Honesty More Important Than Perfection: Flying Diamond Ranch on Cattle First Documentary

A six-generation ranching family from Eastern Colorado opened up about their livestock handling practices last month in documentary filmed on their operation.

The Johnson family has managed the Flying Diamond Ranch, headquartered in Kit Carson, Colorado for more than 110 years. Last month, they were featured in the Cattle First documentary, which was filmed and published by Boehringer Ingelheim, a research-driven human and animal pharmaceutical company. Increased scrutiny of animal welfare makes some ranchers nervous about allowing filming, but honesty is more important than perfection, said Scott Johnson, Flying Diamond owner and operator.

“The outside world will give you the benefit of the doubt if they think you are honest,” Johnson said. “In the video, not everything went just right, but we are willing to take the good with the bad.”

Animals needing treated or being hard to handle are situations livestock producers work with every day, Johnson said, and consumers are aware of that. Including scenes in the documentary of animals being treated or handled was critical to establishing openness, Johnson said.

“We want to present an honest viewpoint of what we are doing,” Johnson said. “We’re proud of the industry and proud of how we do it.”

That pride and honestly about animal welfare is exactly what the documentary was intended to show, said Dr. Scott King, DVM and director of cattle marketing for Boehringer Ingelheim.

“Consumers want to see that we have a passion for providing needed healthcare to animals,” King said. “When you are open to how you care for your animals, people are more likely to understand where you are coming from.”

The Johnson family has earned recognition for their work on the Flying Diamond, winning the Leopold Conservation Award in 2015 and the National Cattleman’s Beef Association Region 5 Environmental Stewardship Award in 2017, according to flyingdiamondcattleranch.com. Even then, Johnson said having a camera crew on his operation wasn’t easy at first.

“It is uncomfortable,” Johnson said. “You just have to swallow your pride a little bit and accept that not everything is going to go right.”

It might seem that mishaps make ranchers nervous about filming, but King said cattle producers only become hesitant when videos of their operation are taken out of context.

“In my experience, cattle producers are not hesitant to show you how they take care of their animals,” King said. “Most are proud of what they do.”

Johnson said producers don’t necessarily need to change their livestock handling practices just to please consumers. In his eyes, consumers just want to see what livestock producers are doing.

“I think we are doing a lot of things that the general public would appreciate if they knew about it,” Johnson said. “It is important for agriculture to open up and tell all the successes.”

Success on the Flying Diamond is not only preserving the family business, but also preserving relationships among family members, said Jean Johnson, co-owner and operator and wife of Scott.

“This is a gift, but it comes with a big responsibility,” Jean Johnson said. “Scott and I, we don’t want to lose it on our watch and I think we have instilled that into the next generation.”

That determination and responsibility has paid off, Scott Johnson said, as the sixth generation of Johnsons now works on the Flying Diamond. Johnson said the next generation isn’t as based in agriculture, but the perspectives of his son-in-law and three daughters-in-law are vital.

“We want those opinions and we welcome the diversity,” Johnson said. “We are better off with it than without it.”

That diversity what part of what inspired the Johnson family to become more vocal about their livestock productions methods, Johnson said. When it comes to animal welfare and livestock handling, Johnson said producers need to speak up.

“If we don’t get our message out, somebody that we don’t agree with is going to,” Johnson said.

All things considered, Johnson said opening up about animal welfare doesn’t require changing anything. It just requires opening up, he said.

“Just be yourself,” Johnson said. “Do what you do. Hope for the best.”

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Article by Wade Yoder for OSU coursework.