Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2021 i Farm and Ranch Living

Travis Goettle’s grandfather Earl Stucky describes himself as a cowboy who “came up the hard way, working a lifetime to get a ranch together to help the next generation.” Earl’s old-fashioned ways, such as eschewing modern machinery in favor of using horses and dogs to move cattle, helped get him inducted into the 2018 Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame. “This was a pretty great honor for a man who has worked very hard to get to where he’s at today,” Trisha says. Earl has also earned a spot in the Montana Draft Teamster Hall of Fame for his work with Percheron draft horses—which his family uses for sleigh rides across snowy meadows and for riding out to feed cattle. Earl belongs to the Montana Stockgrowers, Rocky Mountain Stockgrowers and Nevada…

One of my fondest childhood memories is of riding on my uncle’s farm tractor. My brother and I felt as if we were on top of the world while “driving” with our dad in the fields. Many years later, in February 2018, a friend in Ohio talked me into taking his grandpa’s old tractor, a 1946 Case VAC. A few years earlier, he and his son had started work on restoring it, but after partially dismantling it, they lost interest in the endeavor. So the tractor languished in his barn, along with several buckets of its various parts. Though he planned to give me the machine for free, it took some convincing, in part because I live in a city and have no real reason to own a tractor. But…

Waldo Abernathy and Fiona Ray (aka Fi) are wonderful Westies who help manage our 5-acre farm. We’d had good experiences with energetic and intelligent Jack Russell terriers, which steered us toward the West Highland breed. Once we had Waldo, we wanted to find him a sister—preferably one with those trademark big ears. Enter Fiona, who came to us from a farm in Missouri. We’ve loved her from the day we met! She is the perfect mix of sweetness and mischief. When we’re weeding, Waldo pulls weeds alongside us. He likes to help round up any stray chickens or turkeys when it’s time to put them to roost for the evening—though he sometimes finds himself at odds with our rooster, Mr. Handsome, as he “protects” his flock. Waldo also enjoys riding…

1. THE LONG HAUL My parents, Buster and Pat, worked side by side on their Wayan, Idaho, cattle ranch for 51 years. I grew up on the ranch, where we fed cows with a team and sleigh in the winter. Both of my folks are gone now, but this photo by Adonia Henry captures who they were. RUTH GOWANS CEDAR VALLEY, UTAH 2. BRIDE- AND GROOM-TO-BE When I asked my daughter Shale where she and her now-husband, Noah, wanted their engagement photos taken, she said, “On the farm, of course!” MARGIE LYTLE WASILLA, ALASKA 3. A FEATHER IN HIS CAP My son Blu and his wife, Jan, live on 25 acres of paradise. Blu is always helping animals. They make his world a happy place, and he says he feels…

In the spring of 2003, this born-and-raised city girl from Washington hopped in a car with her sister Tammy and friend Billie Jo to make a trip to Montana. We went to see Billie Jo’s family cattle ranch in a remote town where there are more cows than people. The trip was a complete culture shock, but, long story short, I ended up moving to Montana and marrying my friend’s brother, a cowboy named Travis Goettle. Some 16 years later, we are still here on the ranch with Travis’ maternal grandparents, Earl and Glenna Stucky; his parents, Mick and Earline Goettle; Jerry, a longtime hired man; and our two sons—Michael, 10, and Payton, 5. There are roughly 18,000 acres between the family-owned ranch and leased land, upon which we run…

My name is Ryan Kelly, and I’m vice president and general manager of the Boutonnet and Laguna Mist farms—vegetable operations in the Salinas Valley and Oxnard areas. I was born in Salinas in 1981 and started working on a mushroom ranch at 13—as soon as I could get a work permit for general labor. Soon I was driving tractors and forklifts and making compost for the mushroom operation. I became a part-time grower at Mushroom Farms Inc. in Las Lomas when I was 19 and worked that job while attending Cabrillo College. At 21, I transferred to Cal Poly and earned my ag business degree. That’s also where I met my wife, Stephanie. At 25, I became a grower liaison for Laguna Mist Farms. Stephanie took a job as a…

WHERE WE WORK WINNER GOOD MORNING! Dappled sunlight plays upon the farm toys at my husband’s family farm in Dexter, Michigan. The Esches farrow pigs; grow hay, wheat and soybeans; and sell farm-fresh eggs. KRISTEN ESCH CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN PEOPLE & PALS WINNER A HERD OF HER OWN Having animals as friends is rewarding and teaches us so much about life. I loved doing farm chores with my dad, and I’m blessed to be able to raise my kids the same way. My daughter loves animals so much that she has her own indoor ranch that travels to the feedlot with us so she can feed her little friends as well. JESSICA CHRISTIE MAPLE CREEK, SASKATCHEWAN WHERE WE WORK | HONORABLE MENTION 1. PAPA’S APPRENTICE My husband, Mike, was building…

Before our school had a gymnasium or a public place to play basketball or roller-skate, kids like me who lived on farms found our fun in the barn, especially in the winter. My family’s barn was one of the largest for miles around. Measuring 32 feet by 72 feet, it had room for eight horses, 30 milk cows, a bull, and 24 calves and heifers. It also had a separator, a milk room and an attached silo. Above everything in the barn was a hayloft big enough to store winter feed for the livestock. This included three cuttings of alfalfa, timothy and clover, and chopped dry cornstalks. By the first of October, our hayloft was filled to capacity. It was so full that we had to crawl on our stomachs…

On a recent warm, rainy day, my mind started wandering. I began to think about all of the animals I’ve known. I grew up around them and appreciate how entertaining, unpredictable and interesting they can be. Harriet was one such creature I will never forget. Our son, Nathan, trained Harriet and showed her in the local 4-H fair. His grandpa had picked her out of his herd for this purpose. She was mostly Hereford and completely docile; anyone could pet her or feed her an apple. I did have one encounter with Harriet that was a bit scary. It had rained, and as I walked out to the pasture with a bucket of apples for Harriet, she came running at full speed. Because the grass was wet, she couldn’t stop—and…

Stop by John Boyd Jr.’s 1,300-acre farm in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, on any given day—especially in the early morning hours—and you’re bound to catch him perched atop his Case International 7150 tractor, looking toward the horizon as he rolls up and down the rows of his meticulously planted soybean, wheat and corn crops. With every forge ahead, John, a fourth-generation farmer, delves deeper into a sense of solitude and serenity—what he calls “being at one with nature and with God.” Those who know him well say this is where he thinks best; it’s his happy place, a source of peace and his own little slice of heaven on earth. These moments of quiet contemplation, amid the crisp morning air and a chorus of chirping birds, best embody his pure love…

Fate weaves a path. When I was a young man in 1962, a farm accident took parts of three fingers on my right hand, rendering it nearly impossible to use the hand clutch on our John Deere 70. As a result, I had to trade in that tractor for a new John Deere 3010. I drove her home, proud as punch! As fate brought us together, it also pulled us apart. By 1967 the farm economy was struggling and I was forced to sell the 3010 at auction. My friend Ed bought it but later found that he would have to sell it, too. So “my” tractor went back up for sale at Ed’s auction. Over the next 16 years, I worked farm and ranch jobs, and my family moved…

Back in the ’90s, my brother Pete was fixing up an old truck and looking for parts. He mentioned this to a co-worker who was a volunteer firefighter, and the man told him about a 1960 F-500 Custom Cab that belonged to the Union Volunteer Fire Department in Rowan County, North Carolina. The truck was unadorned when it was new, but the department had added bells, sirens, water tanks and hoses, transforming it into a firefighting machine. It had been in service for more than 30 years, and the fire department was retiring it. It was too nice for Pete to simply dismantle for parts, but he decided to purchase it anyway. After a paint job, the removal of dents, a new set of valves and the addition of a…