Orchard Hill Farm- Steve, Sue, and Chad Darragh
Steve and Sue Darragh were born and raised on farms and have been around cattle all their lives. They started Orchard Hill Farm in 1988, building their first barn with many dreams and challenges ahead. As out-of-the-box thinkers, they were open to new ideas and wanted to try different breeds to see which performed the best. After trying different breeds in a crossbreeding program, they quickly learned that Simmental was the best fit for them. They started purchasing purebred stock and soon built a herd, but after a few trips to Alberta visiting large ranches that were crossbreeding black Angus/Simmental, they were so impressed they knew that was what they wanted their herd to be. So, 22 years ago, they purchased their first Angus/Simmental bull, and when his first crop of calves were weaned, they knew they were on the right path.
Currently, Steve and Sue, along with their son Chad, share the same keen interests and goals for their farm. They are working together to grow their 170 bred cows to 200 soon. They run six herd sires consisting of purebred Simmentals and registered Angus/Simmental bulls. The 3/4 Simmental×1/4 Angus is the ideal cross for them. The Darraghs stated, “It is all about how much that cow can bring you in at the end of the year, so the heavier the calf, the better. The Angus/Simmental does just that by weaning the heavy calf, we provide them with a high-quality replacement female, and the bulls are becoming popular. We breed them back either Simmental or Angus/Simmental, but when our customers buy them, they can breed them back to any breed, and it works well.”
The Darraghs sell a group of bred heifers and some bulls every year. Some bulls are sold when weaned in the fall, and the rest are sold in the spring. They hope to have a sale barn facility In the next five years and hold their own sale at the farm each year. Orchard Hill Farm’s goal has always been to produce the highest quality breeding stock possible for its buyers. With repeat buyers, the Darraghs find it rewarding to see buyers return. While they say that farming has certainly had more challenges than rewards over the past 35 years, at the end of the day, they like to focus on the rewards.