I went to junior college for a couple years and worked in an oil field, but I knew ranching was the best avenue for me. My wife, Connie, was a teacher for a number of years and now she ranches full-time as well. It’s a natural fit for us.

We attend quite a few seminars on vaccines, feed and other things. We’ve done water projects with NRCS. We’ll look at anything that could make what we’re doing better.

We were fortunate to raise our kids on the ranch because they were brought up having responsibilities – cattle to feed, stuff to check. When my wife took our oldest son to college orientation at MIT, the staff remembered our family by a story he wrote in his application about only forgetting to shut the gate once. People like to employ kids raised on ranches because they have a sense of responsibility.

We’re not a low-cost operation, but we try to be conservative. We’ll pay for grass, but we try not to feed very much hay or have much equipment around. We strive to be efficient. We make sure a project cash flows before we borrow money.

There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity in agriculture for young people. There’s not very many people who understand cattle and range operations. My son, Reo, is really good with cattle. My goal is to set him up in a better position than I was in when I was his age.

I like the FCSAmerica business model. I’m a cooperative-type person. That’s how we get our power, fuel and feed. I like that it’s producer-driven. One person is one vote, no matter how big or small you are. And the patronage is a big deal. Over the years, they’ve been more than accommodating. They know a lot about our operation. I would not switch.