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A yak named Bayak Obama

By Cayce Kelly | Tibet Sun

Yak at Michigan Yakkers owned by Tom and Cayce Kelly. The couple have 16 yak, and they welcome visitors on their ranch, which is the one of only two yak ranches in Michigan.Cayce Kelly

Last year, Tom and Cayce Kelly would have laughed if someone had told them that this year they would be raising Tibetan Yak on a farm. The couple had just gotten married after dating for a couple of years. They were living in a condo on a golf course in a suburb of Metro Detroit. The fourteenth hole was their backyard.

Tom has three children, and Cayce has four. With seven children coming in and out of the house at various times of the year, combined with the addition of a large and active puppy to the family, they began to look for a house with some outdoor play space.

Tom had always dreamed of one day becoming a gentleman farmer, and Cayce grew up on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. Both wanted to have some land, where they could have a few animals and a garden. They found a ten acre farm in an area just a few miles away from where they were living. The small fieldstone, 100-year-old farmhouse stole their hearts immediately. The ten acres have a creek running through, and the land was exactly what they wanted.

Soon after purchasing the farm, Cayce began to research possibilities for livestock. With only ten acres, the animals had to be easy to care for.

Although most people in this part of Michigan have horses, Cayce was not interested in them. She really wanted some cattle, but they would require more acreage. On a hobby farm website, she discovered Yak. At first it was amusing, but it quickly became fascinating. Cayce learned that Yak are fuel efficient, and require only a third of what a typical cow would consume in food. She also learned that they are fairly disease resistant and require no shelter other than trees. Cayce sent a text message to her husband at work that said, “Let’s get some Yak”.

There are not many Yak in the US right now, and it is nearly impossible to bring them in from Tibet due to governmental restrictions. Cayce found a Yak ranch in Green Bay, and Tom agreed that it would be fun to visit. They visited on Easter Weekend, and immediately fell in love with the majestic creatures. The ranch had just welcomed their first Yak calf of the year, born on Easter Sunday. Cayce took one look at the day old baby, and decided she had to have him.

Even though the purpose of the visit was to simply research the possibility of owning Yak, they walked out owning a new herd. They started out with seven yak. They named the baby yak Bayak Obama, and it was bottle-fed twice a day by Cayce. Tina Talora was a four-year-old cow, who was pregnant and soon after gave them Baby Keskey. They also got two yearling heifers, one yearling steer, and two bulls.

After moving into the farmhouse and preparing the land to be ready for Yak, the couple returned to Green Bay to bring the herd home. They rounded them up onto a large horse trailer, and brought them across Lake Michigan on a transport ferry called The Badger. Upon reaching land, they drove the few hours to their new farm. It was scary, but exciting at the same time. For Tom and Cayce, it’s hard to put into words the feelings of joy, respect, and appreciation that they experience when working with their animals.

After a couple of months had gone by, and they had gotten used to their original eight, Tom and Cayce decided it was time for more Yaks. They purchased another four cows, which each had baby bulls. This herd came from Idaho through a cattle transport service. The owner of the Yak ranch in Idaho has even met the Dalai Lama! In spite of a very long trip, the cows and their babies arrived in perfect condition. They walked off of the trailer and onto the pasture and immediately began calmly grazing. This brought the Michigan herd count up to sixteen.

People are fascinated by the herd of Yak, and often stop on the side of the road to look at them. Tom and Cayce love visitors, so that’s never a problem. Michigan Yakkers is only the second Yak Ranch in Michigan. Tom and Cayce plan to raise them for meat and fiber. Cayce is even interested in learning how to spin yarn from their wooly underlayer in the spring. They also hope to bring awareness to the many benefits that Yaks have to offer as a cattle alternative in the US. Some ranches in Colorado have begun to breed Yak/Cow hybrids, and Cayce hopes to educate beef cattlemen on the Eastern part of the country as to the health benefits of Yak meat.

Tom and Cayce welcome all visitors. Little Bayak Obama is now very tame, and loves visitors, too! He even has his own website

If you would like to visit or just have questions, you may reach Tom and Cayce through their website

Copyright © 2009 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun