agri.CULTURE

“I grew up on this wheat farm. After high school, I joined the Marine Corp. After 4 years I decided to get out and go to school. I did my pre-recs for the civil engineering program in Wisconsin. After a couple of years, Wisconsin didn’t work out real well so I came on home, which I said I would never do. I worked in construction for a while. Then the hired man my Dad had at that time wasn’t working out so he asked if I could help out on the farm. I was never going to work on the farm but I found that this is what I like…

“Many of my childhood memories are connected to spending time on either the Kubik or Haight grandparents’ family farms. When my Grandfather Lyman Haight retired, we moved out to the farm in the Carico Hills near Ritzville, Washington. The first purchase my father made was of a pregnant mare with a colt at side for my elder sister and me. We trained that mare and her colts and spent much of our time riding. We were quickly involved in a 4-H Horse Club and then the Ritzville 4-H Livestock club. My first livestock project was a shorthorn steer that I raised and sold on my birthday at the Spokane Junior…

“I always had a special love for animals and I’ve always wanted to work with animals. I didn’t get a passion for veterinary medicine until I read my mom’s James Herriot books. Once I read those books, I really understood the animal and human bond. I wanted to not only help animals but help the people who had a bond with their animals. I grew up in a small town of about 3,000 people in Texas, everybody knew everybody. I went into a vet clinic to work the summer before eighth grade. The vet took one look at me and said, “you’re too young, come back next year.” So I…

“I didn’t grow up on a farm but I love animals. I just started working for the extension as a secretary but I do whatever they need me to do. I really like my job. This is my first time being around sheep and Alpaca. Just so happens that Alpaca and Llamas are my favorite animals. I just love them. I am here to learn and observe and see what this is all about. I am lucky to get to love on the Alpacas too.” #agriculture #alpacaandllamas

“I am retired. I was a lineman for 30 years. My wife and I were tired of living where we had to shovel snow so we moved closer to the ranch...

“I grew up on a farm about 6 miles from here. I rode horses and raised goats. At one time we had close to 200 head of goats. Now I raise kids, goats, horses, cows, and cats. I think we have had everything except chickens and bunnies. However, I’ve heard something about wanting a bunny. My daughter raised her first goat when she was two years old. We still have this goat. She doesn’t fit our Registered Nigerian program but we can’t get rid of her because she was raised by a two-year-old. I love it out here I couldn’t live in a city. I love raising my girls here.…

“My parents owned a meat cutting business and I worked there while growing up. I got married just as I was finishing college and we moved away for a few years. We moved back home to be close to family. We have 6 kids, three I gave birth to and the other three we adopted. The kids’ names all start with the letter A, three girls, and three boys. So I can just shout out “A” and they all come. It was a big change to double our family. We had two kids when we started fostering kids and went to 5 kids overnight. We had to take two cars…

“My brother and I were working at the same place when they laid us off in 1984. We worked for other farmers and started farming on our own part-time. We rented a circle and boom loaded, stacked hay and did custom work for others. We slowly kept acquiring ground and working towards owning our own farms. It’s taken its toll on me, it’s hard work. It’s been a lot of years of work, work, work. We lived on nothing for 10 years. Nothing. Everything we made went back into the farm. To be honest, I haven’t left the farm in all these years except for a couple of weddings and…

“She’s a good mamma, very protective. When the time comes, the baby is sold to my daughter’s best friend and the mare is going to a breeding facility. She is 24 years old and has had 7 babies. I can go see her at the facility anytime I want which is good because I’ve had her since she was five years old. I’ll shed a few tears, I am sure. I own her four-year-old and she has been in training for 6 months. I am going to pick her up in June. All of her colts are bred to run barrels, and this one is her first bay filly. They…

“Growing up on dairy farm for my whole life I was always interested in the science behind the cattle. The company I work for has given me hands on training and knowledge in the dairy and beef world and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Today I am assisting in CIDRing 86 cows. My job is to get everything ready so things move smoothly. We insert the CIDR(pronounced seeder) into the gun by folding its wings into the tube. We also lubricate the gun and I hand it to the man who is implanting. Doing this while making sure all of our equipment is sterilized in between each…