Taylor Ranches in Alberta: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Taylor Ranches is a family cow-calf ranch on the Milk River Ridge southwest of Warner, Alberta, and the 2024 winner of the Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award. Rob and Audrey Taylor run about 850 commercial cows on more than 15,000 acres of deeded, Crown and cooperative grazing land. It is among the larger and best-documented low-input ranches in southern Alberta.
| Location | Milk River Ridge, southwest of Warner, Alberta |
|---|---|
| Founded | Land first bought by Audrey Taylor's parents in 1983 |
| Sectors | Commercial cow-calf; backgrounding; feed production |
| Scale | More than 15,000 acres; about 850 commercial cows |
| Why it is elite | 2024 Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award |
| Ownership | Rob and Audrey Taylor, with children Courtney and Clayton working full time |
| Official website | Western Producer article on the 2024 Environmental Stewardship Award |
History of Taylor Ranches
Audrey Taylor's parents bought some of the land in 1983. After further purchases, Rob and Audrey took over the operation, which they have run for roughly 23 years as of the 2024 coverage.
Their children Courtney and Clayton work on the ranch full time, while two older children, Kyza and Katrina, work off the farm. The ranch also grazes land near Milo and in the Waldron Grazing Cooperative north of Pincher Creek.
Alberta Beef Producers named the Taylors winners of its 2024 Environmental Stewardship Award.
What Taylor Ranches Grows and Raises
The ranch calves in May and June, backgrounds its calves, and usually sells them in February. It grows most of its own feed, including about 800 acres each of silage and greenfeed plus a similar amount of hay.
Grazing is rotational. Cows move to a new field about every three weeks, in groups of about 250 in summer, with summer grazing near Milo and winter grazing on south-facing slopes at Waldron. Rob Taylor describes the ranch as a low-cost, low-input operation.
More than 70 water troughs, installed with the Alberta Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited, keep cattle out of dugouts and improve water quality. The land is home to species at risk such as ferruginous hawks and northern leopard frogs, and the family works with conservation groups on wildlife. Ranch work relies on horses and mostly border collies.
How Taylor Ranches Makes Money
Calves sold after backgrounding
The ranch backgrounds its calves and usually sells in February. The coverage does not publish prices or revenue, so none are stated.
Home-grown feed
Growing most of its own silage, greenfeed and hay reduces purchased feed and shields the ranch from some input cost swings.
Low-input grazing
Rotational grazing, cooperative winter range and a low-cost system are the stated base of the ranch's margins.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Taylor Ranches
Scale matters less than system design. Taylor Ranches pairs about 850 cows with owned feed production, cooperative grazing and a calving date that matches grass growth, which keeps costs under control.
Partnerships help. Water infrastructure built with conservation groups improved herd health and wildlife habitat, and cooperative membership at Waldron gives access to winter range. A second generation working full time also shows how family labour can anchor a large ranch.
Running 850 cows with border collies and horses is the sort of old-fashioned efficiency we love. At farm.FM, our farm satire team gives the dogs a raise every time we read about them. Farm humor has a hard time competing with 70 water troughs and a leopard frog sanctuary, but we try. Our ranch humor and farm jokes about Warner will stay kind, because anyone who can move 250 cows every three weeks has earned their quiet evenings.
Readers who want the full experience can pair the jokes with Tractor Tunes, the country music for farmers that farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, plays between stories. This author page is a fine starting point.
How to Contact Taylor Ranches
Website: https://www.producer.com/livestock/taylor-ranches-win-environmental-award/
No official ranch website was found. The page above is a published news article about the ranch and its award. No ranch contact details are published there; confirm any visit in advance through Alberta Beef Producers.
Taylor Ranches Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Taylor ranches win environmental award - Western Producer article on the 2024 winners
- Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award - Producer group page on the stewardship award that has honoured Alberta ranches since 1992
- Agriculture Financial Services Corporation - Alberta crop insurance, AgriStability, livestock price insurance and farm lending
- Alberta agricultural awards programs - Alberta government page on the Agriculture Hall of Fame and Century Farm and Ranch Awards
- Statistics Canada: Canadian Agriculture at a Glance (2021 Census) - Alberta farm counts, farm area, technology use and succession planning from the 2021 Census of Agriculture
Taylor Ranches FAQ
Where is Taylor Ranches?
On the Milk River Ridge, southwest of Warner, Alberta.
How big is the ranch?
More than 15,000 acres including deeded, Crown and cooperative grazing land.
How many cows does it run?
About 850 commercial cows.
What award did it win?
The 2024 Alberta Beef Producers Environmental Stewardship Award.
Taylor Ranches shows how a large southern Alberta ranch can run low-input and still win stewardship awards. See our Alberta farms guide for the programs and markets around it.