Utah Ranchers - The Cox Family

Today we welcome Dustin and Harmony Cox of Alton, Utah.  Dustin and Harmony are raising several little cowgirls and have a passion for taking care of their animals and the land they live on!

We are located in southern Utah in a small town named Alton. There is about 117 people half, of which are under the age of 14. It is located right in the middle of three major national parks:  Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the Grand Canyon National Park. Our summer range is on National Forest ground through a private lease which is near Bryce Canyon National Park. Our winter range borders the Grand Canyon. Basically our location is just a little bit of heaven

We have a cow calf operation and a hay brokerage business. We broker hay to dairy's across the nation. Our beef cows run in the high mountains of Utah during the summer. In mid-October we wean our calves and we process our cows and then we take them to northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon for the winter. Around the first of June we brand and move them back up to the mountains of Utah.

We retain our own heifers as replacements. The steers are sold on contract every year in July for an October delivery right off the cow. Heifers that are not replacements are also sold on the contract. On the ranch we are able to get by without any employees at this time - except for ourselves and our five wonderful cowgirls. For our hay brokerage business we buy hay from Utah, Nevada, southern Idaho, Arizona, and Nebraska farmers then we sell it to dairy's in California, Texas, New Mexico and Iowa. I am responsible for sampling the hay, marketing the hay and the finding the transportation of the hay. Harmony does the accounts payable and accounts receivable and makes it all run smooth.

Harmony grew up on 1,000 head cow/calf operation and a small hay operation right here in Alton. She spent her youth pushing cows, branding calves, fixing fence stacking hay. Her dad didn't buy a big baler till all the kids were gone. I grew up in Orderville working on a 500 head cow calf ranch called the Corral Ranch. I went with my brothers on and off during the summer. The summer I turned 11 I was full-time in the summer and before and after school the rest of the year up until the time I turned 19. Then I served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My pay for the summer wages in 1991 when I was 11 years old was a dogie Herford heifer. I was able to keep that perfect heifer and run her in the herd with the guy I worked for Norman Corral.

 

Each summer after that I received a heifer and a steer. I got my pick of the heifer and my pick of the steer.  The heifer was to be kept as a replacement and the steer I would show at the county fair. When I was 17 years old Norman allowed my brother and I to run a total of 25 head with him as a bonus. So with the heifers that I had and the cows my brother had, we got a loan from a local bank and bought 10 head of pairs which brought us up to 25. Then we bought a bull from a local bull sale. In 1998 we were able to get those cows paid off and neighboring ranch came up for sale where we could run 75 head year-round we got another loan and bought 75 first calve Hereford heifers off Superior Livestock video auction for $550 a head out of Nevada and expanded our operation.

Harmony and I grew up together, in different towns, but the same school. We served on the religious council and FFA council together in high school. We never dated, but we were great friends. When I was on my mission for the LDS Church we wrote to each other every two weeks and then when I got home we started dating and four months later we were married in the St. George LDS Temple.

Shortly after we were married we split off our cattle operation from my brother and we expanded ours by buying a winter place out by the Grand Canyon and our summer place by Bryce Canyon. Through the most recent years we have expanded that we have now 100 head cow calf operation paid for and financially sound. Each of our girls have a cow that they care for along with the others and they can keep the heifer that she has or a show steer at the county fair.

Right after we were married I began working for a construction company of the family that Harmony knew. Through the school of hard knocks and a very hard, very good employer I was able to run equipment and drove a dump truck most of the summer.  I began going to college at Southern Utah University where I received a Bachelors in Agriculture Business - graduating Magna Cum Laude. Harmony received her degree in Dixie State University with a minor in music.

It was kind of a hard challenge deciding what to do in college. I knew I wanted to raise my family and be involved in agriculture but how was I going to do it? How was I gonna make a living  was a puzzle. I started my college education in ag business and then switched to secondary education to teach Ag. After a year of doing this I followed my heart and went back to ag business.  I'm now making a living and involved agriculture.

The experiences I had working in the construction company, driving a dump truck, enabled me to feel confident to go to work for a hay broker and driving a hay truck from Utah to California. After nine months of working for the hay broker my brother and I bought the truck. About a year and a half of owning the truck I sold my share of the truck to my brother and I began working in the office managing the Hay company. After managing the company for several years the time came to start out on our own in the hay business. The first several months were very nerve-racking and frustrating and downright scary, but through the faith of my great wife we were able to push through and we have become very successful and have great clients made up of dairies farmers and trucks.

A typical day for us on the ranch is: we rise between 6:00 and 6:30.  During the school days we have scripture study from the Bible, from the Book of Mormon and  prayer's before  breakfast then send our kids to school.  The younger girls, Harmony and I go do chores around town and check on cows as needed during the summer. Our cows are only 15 miles away which is pretty easy to get to. One wonderful thing about a beef herd is you don't have to check them every single day unlike a dairy herd.  Although we still do have a milk cow name duck because she's a bad influence on the other cows from the famous book Click Clack Moo.

During the winter months our cows are 100 miles away. We have put in several more pipelines and drinkers to have adequate water and to maximize the grazing area of our ranch. One very unique thing about our ranch is after we breed our heifers, our cows never see a bale of  hay,  They are on the desert range in the winter and on the summer range grazing and performing on their own; without any input costs from feed.  Another unique thing about the ranch is that we help Harmony's family on their ranch and we still do a ten day cattle drive in the fall moving from the summer pasture to the winter pasture in northern Arizona. We go about 100 miles in 10 days camping with them right along the way that's been a unique opportunity for us to do with our family to keep the spirit of lifestyle alive in our home.

In our hay business our number one priority is I always have my cell phone. I love technology! I love Bill Gates, I love Steve Jobs. I love the guys who make these phones work as it has enabled me to go to my kids school plays, to be on a horse, and do business as long as I have service. With the hay business were are constantly on the phone calling farmers looking at hay, driving sampling, lining up trucks and doing what we say we're going to do. When we tell the farmer, dairy or truck something we stick to it. Harmony does all the accounting accounts payable receivable for the ranch and a business.

Working with family and being with family and teaching the family that is the number one best thing about being on the farm and ranch. My favorite time of year on the ranch what ever time it is that day. My wife and I's love for each other and agriculture and our family allowed us to always work together. We started from scratch, from ground zero and built a life doing what we love. Of course we couldn't do it without our heavenly father. We are blessed to have the experience of growing up on ranches and blessed that the hay broker gave us a job driving a truck.  I've always wanted to ranch. My sixth-grade teacher brought my mom a paper that I had written on what I wanted to do for a career.  As I read through that at the age of 12 and then today being 33 my desires and my love for a career to work with the family on a ranch hasn't changed.

 

I wish people understood more of the products that we grow and raise on farms and ranches. We feed our families also. The same things people put in their mouths and bellies, we put in ours. We are confident with them, we trust them, we trust the partners with those who sell a seed, who sell our cattle, who sell us milk. We are confident. We sit down at the dinner table and the things we eat are safe, delicious and wholesome. We hope the families across America feel the same way.

Being involved in animal agriculture brings up many issues about animal welfare and how we care for the animals. We have a fundamental core belief that God created all things for the use of man. As a rancher we care about our animals, we take care of them. We understand that they have a purpose and that purpose is to feed our families and the families across the world.

Thank you Dustin and Harmony for a GREAT feature!!!

How are you involved in agriculture? What is your story? YOU can be our next feature! E-mail Elizabeth and Jamie at foafeature@gmail.com

The Fuhriman's

Today we welcome Emily Fuhriman. Emily and her husband live in Utah. This hard working couple enjoy life on the ranch; tending the cattle, horses and the land!

We live in Grouse Creek, Utah. It's in the upper most north west corner of Utah. It is an hour every direction from cell service and paved roads. Our nearest neighbor is over the border in Nevada about 8 miles away. We live so far out that they just barely got a phone line and internet ran in here last year.

My husband and I both work for Simplot Livestock in Grouse Creek, Utah. We run about 1500 head of cattle, mostly Angus, Brangus, and Charolais cross cattle. During the spring, summer and into the fall our cattle run on private and BLM ground in the mountains near Grouse Creek and during the late fall and through the winter they winter out on the desert in Pilot Valley near Montello, Nevada. So our job is brand, doctor, gather cattle and trail to different feed areas, fence, and so on.

We use to have a full time horse training business in Idaho. When the economy caused the horse market to slow down we started day working more and taking other jobs that would let us stay horseback. Then we found out about a ranch job with Simplot last year we decided that sounded like a nice change. It's a great job, in an awesome location and we get to work together everyday still.

A typical spring day for us would be gathering pairs off the spring pasture, branding calves and turning them out on the summer range. Summer days are salting, pushing cattle out of a grubbed out area into an area with more feed. All fall is gathering the summer range, weaning and shipping calves, preging and culling cows then trailing cows to the winter range in Nevada. Normally during the winter all of our cows are turned out on a winter range and calve out there. This winter, because we had such a dry summer last year, only 500 head went to the winter range and we kept about 700 in Grouse Creek to feed hay to through the winter. This worked in our favor because we have a couple work horse teams, so we hook a wagon or sleigh everyday and feed our cows by hand and then saddle a horse to ride through and check the new calves.

Our favorite part about the lifestyle we have is getting to work together everyday, living in a remote area, and being able to make a living horseback. We can still train a few outside horses and in the summer we get time go show our horses and pick up at rodeos. We are very lucky and neither one of us could ever imagine doing any different.

One of the things that people don't understand about working and living on a ranch is that, yes we get to ride our horses everyday, live in the mountains, but it's a hard life. It doesn't pay much, we live a long ways out, you can't just run to the store for a gallon of milk, summers are hot, winters are cold, you may not see another person for a week, if you run your truck off the road in the winter, there is a good chance another truck won't come by till the next day, and sometimes you have to be here everyday for weeks or months to take care of the animals that you are responsible for. Not to many vacations. Sometimes ranch jobs are short term, you never know when you have to pack up the whole house the next day and move.

Thank you Emily for this great feature! You can follow the Fuhriman's on their blog.

Are you passionate about your way of life? Do you enjoy working with the land and animals? Then we need your story! No blog required - all are welcome to be the next FOA feature!! Contact us at foafeature@gmail.com!

Jessica Hedges - A Cowboy Poet

Today we're sharing the story of Sam & Jess Hedges, a cowboy-ing couple from the Great Basin! 

We're Sam & Jessica Hedges, from the beautiful, vast and wild area of the Great Basin known as SE Oregon, south of Burns, OR to be specific. 

We both grew up on ranches. Sam in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. Jess in California and Nevada. Since getting married, we have ventured into Washington and Oregon. We both had a short stint in Elko, Nevada where we met while we were going to college, but quickly figured out that our lives were about cowboying and that's how we wanted to raise our someday family. 

We are both driven by the history, the tradition, the horsemanship, the sense of family that surrounds ranching. Its hard work, but it is honest and heartfelt.

Our favorite thing about living on a ranch is the freedom. 

"There is nothing like the feeling that you get down deep in side when you trot out in the morning and you're hired on to ride."~ Waddie Mitchell

Right now, Sam buckaroos for Tree Top Ranches, a cattle operation in SE Oregon and several other states. His day consists of anything that needs to be done, but mostly cowboying and duties directly related to keeping cow/calf pairs fed, watered, and otherwise cared for.

Jess use to ride on a daily basis when the couple lived in cow camp, but has recently hung up her spurs to be a full time mom to their 7 month old son, Quirt.

Outside of the normal day to day, Sam makes knives and braids rawhide. Jess is a nationally acclaimed cowboy poet and has started her own accessories line, The Buckarette Collection. 

A typical day for us is non-existent. You can walk out the door that day with a plan and have it all change. Sam can be on a horse, welding, putting out mineral, or any other number of things in a day. Jess can be on the road performing, running errands in town, training a dog or horse, or creating an original Buckarette Collection piece.

Jess gets to deal with a lot misconceptions and misunderstanding about cowboy life through her experiences as a cowboy poet. 

I (Jess) was talking to a group of grade schoolers in Durango, CO and you could hear them gasp as I explained that we only went town once a month. Walmart was 5 hours and was a once every couple of months trip.

Although we are no longer in cow camp, we had in the past lived 4 hours from town and had no cell service, no tv, there were times of the year that you couldn't get in or out. The idea that people are happy without technology and do this all for the sake of producing the nation's beef is unheard of. The remoteness and the lifestyle it takes to have a cheeseburger available when you hit the McDonald's drive thru is one of the biggest misconceptions.

You can learn more about Jess Hedges and her story by visiting her poetry website, her poetry Facebook page, and her Facebook page for the Buckarette Collection. She also has a personal Twitter account, and a Buckarette Collection twitter, as well as an Instagram. 

If you or someone you know is interested in sharing your story or agricultural experience, please contact us today! We are always looking for more features - YOU could be the next Face of Agriculture! 

Liz and Adrian Brannan - Buckaroo Barbies

Today we feature two sisters from California. These girls work hard to promote western culture and ranching traditions. Please welcome Liz and Adrian of Buckaroo Barbie!

First of all, thank you for having us here at Faces of Agriculture!! We’re the Brannan sisters and we are best friends, business partners, dreamers, cowboy-girls and advocates of the cowboy/ranching world.

We were both born in Ventura, CA….in the land of the Vaqueros. But we were raised all over, NV, CA, Scotland, and MO…so it’s a little difficult for us to know where we’re from. Our dad was a saddle-maker turned cowboy turned international terrorism specialist, so our upbringing is really different than your typical cowboy or rancher.

Liz is the oldest at 25 and used to start colts for the public and braid rawhide, until she moved to Northeastern Nevada and became the first woman outside of family to cowboy on the Quarter Circle S Ranch, for the Van Normans. Getting the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the best cowboys out there was an amazing experience for her.Liz got chronic Lyme disease and eventually had to quit cowboying full time, and now lives with Adrian in Northern CA. Because of her health limitations, Liz focuses on other aspects of the cowboy world now. She and Adrian are partners and are writing a book called Buckaroo Barbie and Liz runs their blog, which you can check out at,www.buckaroobarbie.blogspot.com.

Adrian is the youngest at 20 and at the ripe old age of 14 was given the opportunity to make a CD. She now has 3 albums to her name, one of which was produced by her childhood hero, Tom Russell. Her latest album, Buckaroogirl, was released early this year, to the clamor of fans who had been eagerly awaiting its arrival. You can check her music out at www.buckaroogirl.com. She also has a blog, www.adrianbuckaroogirl.blogspot.com

Today, Adrian travels full time for her music and Liz works for her little sister as her Personal Assistant. We have the BEST working relationship…we are a team. Because of Adrian having a public platform to speak from because of her music, we are able to promote the western lifestyle in a different way. It’s always a fun experience when we’re traveling and someone stops and talks to us because of our hats, our boots, or Adrian’s guitar, and you can see their preconceived notions being challenged because of our lifestyle. It’s been really eye-opening for us to see just how many people really don’t understand where their food or beef actually comes from. Many of them are genuinely surprised that beef cattle are still raised on ranches in the United States, and cared for by real cowboys.

When we’re not on the road, we really just enjoy being home. Our folks rent the house on the ranch where we live now in Northern CA, and the ground is leased out for cattle. We ride our fat horses, maybe shoot a little and occasionally a neighbor needs some day work. Adrian especially needs time to cowboy in order for her to remain connected to this way of life and retain her sanity. Liz still tries to make time to braid rawhide and occasionally ropes at a neighbor’s branding.

We feel so blessed to have been able to grow up with the lifestyle that we did…as a cowboy’s kid there is no better feeling than getting to go to work with the “big guys”…and the practice of passing on information and traditions to the next generation is something we very much believe in, and want to continue in our own lives.

Thanks to Adrian and Liz for a great feature!! We wish you much success and keep up the great work! Be sure to check out the Buckaroo Barbie Blog and Facebook Page. You can learn more about Adrian's music on her blog and Facebook page.

Are you an advocate for you way of life? Are you passionate about ranching and farming? We need your story! Send Elizabeth or Jamie an e-mail at foafeature@gmail.com to learn how you can be the next FOA feature!

Jennifer and Travis - Nevada Ranching Family

Please welcome Jennifer and Travis to Faces of Agriculture. This Nevada ranch family is proud to be involved in agriculture and bring food to your table. (photo credits to Heidi Stevens.)

Hello, my name is Jennifer. My husband Travis, our 2 boys and I live on a ranch in the beautiful Ruby Mountains near Lamoille, Nevada. It is said that “Behind every successful cowboy is a wife with a good job in town!” We are no exception. Like many ranch wives, I have a job in town. I tried teaching High School Agriculture for a couple of years, but learned that I was better suited to older students and now teach Animal Science at Great Basin College in Elko, Nevada. I have a bachelor’s of Science in Agriculture Education from Montana State University.

I work alongside Travis for Maggie Creek Ranches. Travis is the foreman here on the Lamoille division. We take care of beef pairs but primarily run yearlings from May to October. Lamoille is arguably one of the prettiest places in Nevada and we are so blessed to live where we do. We have an apple orchard in our back yard and the gorgeous Ruby Mountains in our front yard. There is plenty of room for our boys to run and grow.

One of the best things about our job here is that Maggie Creek is a family ranch and we get to take our boys to work with us whenever we want to. This is very important to my husband and me. We both grew up on ranches working with our families. It is not uncommon to drive past one of our fields and see me leading one horse with one son and riding with a kid in front of me, or see my boys helping us rebuild fence, playing in a supplement trough while Travis and I doctor a yearling nearby. Most parents buy expensive playground equipment for their kids, we have trees to climb, antique farm equipment and miles of pasture for ours to play.

Maggie Creek is a cattle operation. We run cattle on range that isn’t adequate for any other type of crop, or suitable for living. It gives us a sense of pride to know that we are taking sunshine and grasses that are indigestible to humans and creating a healthy delicious food for people. We are committed to producing a safe and wholesome product for the world.

My parents ranch near Mountain City, Nevada. My great grandparents originally purchased the ranch in the 1930’s, and our family haslived on this ranch ever since. My great granddad brought the first Black Angus cows to Northeastern Nevada. They have run strictly Black Angus since then; my dad has worked really hard to make it one of the best herds in the state. I hope to one day go home to Mountain City to ranch, making my boys 5th generation ranchers in the area.

Travis and I come by ranching very naturally as you can tell. We have started our own herd of black cows and look forward to teaching our boys where their food comes from and the same lessons of hard work, determination, and perseverance our parents have taught us.

I love all aspects of raising cattle. I remember being 4 years old and my mom gathering up my little sister and me in the middle of the night to help my dad pull our first calf out of a Registered Angus cow our parents bought for us from Thomas Angus, making calving and winter one of my favorite times of the year. There is nothing cuter to me than watching a baby calf switching its tail as it nurses. I also love spring and branding. Then in the summer comes a lot of saddle time as we doctor yearlings and check on calves. Fall with the weather turning cooler comes shipping time- that bittersweet time of the year when we sell our calves and we can see what all our hard work was for.

We do this because we love this way of life and the livestock, and it gives us great satisfaction to know that maybe we made a difference somewhere. Maybe it was for the calf we saved from the creek, or the person who buys one of our steaks, but a difference none the less, and we enjoy our job!I always tell Travis a bad day cowboying beats a good day teaching!

Thank you Jennifer for the great feature and for sharing your story with us! You can keep up with this ranching family with her blog Ramblings from a Ranch Wife. 

If you would like to be the next Faces of Agriculture Feature - Contact us! We need your story today!