Dozens of producers are in Williams Lake this week for the B.C. Livestock Producers Association calf sale taking place Wednesday and cow sale Thursday.
Dave and Lorie King made the three-hour drive from their White Saddle Ranch at Tatla Lake on Wednesday to bring seven male yearlings for the sale.
The summer’s Kleena Kleene wildfire impacted the Kings who have been ranching in the Chilcotin since 1978.
“We could not put our cattle out on our alpine range because the fire was blowing up in that direction, which meant we had to keep them at home and put them in our hay fields,” Dave said after his yearlings were unloaded from his truck at the stockyards.
Now they have to sell cows because they cannot make hay for them, Lorie said.
The Kings did not lose any property, fencing or equipment to the fires, but because the range is ineffective they have been impacted.
“I don’t think there’s a rancher around that can operate if they cannot use their range,” Dave said. “The range is an integral part of your summer grazing. Very few people have enough private property range where they can keep their cattle.”
Lorie said they were very busy with the summer’s fires.
She cooked for 70 days straight to feed helicopter pilots and engineers that were contracted by the BC Wildfire Service.
“They were bucketing eight hours a day to stop the fire from getting too close to ranches and infrastructure,” Lorie said.