During April and May, as you drive down I-70, you’ll notice cattle beginning to graze in the Flint Hills. The Flint Hills have been home to cattle for generations, making this area one of the highest quality across the United States.

Just last July, the Junction City Livestock Sales broke 18 previous records, which included the national record price for 700-pound steers. What makes these steers so valuable? Well, ultimately, the customer wants the highest quality of beef. Cattle gain nutrients first from their mothers, then the grass of the Flint Hills sustains them for life. 

Going back to the 1850s, cattle would be driven from Texas to Kansas along trails where they would be loaded via rail and shipped to different parts of the country. In Kansas, the cattle market was much higher back then, so while everything is bigger in Texas, the dollar went farther in the cow towns of Kansas. 

However, it did not take long for those ranchers to figure out how good the pastures were in the Flint Hills. Soon, they began to bring their cattle not just to be shipped off but to graze the grass in the region first. 

What makes the grass so special is the high-protein and calcium content that leads to significantly quicker weight gain in the cattle. After almost 180 years, how does this grass maintain its sustainability?

First, the Flint Hills are extremely rocky, hence the name “flint.” This means that farming the territory is virtually impossible, which protects the soil health and the structure of the soil. Most of the time, cattle will eat a lot of the pasture, including weeds, which helps pastures from being taken over. Lastly, the nutrients from manure return to the soil, serving as a low-cost and extremely effective fertilizer. 

However, the second reason, and maybe more important, is the use of controlled burning. This kills off weeds and wooded intruders that would keep the bluestem grass from growing as abundantly.

Look out the window on I-70 next time and gaze at the beautiful green grass that is coming back after the controlled burn. That grass is coming back super healthy and nutrient-filled, which is not only great for the cattle, but something they like to eat as well..

I grew up on a family farm located in the center of the Flint Hills. My entire life, I have had firsthand experience with a cow being born to being sold at the sale barn months later. 

My family has been farming in the Flint Hills since the 1860s, and I have heard countless stories about the land, the cattle and a little bit of everything else. Ranching is not just a hobby, and the Flint Hills are not just a beautiful sight to look at for miles. 

Those ranchers serve a job of maintaining the land and saving a newborn calf on the coldest day of winter, not because they need to, but because they have to. The Flint Hills, with that grass, feeds people all over the U.S., which comes via truck instead of rail and is happening every single day.