From a cattle ranch in Mississippi to finding his forever home in the Flathead Valley, Jim Watson, the owner of Spring Brook Ranch, left his home to be closer to his wife’s family and help out around the ranch.
“A horse trailer I bought as a graduation present when I graduated in Montana State, I never dreamed I would use it to haul bison and yaks around,” said Watson.
Not long after he moved to the Flathead, his wife’s parents passed away, entrusting the ranch to him with little experience.
“Suddenly I had a ranch and all the animals to deal with, and it was head-spinning for quite a while and difficult, but managed to get it together and come up with a management plan and work it out,” said Watson.
What he didn’t know is just how crucial his heard of exotic Tibetan yaks would be decades down the road.
At its peak, Spring Brook Ranch was home to 250 Tibetan yaks.
“We’re the pinnacle of the outbreeding in the country, so our genetics are in every herd of merit in North America and Canada and Alaska. All of the other breeders in the country can trace some of their bloodlines back, but our pedigree -- the lists go really deep,” said Watson.
Now, as the Watsons look up to retire, ranch manager Christy Novak says the number of yaks sits at 48, hand-picked by Novak herself for the most tender and loving yaks of all.
Retirement doesn’t mean their passion has faded -- to help spread their knowledge of award-winning Tibetan yaks, they now help upcoming generations around the world.
“My yak 101, I started almost nine years ago now, and it was basically for the new, up and coming ranches that were trying to find out health management, fiber, hooves, food, fencing, everything,” said Novak.
What started as a small Facebook community swelled to just under 2,000 members, all reaching out for one thing -- the vast knowledge they could offer.
“It's a lot of responsibility, because I do get the phone calls in the middle of the night. I get pride in that, knowing that I can walk them through, sometimes it's four or five days of nonstop texting and phone calls and videos,” said Novak.
At Spring Brook Ranch, yaks aren’t raised to butcher but for breeding, quality of life and the very sought-after fibers from their coats.
“We like to be able to do what we're doing right now and hanging out with them, and so pretty much as a rule we eat the mean and ugly ones, and it works out pretty well, and the meaner they are the better they taste,” said Watson.
From starting with nothing to helping uplift the next generation of farmers and breeders, with a bloodline strong enough to pass on tradition here in the Flathead Valley.