RANCH HISTORY
The Ranch
Greetings! Originally started on 25 acres along the banks of the Tilton River near Morton, WA, CJ Ranch, owned by C.G. "Neal" & Johanna Nielsen (and ran with the help of our daughter Stephanie, son-in-law Dan, grandkids Aleksia and Brennan and the heavy equipment expertise of our son Con), has been breeding Arabian and Half Arabian horses since 1991 and Black Angus cattle since 1998.
The Cattle
When we moved to our 1400 acre Idaho ranch in 1997, we decided to add Black Angus cattle to our herd of horses. Our goal has always been to produce functional breeding stock with low to moderate birth weights and high growth potential. We first purchased 11 quality cows from Noah's Angus Ranch in Cambridge, Idaho. Then we purchased the Bon View New Design 1407 son Leachman New Design 3009J from the former Leachman Cattle Company of Billings, MT. Leachman New Design 3009J was an amiable bull who consistently produced good looking, friendly calves with easy births who excelled in the feedlot. He and his offspring have all been easy to work on foot as well as on horseback.
Since those initial purchases we have added heifers and cows from Thomas 
Angus Ranch (Baker, OR) and the former Van Nice Angus Ranch of Silver Star, MT, home of SAF Fame. In the fall of 2001, we purchased another bull, the Twin Valley Precision E161 son Thomas Precision E161 1132 (shown right), from Thomas Angus Ranch. He put two calf crops on the ground for us. While we no longer own this bull, we have retained several of his heifers for breeding. View his EPDs here.
All of our females are selected for ease of birth, excellent maternal instincts and great udders, plus the overall picture -- we don't want to look out the window at a herd of ugly cows. We want our females to be good looking and feminine with nice strong frames and calves that are even better. The ability to adapt to rugged terrain are required on the summer range -- all of our cows and heifers possess these traits. In a nut shell, our cattle herd is pretty low maintenance.
Our calves excel in the feedlot with an above-national-average number grading out as Certified Angus Beef. All of our calves have made Choice or better (2001+). As part of our continuing commitment to quality Johanna has individual certification in The Idaho Beef Quality Assurance Program sponsored by the University of Idaho Extension, and CJ Ranch has Level I ranch certification in the same program.
Herd Reduction/Dispersal
Due to other obligations and interests we are having a cattle herd reduction/dispersal. To learn more about our 
breeding program visit our Cattle Ranch History page and our Foundation Cattle page. EPDs are available here.
The Horses
In addition to raising cattle, we also raise and show Arabian and Half Arabian horses. We breed working horses both for in the show ring and out on the ranch. Please check out our ranch history on the horse side to learn more about our horses.
The Ranch
The 1400 acres that make up CJ Ranch was carved out of the land by the former owner, Woody Jones, using hands and horses. Woody created the 100 acre hay meadow and even cultivated some of the range land which makes up the balance of the ranch. Following the traditions and 
beliefs that created this ranch, CJ Ranch believes in balancing wildlife and domestic animals. To date we have created three ponds, put in a well on the range so there will be water year round for livestock and wildlife, and replaced ancient fences with quality ones to help keep the livestock out of Cottonwood Creek. All of these projects were done in conjunction with the Equip cost share program. Farms and ranches selected for this program must meet strict standards in order to receive compensation.
CJ Ranch – PO Box 474 – Council, ID 83612 – 208-253-6120 – cjranch@cjranchonline.com
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