The history of the Kane family in Wyoming began with David’s great grandfather. At the age of 16 he was on an expedition through the rockies. The expedition was diverted to the Little Bighorn Battlefield to help gather and bury Custer’s men. After this gruesome task he made his way to Sheridan. Six years later, in 1882 he homesteaded at the base of the Bighorn Mountains. David’s grandfather, Charles Kane moved the operation to Wolf Creek. David’s parents expanded the operation and David and Terri have expanded the ranch even further. Currently between Badger Creek and Wolf Creek, SR Cattle Company encompasses 27,000 acres with an additional 10,000 acres leased as well as a Forest Service permit.

Today SR Cattle Company is a partnership between David and Terri Kane and their youngest son, Nate. Their operation is made up of a few different holdings. David and Terri live on the E bar U ranch located on Badger Creek, northeast of Sheridan. The E Bar U was once owned by John B. Kendrick and the house they live in was built by stonemason Oscar Husman. Kendrick commissioned Husman to build homes and out-buildings on a number of the ranches he owned because it was a day's ride between ranches. Nate, his wife Molly and their family live on Wolf Creek near Ranchester, not far from Kane’s original holdings. 

Although the ranch originally ran Herefords they are primarily an Angus operation now. “That was my doing.” David said. “I got sick and tired of sun-burned udders and cancer eyes and started breeding to black bulls. We are mostly Angus now, although the red gene is still in the herd.”

Of their three children, Nate is the only son that wanted to stay in the beef production business. “Ever since he was a kid Nate has just lived and breathed this business. He just loves livestock, he actually has a gift for it.” David said. “David and Nate spend all day working together and then call each other at night to talk about what they are going to do tomorrow. They have the same relationship that David and Chas [David’s father] had.” Terri added. They basically run two separate herds and each is in charge of the day-to-day operations on their respective ranches, although there is quite a bit of coordination and trading work between the two operations. The cows at Nate’s place are older and produce slightly heavier weaned calves because they get to take advantage of the lush feed on the Forest Service permit. David and Terri raise all of the replacements for both operations. David said “we used to only breed enough heifers for our own replacements but this fall we will be selling bred heifers as well”. SR Cattle Company is a very efficient operation. They have two full-time ranch hands and add an intern for 10 weeks each summer. The internship was originally a program through the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Since 2022 the program has been administered through UW. “We have had good luck with interns.” Terri said. “In fact Andrew, who is here full-time now, was our very first intern.” 

From the time that David and Terri have been on the ranch they have tried to find ways to improve it. “This place is not recognizable as the same ranch that we bought.” David said. “And every improvement that we have made has had a huge impact.” One of the ongoing projects on both the E Bar U and Wolf Creek is water distribution. The Kanes have installed water storage tanks in the hills that hold water pumped from wells in the valleys below. The water is then gravity fed by 30 miles of pipeline to over 80 watering tanks throughout the ranch. This gives them the ability to utilize pastures that would not otherwise be available. Originally all of the well pumps ran on gas engines which required constant attention. Seven of the wells have now been converted to solar power. "The solar panels have freed up a great deal of time." David said. "We used to spend hours hauling gas to each well and making sure the engines were all running."

Each storage tank is monitored and sends a daily message to Terri’s iPhone that shows how full each tank is and how much water is being used. It also sends alerts if sudden changes occur. Without the monitoring system, they would have to physically check each tank every day. Terri also uses an app from AgriWebb that allows her to monitor the entire ranch from her phone. AgriWebb allows everyone on the ranch to map out cattle movements, pasture conditions and staff movements. "If we send someone to an unfamiliar part of the ranch, they can see from the app if they are headed the right way." Teri said "It is great from a standpoint of safety, we all have a good idea where everybody is on the ranch. "

Another drastic improvement they have made on both ranches is weed control. The E Bar U originally had a large infestation of leafy spurge. An invasive noxious weed native to Eastern Europe and Asia, leafy spurge is unpalatable to cattle and chokes out native grasses. Because of the large areas that were infested, David started researching effective ways of controlling and eliminating the leafy spurge. In 1998 he discovered that the flea beetle will eat leafy spurge and in fact can complete it’s entire life cycle on the plant. After they have devoured the plants, the females lay their eggs at the base of the plant. When the larvae hatch they devour the root system. “The key." David says. “Is recognizing when they need to be gathered up and moved to a different area." He does this by swinging a large canvas net through the leafy spurge and then transferring the beetles to a container to be transported. Great care is taken in transporting the beetles, including putting them in a cooler with ice on hot days. They have been so successful with this program that David estimates that they have eliminated over 95% of the leafy spurge on the ranch.

On the Wolf Creek property, Nate has a different problem. This part of the county has been invaded by a non-native, invasive winter annual grass from North Africa called ventenata. Originally discovered in the Pacific Northwest, it has now migrated to Montana and Northern Wyoming. Ventenata has no forage value to livestock or wildlife due to its high silica content.

“You can look out into a pasture and think you have a pretty good stand of grass only to find out it’s all ventenata.” Nate Says. He is working on controlling it by using a herbicide called indaziflam, which goes by the trade name Rejuvra. “It prevents annual grasses from germinating.” Nate says. “So it will eliminate ventenata and cheatgrass too, but it will not harm the good grasses like western wheatgrass. One treatment should last 4 years.” 

Nate is also making other improvements on the ranch on Wolf Creek. He currently has one center-pivot sprinkler but is looking at installing a second center-pivot that will free up his time that is now spent flood irrigating. “The current pivot runs on a diesel engine, but the new one will run on propane.” Nate said. 

In addition to what they do to improve their ranch, the Kanes are also active in their community and their industry. Both David and Nate have served on the Sheridan County Weed and Pest board. David and his father Chas both served as president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and Nate is currently Vice President of the Wyoming Stock Growers Young Producers Assembly. 

Through five generations of raising cattle in Wyoming the Kane family has always had an eye on improving the efficiency of their operations and improving the land that they live on. The key to sustainability in the beef industry is conservation of resources, improving the land and improving the cattle. The SR Cattle Company is a great example of what Wyoming beef producers do to produce a quality product now, and for generations to come.