Commercial Producer of the Year – Spann Ranches, Inc.

Spann Ranches, Inc. of Gunnison, Colo. was selected as the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) “Commercial Producer of the Year” for 2024.  The award was presented at the 2025 Ken Holloway Genetics on Ice Benefit Auction in Oklahoma City, Okla. on January 6, 2025.

​Spann Ranches is a 5th generation cow-calf and feeder cattle producer headquartered in the high mountain valley of Gunnison, Colorado. The ranches are owned and operated by the Spann and Washburn families, the descendants of the ranch founders, Lang, Virgil, and Lee Spann. With supporting ranches at Crested Butte, Almont, and Olathe, Colorado, and a farm and 800 head calf backgrounding feedlot in Delta, Colorado, the Spann family runs up to 900 mother cows, and raises high-quality feeder cattle, including 400 outstanding bred yearling heifers a year.

Calving in April on the headquarters ranch at Gunnison, moving to the high country at Crested Butte in the summer, and returning to the Uncompahgre Valley at Olathe and Delta in the winter, the Spann cattle move with the seasons. Nearly 3/4 of the cow herd are black-white faced F1 Hereford/Angus or 25% Lim/Flex cross cows, bred annually to Lim/Flex bulls to generate true terminal cross steer and heifer calves. The Lim/Flex calves have proven to consistently perform at some of the highest levels in the industry.

Spann Ranches operates a sophisticated cattle record-keeping system they have developed over the past three decades using Excel spreadsheets. Beginning within 12 hours of a calf’s birth, animals are tagged, tracked, and evaluated throughout their life. Jan Washburn operates computer inputs at the chutes during processing, pregnancy checking, and weaning. This provides timely and objective production information which allows for efficient real-time decision-making and longer-term marketing and management planning. The entire ranch crews are trained to assist in that process and to utilize the tagging outputs for sorting, feeding, and breeding purposes.

Congratulations to the 2024 NALF Commercial Producer of the Year, Spann Ranches, Inc. of Gunnison, Colo.