John Ely has been in the grass business for more than 40 years.
“Ranching is all about putting weight on cattle, and in the end, it’s all about grass.”
His current source of grass to fatten cattle is the 240-acre 6J Beefmaster ranch just south of Sallisaw, Okla.
But before John started the ranch, he conducted his grass business from the air. He served in the U.S. Army, helicopter aviation in Vietnam, and then put his flying skills to work for other ranchers back in Oklahoma.
“I got out of the service in ‘68 and was in the helicopter aerial spray business for 30-something years. We specialized in ranch spraying and grass release,” John said. “It’s what got us into ranching. People in northeastern Oklahoma were running stockers on their pastures in late March, and we would come in in April or May and spray the fields to kill the weeds and release the grass. Then they’d double-stock the pastures. The helicopters were a means to put weight on cattle.”
Ely sold his helicopters in December of 2007, but still does some contract flying on the side.
Operating the 6J Beefmaster Ranch has been the main Ely family occupation for the last 20 years. Martha, his wife of 47 years, and their daughter Dayla Seay, help run the ranch.
“We range from about 70 head of momma cows up to 120. It depends on sales. We’ve also got more cattle on another lease nearby,” said John. “We sell commercial and provide purebreds to new breeders. We also sell cattle off the ranch pretty much all the time.”
The Ely ranch runs purebred Beefmaster cattle because of the breed’s special characteristics and the cost benefits.
“I was attracted to their maternal instincts and mothering abilities,” said John. “Beefmasters are very easy to work, and are usually calm. They’re insect resistant. And on a place this size, it took 80 or 90 head of commercial cattle to make it pay. I’d rather sell a $2,000 purebred than a $500 commercial cow. The upkeep on both is still the same.”
Ely uses the most up-to-date technology to ensure his cattle are top-notch.
“What we zero in on are cattle that work for the commercial man,” John said. “We keep up with genetics, and go from DNA studies to sonograms to blood types. We send the samples to the (Beefmasters Breeders United) in San Antonio for analysis. We do artificial insemination and natural breeding. On our donor cows, we take the eggs and fertilize them and put them into commercial beef cattle as surrogate mothers.”
All the careful attention and work with genetics keeps the 6J Beefmaster Ranch going strong even in tough economic times.
“The bad economy has affected everything,” John said, “But people understand that with quality purebred cattle, you get what you pay for. The market for that is still sustained. With commercial cattle there can be a fall off, but with purebreds, with the right kind of bloodlines, it’s a pretty steady demand.”
In addition to the purebred Beefmaster cattle, the Ely ranch runs a hay operation, and produces Aviagen pullets that mature into laying hens. Martha and Dayla run the two chicken houses.
“We have about 20,000 chickens at any one time,” said Dayla. “We have about 10,000 per house.”
“We usually do pretty good,” said Martha.
Another operation offered by the Ely’s is a 3,500-acre hunting lease just north of the ranch, called Wolf Mountain. The lease features whitetail deer and turkey hunting, with Ely’s son, Jason, and a grandson working as guides. “We’ve even got bears on it,” said John. “But we just found them. They just started showing up on the game cameras last spring.”
Family is key to the success of the 6J Beefmaster ranch. Besides Martha and Dayla working on the ranch daily, Jason Ely’s family lives on a section of land adjacent to the ranch.
“He’s married and has three boys of his own,” said John. “His boys are already showing cattle of their own now.”
Two Ely grandchildren are slated to graduate from college, Jessica Seay from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in English literature, and Matt Merrill from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a degree in business. Jake Seay has graduated from Tulsa Welding School.
John’s other children are Melissa Person and Dana Mitchell. While they don’t regularly work the ranch, John said, “If we right the bell, the whole crew shows up.”
John hopes the Ely family legacy continues on the 6J Beefmaster Ranch.
“There are ranches we aerial sprayed on for years. We sprayed for the owners, and then their kids, and now the grandkids. We see a lot of ranches being busted up with urban sprawl, and selling off five or 10-acre chunks. And we’re talking about old established ranches in eastern Oklahoma that sprang up before statehood.
“(This ranch) is part of history,” concluded John. “I think it’s important, and if it’s important to (my kids), time will tell.”
