Shanon and Melinda

How we got started in agriculture

Shanon: I was born into agriculture and fell in love with it at a young age. There were some societal pressures to do something besides ranching, but after I went to the University of Wyoming and met my wife, Melinda, and other people who wanted the opportunity I had, it made my decision pretty easy.

Melinda: I didn’t grow up on a ranch, but my grandfather always managed large ranches in the U.S. and in Australia, so it was in my blood. When I was in high school, I took out an FSA loan and bought cattle to help put myself through college. Then I met Shanon and I knew I was going to be a rancher’s wife.

How our operation has changed

Shanon: Our operation has become a lot more regenerative. We’ve eliminated a lot of our fertilizer and focused on cutting costs. We’ve become a very low input operation. We concentrate mostly on our soil health now rather than production.

Melinda: We were more focused on producing cattle, but now we’re focused on producing quality grass and the cattle are a way for us to harvest it.

Our relationship with Farm Credit

Melinda: I’m usually in contact with Farm Credit once a week, whether it’s via the mobile app or calling our local office in Casper. Our loan officer has taken the time to get to know us and our operation. Her efforts understanding our goals and what we’re striving for is a huge part of the relationship and it helps us learn what Farm Credit needs from us, too.

Opportunities for continuing education

Shanon: Having access to educational resources through Farm Credit is a lifesaver for us. One of the bigger decisions we made based off a meeting we attended was we quit feeding cattle. We used to feed to finish, but it became pretty obvious that was no longer the best course of action for our business. We started marketing calves instead and still do to this day.

Our vision for the future

We have our vision statement written down and the biggest part of that vision is sustainability. We want to be here not just for the next generation, but the generations after that. That means healthy soils and healthy people.