Every Young Boy’s Dream
Story Highlights
-The same year Jack graduated Cal Poly in 1958 he was able to purchase his first 2700 acres west of Paso Robles
-By age 23 he owned his first 100 cows
-Now runs anywhere from 700-1500 cattle on his 17,000 acre ranch in Parkfield CA
Jack moves pipe used for his Fodder farm
Most young boys dream of becoming a cowboy, Jack Varian turned that childhood dream into a successful reality
“I knew what I wanted to do by 8 or 9 years old”
Jack Varian was was born in San Luis Obispo and raised in Palo Alto, California. Like many you boys he dreamed of becoming a cowboy. When world war II took place Jack was 8 years old and contributed to the war efforts with a Victory garden. That garden affirmed his love for agriculture. When he was nine years old Jack rode a horse for the first time, and at the age of 12 he worked at a farm in Missouri. That ambitious young man has evolved into one of the most successful cattle ranchers in San Luis Obispo county who along with his wife Zee Varian now runs a successful 17,000 acre working cattle ranch in Parkfield California.
The Early Challenges Jack Faced
“The learning curve was steep, it took to 3.5 years to learn if I stayed where I was I was gonna starve to death.”
Is how Jack describes his first experience running his first 100 cattle on the original 2700 acres he purchased out of college. They were able to sell the brush filled land that was not made to run cattle on in 1961 and purchased their first 8,000 acres in Parkfield California. The ranch has grown into the 17,000 acre V6 ranch which runs from 700-1500 cattle a year.
“Being that I wasn’t jaded with old ways and old history I got to look at things through my own eyes and saw that a lot of things done by California tradition didn’t work. I wasn’t hamstrung with tradition.”
Modernizing The Ranching World
Jack’s son John Varian who lives and works on the V6 ranch says the biggest lesson his dad has taught him is:
“To never stick to the status quo. Always keep trying new things. Which is why I refer to him as the hippie rancher, he is always out there on the edge trying new things.”
As California faces the worst drought in recorded history Jack is prepared for the hard times with alternative methods, using irrigated pastures and his latest of growing grass hydroponically. Fodder grass, or animal feed is any feedstock used specifically to feed domesticated livestock. “I knew that if I wanted to have something grass fed on a sustainable basis I couldn’t depend on the weather.” Jack uses seven old truck trailers he converted into growing sheds to grow about 6,000 tons of fodder feed weekly. To learn more about Jack’s grass fed beef and the added benefits click here.
Here is Jack’s pasteur irrigation systems he designed using recycled ranch materials. Their are 740 of these in the pasteur and cost him $13.00 dollars a piece rather than the $100 dollars purchasing them new would have cost. He saved over $50,000 dollars.
Optimizing Use of The Land
After watching the movie ‘City Slickers’ in 1993 which is about city men going to a dude ranch, Jack and his wife knew they could do that as well. They began hosting cattle drivers for people who wanted to experience what they did everyday for a living. Along with cattle drives the ranch also boasts several other tourist attractions and enterprises including:
- A Cafe and Inn
- Cattle drives
- Wedding and event facilities
- A hunting club
- A rodeo arena and the annual Parkfield rodeo
For more information on the ranch tourist attractions and events visit the V6 ranch website by clicking here
Preserving His Legacy
Jack refers to his ranching style as holistic management and everything he practices is based on those beliefs. This means that when he makes a decision he considers the whole.
“If it’s just good for Jack Varian and his pocket book but theirs a lot of other negatives then your moral code says you can’t do that”
As a result of this method he has put the V6 ranch into a conservation easement. This means the ranch will remain intact as one parcel and he has sold his right to develop the land. Jack’s grand daughter, 22 year old Cuesta college students Kayla Santos says, “My grandpa has taught me the importance of sustainability and sustaining the land”. Jack’s legacy is this:
“The mountain you look at should look that way 100 of 500 years from now.”
Jack has his own blog you can visit by clicking here
The Cal Poly Cattle Rancher 