Ranching is the production of beef cattle which are allowed to graze on rangelands during the spring, summer and fall. Rangelands include wet meadows, grasslands and forested areas. On the range cow-calf operations are the most common. Cow-calf producers maintain cow herds and raise their calves from birth to weaning. Young cattle are called calves.
Beef cows are different from dairy cows.
They have shorter bodies and legs, thicker necks and appear larger because of the thicker muscles on the shoulder, ribs and rump. This is the meat we eat. Ranching takes place primarily in the southern and central interior, the Peace River and Kootenay districts, and around Prince George, Quesnel, and Williams Lake. Cattle are generally raised in areas where there is rangeland available. The ranching industry in BC uses 10 million hectares of land of which 8.5 million hectares is Crown land.