding cows and heifers and plenty of bulls to keep them bred. The
balance of the herd is made up of market cattle, both slaughter and feeder
animals, ranging in age from calves and yearlings to mature cull bulls and
cows. This strong herd of cattle
is strengthened through natural selection and none of these animals have ever
received any hormones or inoculations. They are completely isolated from husbandry
propagated diseases and have never eaten the protein feeds that caused mad cow
disease in other parts of the world.
Due
to the forage and water on the island, the organic beef also shows omega-3
fatty acid levels of more than six times the omega-3 of 95-percent lean
beef. As a result, Alaska Organic Beef is one of the few raw meat products
with USDA-approved “excellent source of” claim for several nutrients and
omega-3 nutritional claims. The beef also has almost seven times the amount of
calcium, 1.5 times the amount of iron and twice the amount of unsaturated fats
compared with typical 95-percent lean beef.
The product is certified organic by Oregon Tilth
and is sold under the Alaska Organic Beef brand. Bering Pacific Ranches operates
the island’s only certified-organic processing plant, which is used seasonally
and employs an onsite USDA inspector during the October harvest.
Watch this space for news on livestock Auctions
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Photo by: Julian Olivas
On Umnak Island, volcanoes are separated by eroded valleys,
verdant grassy slopes and expansive wildflower filled meadows. Umnak is enisled
by the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. This little known and rarely visited remote
and spectacular coastline last saw volcanic activity in 2008 with the eruption
of the Okmok Volcano.
Alaska
Commerce Department Photo
The village
of Nikolski is a small, traditional Aleut settlement on Umnak Island. Aleuts
migrated across the Bering Land Bridge between 8,000 and 15,000 BC. The first
reported settlement of Aleuts was in the area now known as Nikolski Bay which
is believed to be the oldest continuously occupied community in the world. Umnak Island wаs fіrst reached by independent Russian fur
traders іn 1742. From 1743 it was the site of
sea otter hunting and the native red fox and in 1750 the Russians introduced
the Arctic fox to Umnak. By 1920 fox
farming on Umnak was booming. Residents
were evacuated when the Japanese attacked Unalaska in June 1942, seizing Attu
and Kiska and residents ultimately returned in 1944.
Fort Glenn
Decommissioned in 1950, Fort Glenn, which provided aerial defensive cover for the U.S. bases in Unalaska Bay, is the most comprehensive and intact World War II base in the Aleutian Islands. Constructed between January and April 1942, Cape Field's first runway was then the U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands. Fighter pilots stationed at Fort Glenn led the counterattack against Japanese pilots bombing Dutch Harbor on June 3-4, 1942, Fort Glenn also served as the initial forward base to launch bombing attacks on Japanese installations at Attu and Kiska.
The Bering Pacific Ranch
at Fort Glenn
Photo of the ranch
house by Julian Olivas
Bering Pacific
Ranches took up a lease on 1.5 million acres of ranch land in 1993. That lease
is in effect until December 31, 2031 with an option to renew. The ranch itself
is at Fort Glenn, the decommissioned US forces WWII base.
Photo by Julian Olivas
Photo by Julian Olivas
Photo by Julian Olivas
Photo by Julian Olivas
Julian Olivas a Helicopter Pilot and Seasonal Ranch Hand at Bering
Pacific Ranches is publishing a book of some of his incredible images and
experiences on Umnak Island. You can see some of those images here: http://julianolivas.blogspot.ca/
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