My Mom: A Woman in Ag

Have you ever heard the saying that goes something like: Behind every rancher is his wife who works in town? Ya, well, it’s backwards in my family.

From the time she was born, my mom had ranching in her blood. You see, my grandfather was old school in a lot of ways but with two daughters and no son, it was going to be a woman who helped him on the ranch whether he liked it or not. My mom fit that bill perfectly. She grew up doing chores with my grandpa before she got on the bus for school, chores in the evening when she got home, and working cattle on the weekends. But to her, they weren’t chores (for the most part) and it wasn’t work (for the most part). She loved the cattle, horses, dogs, goats, ducks, chickens, I think there were even a few pigs, but most of all she loved spending time with my grandfather… just like the rest of us.

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As my grandfather got older and his health began to decline, it was my mom who stepped up to the plate… as expected. When he broke his hip, she was the one who began to take care of the ranch on an everyday basis. She turned a so called ‘man’s job’ into a woman’s job quickly and with few complaints. It’s been over 3 years since my grandpa has been gone and there have been countless things break, fall apart/over, and leak/overflow since then. Just about everything imaginable except a spontaneous combustion. And she has handled it all. Most of it pretty gracefully and only some of it included a few necessary curse words! To top it off, she’s received little to no praise for it all. What I’m trying to get to here is this: my mom is tough as nails and also my hero. She’s proven that never giving up, no matter how hard the task is, will almost always lead to success. I have seen her fix football fields worth of fence, rebuild an entire barn, cure leaking troughs with broken floats or water lines, load hundreds of bales of hay, while taking care of the cows and maintaining the land ALL BY HERSELF. It blows me away on a very regular business. Like today. Today I got a text message from her that read “hey I operated the jack and put the tire back on the mule (small vehicle we use to put around the ranch at times) like I knew what I was doing.” That would have been a job my grandfather did but now it’s my mom’s job and let me tell ya, she rocks it!

In addition to all hard labor type jobs my mom has mastered on the ranch from the time she was a kid, she has also continued the tradition of strong genetics throughout our herd. It’s my personal opinion that our cattle look every bit as good (if not better) as they did when my grandfather was around. And that is some feat. If you asked her she would say “it’s my way of carrying on your grandfather’s legacy.” Boy is that what she is doing. Mom, I’m proud of you and thankful for all your hard work day in and day out so Brett and I get to enjoy the ranch and help you out in our free time. And here’s to Bop (my grandfather) who gave us all the opportunity to live, love, and breathe working in an industry that feeds the world.

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  • Suzy

    She’s the bestest!!!!

    • Brooke

      She sure is, Suz!