The beautiful Baker Valley in Eastern Oregon has a rich history of cattle ranching. With lush grass and abundant water, the valley is a perfect setting for raising cattle, and it is home to, among many other ranches, The DLX.

A commercial black Angus cow/calf operation, with approximately one thousand, two hundred female cows, The DLX is a prime arbiter of the essence of Agriculture and its backbone to the American way of life. Mostly run by family and a few extra hired hands, the ranch is sited just eight miles north of Baker City, Oregon, in the center of the valley, just off of Interstate 84 via exit 298. Owners, Kirk and Michelle Scilacci, and their twins, Morgan and Rory, call the ranch home.

Like the surrounding area of Baker County, the ranch itself has a unique history of its own. At the earliest known time, prior to 1956, the cattle operation, then called the Coffey Ranch, was sold to Roy Farmer, of the Farmer Coffee Company. The Farmers were absentee owners until 1972 when they sold the ranch to Howard Driggers, who renamed it to the “Slash D”. After calling the ranch home for only seven years, the Driggers sold it in 1979 to Jim and Joan Ray, who, again, changed the name to“Lazy J.” The Rays spent each summer on the ranch while wintering further south in a warmer climate, southern Arizona. In 1991, the Rays sold the ranch to yet another absentee owner, Ed McGah, hailing from the San Francisco bay area in Northern California. This time, the name was changed to the “Heritage Ranch.”

In 2006, Kirk and Michelle Scilacci, previously rice farmers from Lincoln, California, in the northern Sacramento Valley, purchased the vast 14,280-acre ranch. They, along with their daughter, Rory, and their son, Morgan, live and work there year-round. Thus, did end the dry spell of fifty years, excluding the brief seven-year period during the 1970s, of absentee-ownership. The Scilacci family also retained a portion of their rice farm in Northern California, which they still operate today, known as “The DLX Ranches.”

In the nearly 20 years of ownership, the Scilacci's have expanded the ranch considerably. They have added additional meadow and range ground, bringing the current acreage to approximately 17,000. Meticulous, diligent planning and hard work has enabled the Scilacci family to not only make significant improvements to the ranch but also build their Angus cattle herd. The Scilacci's have incorporated some of the latest in technological advancements, best cattle management practices, and a rigorous but selective vaccine protocol. These are all in accordance with Beef Quality Assurance standards and the USDA.

All this and more has been done with one customer in mind, the consumer. The number one goal of The DLX is to provide the highest quality, most nutritious, all-natural beef to buyers for an above satisfactory eating experience, wherever the consumer’s appetite may take them. For that reason, and for many more years to come, may The DLX be known to stand for “Quality and Integrity.”