About Our Ranch
Life of Riley Ranch is nestled in the beautiful Flathead Valley of Northwestern Montana. We are a small, family based operation raising Grass-fed Dexter cattle for meat production.
About The Rileys
The Life of Riley Ranch is home to 3 generations of farmers - Grandma and Grandpa Riley, Doug and Tina, and some of the adult children. The children who do not live on the ranch all are close by, creating a very tight knit and close family. The Life of Riley Ranch was established in 2000 in Washington state before relocating to the open spaces of Montana. Tami started raising Dexters in 2017, and there has been no looking back!
Why Dexters
Tami chose Dexters originally because their convenient size was more practical for our location and facilities at the time. Since getting her first 2 steers, we have all fallen in love with their docile nature, curiosity, easy management, and efficient production.
The Dexter breed originated in Ireland, where the breed was developed because of their ease in calving, and ability to maximize grazing and browsing land. Contrary to popular belief, they are not a miniature breed; they are instead one of the smallest cattle breeds in the world, averaging a height of 40 inches and weighing 700-900 pounds on the hoof.
The Ranch
We live about 8 miles west of Kalispell, in the hills of Ashley Lake. The Riley Ranch prides itself on maximizing the use of small acreage areas; we emphasize good field and herd management and pasture rotation in order to get the most use of the property we have for the benefit of our herd.
Our Herd
The herd is exclusively grass fed with no grain supplement. They are fed hay harvested from local fields through the winter months, and during the nice spring/summer months we maximize our grazing with field rotation. Tami is still continuing to build the herd, and she would like to have 20-25 head in our herd. We do not have any horned cows for safety of both the cows as well as the human family, but we instead breed polled (born naturally without horns.)
Tami's steers are raised for 28 months before harvesting, which finishes with beautiful marbling and minimal excess fat. This gives the beef we raise excellent flavor and texture, making it some of the best beef on the market.