The Legend of Sandy Bar
:: as written in January 2008 issue of Today's Angus Advantage
Four and a half hours of hard driving from Saskatoon to Aneroid puts you into the headquarters of Sandy Bar Ranch. Bob says, “Get up an hour earlier and come for lunch, because there are no Tim Horton's where we are.” At the table sits Frank Linthicum, who had just returned from Alberta with Bob on a livestock excursion, along with Scottie Hofer, from the neighboring Pontiex Colony and Larry, from the Earview Colony. The plan was to pregnancy examine a group of cows with Scottie and Larry giving a helping hand at the chutes, but the veterinarian cancelled. Coffee cups were cleared and within minutes, Gail unveiled an awesome noon meal for all. Everyone stayed for our visit about the livestock industry, the Switzers, Sandy Bar, the price of calves and next spring bull sales. Scottie informed us that, “They use Sandy Bar bulls because they do not see barley here; last year there were twelve Colonies buying bulls at Bob’s sale.” As the discussion of bull prices continued, Frank added, “Buying a bull for $800.00 at a bull sale is like buying a plow at an auction sale, you just leave it there.” The balance of “table talk” continued and here is the rest of the story …
In 1873 the NorthWest Mounted Police were established, Queen Victoria was the reigning Monarch, Mark Twain was writing Tom Sawyer and Canadians were settling on the new frontier. This included the small settlement of Hazenmore, located on Highway 13 or as it's better known, the historic "Red Coat Trail." A 1,300 kilometer route approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West. The "Red Coat Trail" meanders across the southern section of the Saskatchewan grain belt and eventually merges with the rugged terrain by the Big Muddy badlands through the picturesque Frenchman River Valley and up to historic Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills. The area along the "Red Coat Trail" and the vast expanse south to the Montana border is steeped in history; perhaps most notably, as a safe haven for outlaws, criminals, whiskey traders, half-breeds and Indians. Names like Dutch Henry, horse thief and cattle rustler, the Jones-Nelson gang, notorious stagecoach robbers, outlaw Sam Kelly, Chief Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, James Walsh, Big Bear and George Armstrong Custer are experienced by the many tourists exploring the history of this area.
South and west of Hazenmore bordering Pinto Creek, you come upon a site making current history … Sandy Bar Ranch. Four generations of Switzers have survived this rugged terrain with each generation adding value to the heritage built by previous family members. Bob’s grandfather was born in Teeswater in Bruce County, Ontario while his grandmother originated in Iowa. They homesteaded in the Stoughton area of southeastern Saskatchewan and relocated to Aneroid in the early 1920’s. Bob recalls “My granddad was a drover, trading horses and cattle. By 1930, he had accumulated a large amount of land in the area, but the “dirty thirties” virtually took all of it.”
The Angus tradition began with Bob’s father, Earl, (the second generation) who purchased his first land in the early 1940’s. Bob stated “Anytime my father had money to buy something, it would be either land or cattle. He ran black cattle from day one.” In 1945, Earl Switzer purchased his first registered Angus female using the herd prefix “Jack Creek,” then changing it to “Valley,” and in about 1970, he established the herd name “Southern Lane” which is known to breeders to this day.
The third generation or Robert (Bob) Switzer is widely known throughout the livestock industry. He received his primary education in Aneroid, his high school education in Kincaid and early judging skills most likely began as a member in the Aneroid 4-H Club. In 1965, at the age of 12, Bob won Grand Champion Steer at Frontier Days in Swift Current with a Southern Lane home-bred steer. The 880 pound steer fetched a record price of 85 cents per pound and was purchased by Canada Safeway. (The sale averaged 25.5 cents a pound.) Backed by confidence from his win and added motivation, Bob accompanied his father to the Corydon Dispersal (the Angus herd built by Thorolf Soggie, Elbow, Saskatchewan), one of the competitive and leading herds at that time. On June 10, 1966 Bob purchased the second high selling bred heifer for $600.00, starting his own herd of registered Angus known to us as “Sandy Bar.” Bob recalls, “They held the sale at the farm but did not have facilities at the farm site, so they hosted the sale in a holding pen at the bottom of a coulee by the river. The cattle were brought in several days prior to sort and tag them; it rained all week, the cattle were knee deep in mud and it continued right through sale day. There was little or no shelter for the people and cattle but the buyers were all prominent Angus breeders from Western Canada. It was quite an experience.”
While working with his father and the Southern Lane herd, the Sandy Bar cow numbers grew and by 1975, Earl was leaning toward retirement; having accumulated fourteen quarters of land he offered it to his sons. The eldest son, Bruce, purchased eight quarters and Bob bought six quarters including the farm site on which the Sandy Bar headquarters are located. Since 1975, the land base has grown. Bob and Gail added the Valley Blossom Ranch operated by son Beau at Lac Pelletier (the only spring fed lake in Saskatchewan). They operate 48 quarters (7680 acres) of land of which seven quarters are used for feed grains, fall rye and hay. All the crop duties are custom contracted as Bob’s allergies include iron.
The Sandy Bar cow herd exceeds five hundred Black Angus cows of which 360 run at Sandy Bar and Valley Blossom with the balance in co-operator herds throughout the province. Bob explained that the choice for Black Angus cattle was based on maintenance and economics. Their goal each year is netting a thousand dollars per cow and not to feed the cow herd for more than eighty days per year. The cows run out on fall rye after calving to the middle of April, then run on tame pasture. In July they go to the native pastures (Prairie Wool) until late fall where they run on newly seeded fall rye and then swath grazed up to calving. The cows are run with bulls for a sixty day period from May 1st to July 5th, in order to maintain uniformity and fertility. They budget for four percent drys from breeding to calving; the drys are sent to slaughter and their registration papers are cancelled. Gail maintains a record on every female in the herd as to maintenance costs and production values.
Throughout the building years of purebred herds in Canada, most bulls were consigned to sales or sold privately on the farm. A private breeder bull sale was unheard of until 1978, when the first Shortgrass Sale was introduced by the Switzers (Southern Lane and Sandy Bar), Gross’s (Wiwa Creek). The sale was held at Wiwa Creek for the first three years, Double J at Consul for the next 16 years and at Sandy Bar since, with 2008 being the thirtieth anniversary. It is held annually the third Saturday in April and has been a prototype for many other sales and Angus marketing. The first Shortgrass Sale offered 44 bulls and averaged nearly $1500.00 and most in attendance were just curious breeders. In 2007, 150 bulls sold and over the past 29 years, the bulls have averaged between $3000.00 and $3200.00. Bob proudly states, “Besides quality and a regular date, one of the rules we set was that every bull would sell without any upset or reserve bid, no matter what the price is.” Gail added, “A few years ago, we sold one of the front bulls for $800.00; I was petrified and then the rest went sky high. The customers needed to know that they were all for sale.”
