We are 45 miles south of the twin cities off Highway 35; across the
river from Red Wing,
Minnesota; and 2 1/2 miles north of Bay City, Wisconsin on County
Road EE.
Valley Springs Elk & Trout Farm is in a beautiful valley with bluffs
all around us and
spring water ponds for our trout that we raise. They are raised for
distribution to several
sport shows and we do some stocking of private lakes and ponds. We
have been in the
trout business since 1965.
In 1990, we started our herd of elk thinking of the meat product end.
We now have raised
elk meat for sale. We also raise them for breeding
and for the velvet.
We do custom
freeze drying of the velvet antler for our use and for
other ranchers. When the freeze
drying is done we then prepare them for capsuling to sell to the public.
We have the following bloodlines in our herd: From
Hans, Oatis (Grandson to
Elmer). We
will have calves from Dryfus, son of
Hans and calves from Oatis, Grandson of Elmer. Our
herd is an accredited tuberculosis free herd.
We are under the Department of Agriculture and are required to have a
license and keep
records of the elk. We are members of the Minnesota Elk
Breeders Association (MEBA),
Wisconsin Commercial Deer & Elk Farmers
Association (WCDEFA) and Northern American
Elk Breeders Association (NAEBA).
Two things we enjoy about having elk on our land is during the fall
the bulls start bugling,
and in the spring the calving starts. The calves have such big ears
and big brown eyes
for their size. It's a joy to watch them feed and grow through the
months.
