I grew up in the state of Wyoming, cattle ranching with my family as many of our Wyoming neighbors have. I met my wife Abby at college and visited her family in Nevada. Abby grew up on a large farm where four, sometimes five, crops of alfalfa are harvested a year; quite the difference from our one annual crop here in western Wyoming. Abby and I were married and two years later moved back to my hometown of Lyman. We both knew, from the time we were married, we wanted to raise our children on the land, working with plants and cattle the way we had each been raised.  

Uniting our lives has been fun, as Abby and I take what we each love and combine it into our own family culture. Our two girls, Sarah Mae and Lark, have had their fair share of being bumped around in the tractor, bounced on a horse, and having a few naps in the feed truck. Lately, they’ve enjoyed feeding the “babies,” with their aunts whenever they get the chance.  

Yep, I mean goats. Six years ago my parents made the decision to buy 150 head of goats to diversify our income stream and better utilize pasture on the ranch. We quickly discovered the differences between goat and bovine. The first winter was less than ideal as the goats started kidding at least a month earlier than we had been told they would. This, along with the freezing temperatures and Wyoming wind, caused us to throw together additional shelter for the does and their kids, many of which died.  

Although we had that large setback, my parents continued with the goat operation and have, through the past few years, learned much more about goats and better animal husbandry for them. Though goats will never be lost for surprises. Our daughter Sarah has formed a love of goats and taking care of them. It has been fun for us to see her grow in ways we did as children.  

Besides my parents' goats, we have started our own personal herd of cows  we run with my parents’ herd. To watch Sarah slap her legs and say “hup cows!” makes our hearts beam with laughter and pride.(Lark still squeals with excitement and rattles off baby gibberish when she sees them. Just as Sarah tells us she is going to ride her horse “all-by myself” we are grateful  we can take on the responsibility and carry the dream of building something of our own for our little family.  

Though it is fun, satisfactory, and sometimes nearly perfect, we know, from experience, farming/ranching isn’t always easy or enjoyable. In fact, it’s sometimes down-right hard to move cows, make meals, do chores, and fix the broken equipment while also trying to feed hungry kids, change dirty clothes, bathe babies, teach children good standards, and have a patient attitude while your kid stands there screaming for their sippy you accidentally left at the house that is now miles away.  

And yet, we do it because to Abby and I, it’s the best way we know to raise our children. Growing up, we each learned through experience  agriculture promotes patience, perseverance, a good work-ethic, and dependance on God. These are the qualities we want our children to embody. That’s why we continue in agriculture. That’s why we support agriculture and family-oriented programs like the Farm Bureau Federation; because these programs help us reach the dreams we have for our family and protect Agriculture for future generations.