SR Cattle Company in Wyoming: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
SR Cattle Company, the Kane family ranch at the base of the Big Horn Mountains near Sheridan, Wyoming, began in 1882 and is now a fourth-generation operation of about 30,320 acres running roughly 1,100 cows. It received the 2016 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award for water development, controlled burns and weed control.
| Location | Along Big Goose Creek at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, near Sheridan, Wyoming |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1882, when Philip Kane claimed 320 acres |
| Sectors | Cow-calf beef cattle; rangeland and wildlife habitat management |
| Scale | About 30,320 acres, 1,100 cows and 240 yearling replacement heifers (Sand County Foundation) |
| Why it is elite | 2016 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award recipient, praised by the NRCS district conservationist for Sheridan County |
| Ownership | Fourth-generation family ranch owned and managed by David and Terri Kane; son Nate expected to lead the fifth generation |
| Official website | Sand County Foundation Leopold Conservation Award profile (no official ranch site found) |
History of SR Cattle Company
Sand County Foundation says the story starts when Philip Kane, the family patriarch, claimed 320 acres in 1882 at the base of the Big Horn Mountains along Big Goose Creek. Over four generations the ranch has grown to about 30,320 acres. The foundation's 2016 announcement credits David Kane, his wife Terri and son Nate with managing the ranch after David's father died in 2015, and it says the fifth generation is now joining.
The family's guiding saying is to take care of the land so the land will take care of you. David's father and grandfather aimed to leave the land in better shape than they found it, and David has passed that outlook to his children.
What SR Cattle Company Grows and Raises
SR Cattle Company is a cow-calf ranch running about 1,100 cows and 240 yearling replacement heifers. Its main improvement has been water. The Kanes installed several miles of pipeline, which opened country that was previously unusable for lack of water, allowed more even grazing and gave wildlife supplemental water. They also converted well pump jacks from gas to solar, cutting fuel and maintenance costs.
In the early 1990s the family replaced chemical brush treatments with controlled burns, and together with the water work that increased forage production and residual cover for livestock and wildlife. David also started a flea beetle program against leafy spurge, using insectary sites to raise and distribute beetles, and has encouraged neighbors to start their own. The ranch supports mule deer, elk, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and antelope.
How SR Cattle Company Makes Money
Cow-calf production
The ranch's economic core is its cow herd and the calves it produces. Sand County Foundation describes it as a working family cattle ranch, and its conservation work is aimed at making that herd more productive.
Lower input costs
Solar-powered pumps cut fuel and maintenance costs, and controlled burns replaced chemical treatments. Lower costs are a revenue stream of their own because they widen the margin on every calf.
More usable grass
Pipelines opened ground that had been unusable, and better forage and cover support the cow herd. The sources used here do not publish any dollar figures for these gains.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from SR Cattle Company
Water development unlocks range. Pipeline and tanks spread grazing across the whole ranch, so the grass is used evenly and riparian areas get relief. The Kanes' experience is a model for operators wondering where the next productive acre will come from.
Pass practices to neighbors. Weed and pest control works best across fence lines, and David's encouragement of neighbors to start their own flea beetle programs treats leafy spurge as a landscape problem rather than a single-ranch problem.
An honest farm satire writer has to admit that an insectary full of flea beetles recruited to fight leafy spurge is the most delightfully organized bug army in Sheridan County. Readers of farm.FM who like farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes can imagine the beetles reporting for duty at dawn, while David Kane inspects the troops. The Kane family deserves every bit of the affection, since beetles, burns and solar pumps all serve the same patient goal of better grass.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
How to Contact SR Cattle Company
Website: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award-program/sr-cattle-company
No official ranch website, address, phone or email was found in the sources used. Contact through the Wyoming Stock Growers Association or the Sheridan County conservation district, and do not visit without an invitation.
SR Cattle Company Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Sand County Foundation: SR Cattle Company - Leopold Conservation Award profile with scale and practices
- Sand County Foundation 2016 announcement - Award news release on the Kane family
- LandCAN success story - Conservation success story reposted from the Leopold program
- Wyoming Stock Growers Association - State cattle association and Environmental Stewardship Award sponsor
- USDA NASS 2022 Census, Wyoming - State cattle inventory and sales data
SR Cattle Company FAQ
Where is SR Cattle Company?
It is near Sheridan, Wyoming, along Big Goose Creek at the base of the Big Horn Mountains.
How big is the ranch?
Sand County Foundation says about 30,320 acres with 1,100 cows and 240 yearling replacement heifers.
What award did it win?
It received the 2016 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award.
What conservation practices does it use?
Pipelines, solar-powered well pumps, controlled burns and a flea beetle program against leafy spurge.
SR Cattle Company shows how water, fire and neighborly cooperation can improve a working cattle ranch over four generations. See the Wyoming farms guide and the other profiles here for more of the state's top operations.