River Valley Ranch

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River Valley Ranch

River Valley Ranch lies in the idyllic Kootenay River valley in the south east corner of British Columbia. Cattle are strictly grass fed (no grain).

Certified organic grass fed and grass finished beef, Highland cows, cattle ranch with agri-tourism. We grow nutrient dense local food and offer Farm Stays and Eco-tours for visitors. River Valley Ranch is an old world mixed farm applying bio-dynamic farming practices to the individual and the whole. The farm and household are off-grid and run on alternative energy. The farm is nestled in the Rocky

Mountain Trench and is bounded by the Kootenay River and Crown Land. A small vineyard is sited on a sunny south west slope. The permaculture vineyard hosts an understory guild of wild and farmed crops, and is a refuge for wild bees. We have an orchard and other mixed fruit and nut trees at the farmhouse site. The farmland, vineyard, eggs, meat, vegetables and fruit are all permaculture based. An example of our closed circle farming practice is the use of our own raw goat milk to produce our vineyard and orchard sprays. Raw milk contains wonderful antiseptic properties and enzymes that act as fungal control and give foliar nutrition to the plant. We do the same for our pasture and hayfields with no petrochemical fertilizers or inputs added to our land. Our livestock includes farm reared poultry (meat and heritage egg layers), heritage breed cattle, dairy goats and heritage breed pigs. Lassa, Max and Maya, our rare breed English Shepherd herding farm dogs oversee the farm. (Lassa and Max have been published in COABC magazine article.) River Valley Ranch is a farm where animals freely range on grass pasture, herb filled meadows, and our own forest land. Animals forage for themselves supplemented with farm grown produce, grains and hay (Certified Organic only grains). No GMO or industrial by-products are used on the farm. Farm stays and Eco-tours.

06/04/2026

Kassidy of River Valley is looking after her twelve-hour old boy calf. Patrick was born during a near inundation of the Kootenay River. The mighty Kootenay River arises way, way north of us in the Rocky Mountains of Yoho National Park and begins life as a trickle. It flows down through the Kootenay National Park, gathering mightily from its tributaries along the way. This week we have been nervously watching the levels of the river as they got closer to the 2013 high water spill-over levels. We were just about to do an old-fashioned cattle drive across the tracks to higher ground when the river level turned and started dropping. The rain continued on though through little Patrick’s birth. With his Highland Cow double coat his mom just had to lick him off with no intervention required. He dried off fully from the inside out using his own body heat, helped out by a good nursing from mom.

05/20/2026

Spa Day for the Cows
Walking and grazing in a swale provide a pampering experience for these ladies. This pasture is bounded by the Kootenay River and the river is getting to its full flood mode with spring run off. The low spots on the pasture are getting sub-irrigated with some swale bottoms trickling with water. The cows are seeking out the low spots to treat themselves to some high-end fangotherapy time. Fangotherapy (encasing your body in mud) has been used for thousands of years to reduce stress, increase relaxation and improve blood flow. The cows know best!

05/06/2026

Common Mergansers are diving ducks that nest in tree cavities. The larger size of the Common Merganser can make finding a large enough tree cavity for nesting a challenge. This nesting box is hung on the farm near the bank of the Kootenay River. This is where we observe Common Mergansers mingling, diving and catching fish. This large box was built for size with a large entrance hole and ¼ inch hardware cloth (thick wire woven mesh) on the inside front panel to aid the hatchlings in climbing out. Several inches of h**p chips have been placed on the bottom.
Common Mergansers typically nest from May to August and lay 8 to 12 ivory white coloured eggs. The female will lay one egg per day and once the entire clutch has been laid, the male will leave and the female will incubate the eggs for 28+ days.
A pair of Common Mergansers have been regularly milling about in the Kootenay River in front of this nest box. The female has a grey body with a crested rusty red punk rocker hairdo. The white bodied, dark green headed male has been displaying courtship behaviour, rattling his long red beak which makes a distinctive far-reaching sound.

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day 2026!
Today we feature the busy beaver of Kootenay River. Cottonwood is a preferred tree for local beavers. This Cottonwood elder was felled above a high bank in our riparian and has a circumference of 9 feet (34 inches diameter). Imagine the sheer power of the teeth and jaws! A tree this size would take several weeks to fell. The bark of the felled trunk and branches are stripped in search of a favourite food. The beaver gnaws off the grey ridged outer bark to get at the smooth inner cambium. Tree cambium makes up a beaver’s primary diet. It provides a rich source of carbohydrates and needed nutrients. The other busy work done by the beavers was digging out a deep trenched chute through and down the steep riverbank. The chute was used to drag the stripped branches to the river where they were used to build the family beaver lodge.

04/16/2026

Synanthropes (from Ancient Greek (sýn) 'together, with' and (ánthrōpos) 'man') are wildlife that have developed a close affinity to human settlement. Being nesting season, a mated pair of Ravens had been hopping about with their beaks full of woolly fur. Little Neetu, an adorable 2025 later born Highland calf, hasn’t shed her fulsome baby coat yet. The source of the woolly fur was a puzzle for awhile until Neetu was spotted with Mr. and Mrs. Raven on her back. The pair were busy at work, animatedly talking back and forth and pulling loose woolly fur from Neetu’s back. Ravens are clever! Aside from meat and milk, early Crofters in Scotland also raised Highlands for their prized fiber.

04/01/2026

It’s the end of March and early wildflowers are appearing! Our native Pasqueflower (Easterflower) contains a lot of pollen in its swollen yellow centre, providing generously for early bees. Known as Pulsatilla Patens, it has also been labelled an Anemone. Pulsatilla is used by homeopathic practitioners (in highly minute quantities – the fresh is very toxic and a skin irritant) to help the dying “ease” or pass over to the other side. No wonder there is reverence held for its beautiful bloom!

01/07/2026

Mystery girl Mary Rose of River Valley has been growthy since the get-go and has a people-friendly demeanor. She is 1 ½ years old and will be paired with our bull Mars of Norland Brae in 2026. Her profile picture displays her Bus Dubh (a Gaelic term for “black muzzle ring”) which in addition to her brindles on a red coat make her an interesting gal. Neither her mother nor her father had a Bus Dubh. So far, the location of the Bus Dubh gene for Highland cattle has not been uncovered.

01/06/2026

Mid-winter Rose Hip Foraging
Wild rose hips are at their peak after a few good frosts. This year with the deep freeze of winter not yet set in, late picking has been quite alright. The light snow and frosts have made the rose hips deliciously sweet. Here are a couple ways to enjoy them – rose hip syrup with raw honey and air dried for tea making. These are from the Rosa acicularis subsp. sayi (aka Prickly Rose) which grow in abundance here. Luckily the new twigs of the year that bear the fruit are often not prickly and make for pleasant picking!

12/28/2025

Girl Mom!
Golden girl Gabriola of Tatlayoko has produced only daughters and all from natural in-the-pasture breeding. She’s given us a string of River Valley Ranch favs – Kailee, Luna, Maisie and now Nina. Gabby’s still keeping her girlish figure including very pretty feet. Ginger coloured Nina was sired by Harris of Moffat and will be CHCS registered in the New Year as Nina of River Valley.

12/01/2025

Big 2025 baby, Nola of River Valley nursing video that shows excellent mothering behaviour by June of Lost Paradise. We also get to see a bit of bunting behavior by Nola to stimulate milk flow at the end of a pretty long nursing session. "Mmm Mmm Good" to the last drop!

Address

1575 Fenwick Road
Fort Steele, BC
V0B1N0

Telephone

+12503338807

Website

http://www.rivervalleyranch.ca/

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