Phil Soulen leaves a legeacy of success with extensive sheep operation

the souland family name is well known in Idaho it's synonymous with the sheep ranching the sullens have been raising sheep in southwest Idaho since 1926 harry Solem senior started the business with the purchase of the mesa sheep company near Cambridge he grew the operation to the point where they ran ten thousand sheep and four hundred head of cattle on 32,000 acres of land in five southwest Idaho counties Harry's son Phil who's still very active in the business is a spry 88 years old now he grew the family sheep operation to 47 thousand acres of land in eight southwest Idaho counties with twelve thousand sheep and eighteen hundred beef cattle at the peak of operations I like every defective matter branchy you live out no time and look up at the sky and you know what it's gonna do the day is and rain or shine well you got your work to do and you just do it that thought but it's an active life I just that's what I like about it it's that simple Solon livestock is one of the last large range outfits remaining in the state of Idaho they trail their sheep on an incredible journey that spans hundreds of miles through southwest Idaho following the green in the winter they graze in the Morley Nelson Snake River birds-of-prey National Conservation Area in March they trail the use to the sole and sheep camp on the Payette River near Letha for shearing going around the city of Caldwell in the process next they trail the Sheep to the Solon's spring range in Crane Creek where the ewes give birth to Lambs it's called range lambing and then in June they trail the Sheep across West Mountain to summer range in the Payette National Forest it's amazing outfit in that they winter in the birds of prey area down by the Snake River those sheep never see a truck and they'll go all the way to McCall Idaho you know this is truly a unique outfit something that you don't see in them in the West very much anymore like that I don't know that's probably a 600-mile round round trip those those use walk every year five to six hundred months that's quite an epic hike for the sheep and the herders who stay with them every step of the way but the whole idea is to raise quality lambs and keep the costs of production under control so and sense by having winter grazing permits on BLM land for example the Solon's don't have to feed the sheep hay in the winter months you had that go out and put this together yourself you didn't just happen you had to have the vision that what it took to make it a sustainable year-round operation that could be properly according to people who know Phil so on he has a knack for making sound business decisions and taking good care of the range he he adapted to change and made a great sheep outfit I mean he bought ranches or complementary to other ranches and sold sold areas that were kind of surplus to work weren't critical but always kept that eye on the ball of long-term sustainability of the sheep operation cares a lot for his community and for his family and for his friends he's a he's got great friends everywhere I go whether it's in the business community the livestock community you know he's very revered in the Weiser area were where they've been all their lives and because they spend half a year I'm a call with the Sheep and half the year in Louise so both both areas he's very very very revered coming from a ranching background the little family spent family time with the Solon family lieutenant-governor little dated Teresa Solon when they were both at the University of Idaho and they got married soon after graduating I had a little bit of advantage because both he and I had a passion for the livestock industry so and and for our families so that was always something we had an opportunity to visit about talk about business talk about public lands issues talk about you know the history the livestock industry in either I've known Phil Solan my entire life and he's an amazing individual a real entrepreneur he's a good businessman he knows how to take a calculated risk and he's been very successful in it which benefited not only the Solon family but also hit the community he's created a tax base hired people just had been a an amazing a flame for us you know in the community dr. Mark Pritchard a retired veterinarian in Weezer helped care for the soul and sheep and cattle for nearly 40 years and became friends with the family we became good friends and I'm also gonna her good friends with his son Harry actually all the family members I feel like I'm kind of part of the family phil is my golfing partner in men's league we just turned 88 last week he shot a hole-in-one this year and he told me it was his fifth one but he always carries me in the golf game he's a very good golfer very competitive at everything I guess those words I could say he's very competitive he's also very fair and everything that he does sullens philanthropy and Weiser goes deep been on the school board he was on that for many years is a really proponent of education has helped out this the school get things bonds past and those things he also is very active and Weiser Education Association which gives scholarships to deserving kids going to college and he is on the hospital board donated money to improve our facility here and ways it they've been very generous to the community and been a big part of it for years Phil sullen was born in 1929 the same year that his father purchased the Clinton sheep company his mother was named Beulah Phil grew up working on the ranch alongside his father well of course is a kid why I worked on the ranch and drove Popham Johnny just started him on gasoline and then you switch to kerosene really the old John Derry yeah but I do well of course before that I drove a team of horses to cover every summer of that per hour warrant I rank Phil graduated from Weiser high school with the class of 1948 and got a business degree from the University of Idaho in 1953 he was in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity University of Idaho YouTube video looks back on Phil's college days well I think I was like most students I really was homesick the first year well that's just the way it was but I got over left pretty quick and then I did everything there was to do being a house manager and then ended up being president before I graduated I was in the School of Business they called it the extractive industries I think at that time but fancying any my class but nevertheless the AG courses were important no question because my father being in the livestock business sheep principally and cattle too why I planned on going home and being in the same business the day after Phil graduated from the University of Idaho he married early in Clyde in Moscow earlene also had deep agrarian roots she grew up on a family farm in Moscow Phil and Arlene would have three daughters and one son Teresa Margaret Helen and Harry the Solon's sheep operation captured the imagination of College of Idaho professor and author Louis Atteberry who wrote a book about their sheep operation it's titled sheep may safely graze the name of a beautiful pastoral song by johann sebastian bach let's take a tour of the soul and sheep ranching operation by season starting with the spring for the sullens the beginning of spring is marked by shearing their sheep the sullens shear the use in March at a large ranch next to the Payette River a crew from Wyoming shears the sheep the animals come through the shearing trailer five to six at a time while the men cut off the wool cape in a way that preserves the whole cave that sort of name of the game if we can do fleece it or share it and keep that face nice and home what it out then the gills can sort that the good wolf from the main in short war they're trying to pull the short work away from the long more than the long work has put integrate the shearing crew is skilled at what they do we like to try and get around 800 which gives us about 135 to 140 MN sheep shearing is a specialized skill the shearers come from all over the world oh we've got a guys in need from Peru Australia New Zealand and America say it's a bit of a mixture in there the shearers make about 300 dollars a day the crew is nomadic they work in Utah Wyoming and Colorado in the spring months Europe in the summer and Australia and New Zealand the rest of the year and then we'll get back to Australia in October I won't get back to New Zealand to Christmastime the shearing crew separates the wool into different grades and bales it in a hydraulic press the Solon's have a barn where they can store the wall until the prices are best after all of the use get sheared they followed the green up north towards the Solon's extensive spring range in Crane Creek the Solon's owned four different ranches in the Crane Creek area totaling about 45,000 acres all contiguous Phil bought the center ranch at one time to unify the blocks of land it was really important to us because we have the reverse coming to go to our lower ranch country across Crane Creek we had to come and there was a disconnect that we had to cross this property here I bought it it was a good move the Solon's used to shed lamb on their ranch on the Payette River but to save labor costs that converted to range lambing many years ago it's important to keep the use in small groups when they're first giving birth explains tollens Foreman Cesar a lot because they like easy taking this the Rams bigger group is hard to find and they can bump them up and baby small group for a more easy doc first days it's more easy to find come on we'll find the baby we lament during the day yeah makino moving moving misunderstood one day they may be there I'm like let's say 50 or 40 we leave there and then another group and and pretty soon we go like that the stolons peruvian herders keep watch over more than 4,000 use while they give birth to lambs after a wet winter who ranges deep green with lots of feed and there's also plenty of water as all of the reservoirs are full in the Crane Creek range Phil Solon developed many of the reservoirs over his lifetime well up that's the key to everything you don't have the water wife you can't grieve this country so we have methodically over the years tilled I have looked on the other side to Train Creek Canyon I have 25 rails of work and on this side probably fires reflection of the board [Music] we're bikini the stolens graze their cattle and sheep herds in the same area sheep and cattle on the very same pieces of Rangers is a way to go because they they eat the different forage he's not they've we've done that for years in our ages and good a condition of anybody from the country in Jude the Solon's in their herders trail the sheep from the Crane Creek range to McCall and the Payette National Forest for summer grazing they take the old stock driveway from Indian Valley over west mountain and then follow the timbered ridge into the National Forest the Payette Forest gets lots of snow in the winter and so it makes for great summer range with lots of vegetation for the sheep to eat at one time the Solon's grazed 10,000 sheep on 115,000 acres of forest grazing allotments during the summer by this time two of the sullen children Margaret and Harry were working alongside Phil raising the sheep Margaret also served in leadership roles in the American sheep industry association a trade organization that works to help ranchers with immigration and public land issues in the early 1990s a big issue came to the forefront concerns about domestic sheep transmitting pneumonia to bighorn sheep in Hell's Canyon bighorn sheep hunters wanted to reintroduce Bighorns into Hells Canyon to bolster historical populations a total of 33 sheep were transplanted into Hells Canyon in 1976 and 1979 in January 1997 the Wallowa whitman National Forest wrote a letter to the Idaho wool Growers Association asking for their support in the reintroduction effort the letter stated that the reintroduced animals would be considered at risk for potential disease transmission and death the three departments will also take whatever action is necessary to reduce further losses of bighorn sheep without adversely impacting existing domestic sheep operations the letter said the supervisor of the Wawel whitman National Forest signed the letter along with the directors of the Idaho Fish and Game the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife the BLM and the foundation for North American wild sheep the Solon's sheep did not graze in Hell's Canyon per se but their sheep grazed in part of the pay at forest where it might be possible that Bighorns crossed paths with domestic sheep disease can be spread if they touched noses according to experts it's also possible for disease to be spread at close range through airborne bacteria after the reintroduction effort occurred bighorn sheep numbers declined and three environmental groups filed a lawsuit claiming that Bighorns and domestic sheep could not coexist they wanted the Payette National Forest to terminate domestic sheep grazing in five grazing allotments where there might be overlap with Bighorns in 2008 US District Judge Lynn windmill ordered the Payette force to do an environmental impact study on the matter in the end Payette National Forest supervisor Suzanne Rainville ruled in 2010 that the domestic sheep would have to be phased out the sullens had to sell off more than 5,000 sheep to other sheep ranchers Ron shirts and Mick Carlson were put out of business entirely you know I was involved with wool they originally proposed introducing bighorn sheep back in the Hells Canyon area we thought we had a deal we thought we just felt like it was really a body blow it was it was unfair the Idaho wool growers took the issue to court using that letter from the Walla WA whitman National Forest as proof that domestic sheep were supposed to be held harmless if a disease issue arose the case went all the way to the Idaho Supreme Court and the justices ruled that the letter was not an official contract and did not carry sufficient weight to stop the Forest Service ruling now 7 years later it's still hard for Phil Solon to talk about that loss I'm a stubborn old Bella I'm pretty unhappy about it but I I have to get over that it's hard to change today the bighorn sheep population in Hell's Canyon unit 18 to win an issue with domestic sheep use has approximately 15 bighorn sheep residing in it an increase of two animals since the survey was completed in 2009 according to Idaho Fish and Game disease continues to be a problem in the wild sheep herds fishing game biologists say as wild female sheep carrying the Pasteurella virus pass it on to the Lambs we're trying to prevent any more disease from infecting the herds says Frances cashier Bighorn biologist for Idaho Fish and Game overall there are an estimated 850 bighorn sheep in Washington Oregon and Idaho in the greater Hells Canyon region another issue that the Solon's have to cope with every year is protecting their sheep from predators they deal with coyotes bears and cougars when raising the Lambs in Crane Creek and then they brace for impact by wolves in the National Forest 1 August wolves stampeded the Sheep into a deep ravine in the payette forest we had some wolves that got into one of our bands one night got him running in some steep countries and piled up a bunch of them we lost our our count was about 57 in that sheet pile up we were able to confirm those as do the wolves we know that some more that we didn't find and some that couldn't be confirmed were also killed by wolves we had some bear losses but kind of our total summer losses the way we we gas and what we know was about a hundred teddy shoes we've had some of the years in the past where we lost over 300 to wolves in a single summer to decrease losses the Solon's used more guard dogs with each band of sheep and keep the Sheep close to camp at night when wolves are likely to attack now at night we try and bed the sheep as close as we can to camp and so the herders the herd dogs and the guard dogs are all they're very close and that certainly helps how we've got through for the guard dogs in every band we're very well aware of the problem and so we're probably suffering laughs losses then we would otherwise in the fall when the temperatures drop in the mountains and the Lambs are getting ready for shipping the sullens move the Sheep to Seder meadows in the payette forests the long hike has finally come to an end for the lambs the zones have a shipping Corral and the meadows family friends and volunteers come to help drive the Sheep into a narrow chute where lambs are separated from the ewes and loaded into the trucks one by one Phil Solon helps load the Sheep into the truck next to Stan Boyd Boyd has worked on finding the best deal for the sullens with American wholesale meat processors through the Rocky Mountain Sheep Marketing Association a producer owned co-op we operate on on a world market and right now there's tends to be a kind of a worldwide shortage of lamb our job is to go out and meet with the feeders and the Packers and sell these lambs at the highest possible price and and it's been successful yes but sadly the number of sheep ranching operations in Idaho has declined over the years because of competition from Australia and New Zealand low prices labor issues and federal land management issues Boyd says there's it's severely reduced when I came on board as executive director of the Idaho wool growers in 1978 there was six hundred thousand head of breeding stock in the state of Idaho today about a hundred and eighty thousand so it's reduced by two-thirds but it seems to have leveled out and you'll have you know you have but maybe 30 range outfits left in the state of Idaho they figured it out and they know you know they've worked on the economics and they've made a cost-effective wholesale stores like Costco sell Australia and New Zealand lamb at rock-bottom prices the Solon's and Boyd would prefer that people support American sheep producers by buying American lamb check the label in the grocery store Phil Solon says American blam chops are larger and taste better they bring in their frozen product and and they undercut Europe but it isn't as good a product so what lamb is produced by we Americans why it ends up going to the metropolitan area so you never see it here in the local store greater price and they sell the New Zealand form there are people that'll buy it glad to have it because it's a it's a better lamb chop both are all at shipping time the ranchers are happy to see the product of a year's worth of work quality lambs that have been raised on nothing but natural vegetation in the Idaho mountains and mother's milk hairy sullen counts the sheep as they come into the corral the horses that have been carrying pack saddles all summer take a break in the frosty meadow the guard dogs lie down near the corral when we say that's what we mean the Lambs off of the news Cendant market and it's kind of the culmination of all your efforts for the year gonna be out amongst animals you get to work with some of the most wonderful people in the world you're gonna see how the grass grows differently every year how could she how how could anyone not love this business I really missed a sheep Theresa and I were raised going to Sheeran's and going to shipping's our kids were raised going to Sheeran's going to ship ins and now Theresa make sure that our grandkids go up and help Phil whether they're shipping lambs or whether they're sure and she'd been taken not only our grandkids but our friends grandkids to Sharon and Shipman and it's just a big part of our life after the Solon's lambs are shipped to the market it's time to breed the use to a group of rams and start the whole cycle over again the use graze their way home to the Crane Creek range and then before winter comes they'll head back to the BLM pastures in the Morley Nelson Snake River birds-of-prey National Conservation Area at 88 Solan is glad to see his youngest child Harry running the whole operation now Margaret has retired in Salisbury Maryland with her husband Joe Henson it's been a good long life here on the ranch very few people get to grow up and work with their family or their father like I have and then quite honestly just working a hand in hand with them day in and day out and picking up the way they the way he did it you know it's been you know it's been it's been a great experience for me and it's been a good life and stairway was a good life because I can still do quite a few things thank goodness we got somebody like Harry the manager though phil is still playing golf and he likes to go fishing when he has some spare time once in a while will get a decent job but I did get that hole-in-one before again 'harry meanwhile plans to keep the business moving forward and he hopes one or both of his children may have an interest in a ranching career I see the industry being viable and definitely people want to wear wool and people want to eat lamb and so as long as as long as we can make it work you know we plan on keeping going you know I would love to see this operation go on to the next generation beyond me I've got a son and daughter and they're still young and we'll see what they are starting to show some interest in the business and if they want to I'd love to provide them that opportunity and it'd be great to see soul and livestock go into the fourth generation and hopefully beyond that [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: LifeontheRange

Views: 50,458

Rating: 4.851459 out of 5

Keywords: Sheep, Soulen Livesock, Sheep grazing, Phil Soulen, Harry Soulen Jr., Margaret Soulen, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, grass-fed lamb, Weiser Idaho

Id: XbLbP_YRRKI

Length: 27min 32sec (1652 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 11 2018