How did you get interested in agriculture? And what are you hoping to gain from your apprenticeship?
May 2025
Doors close, doors open. Sometimes you have to do your part and knock on the door before it will open. The day I dropped the old boot spur knocker on the weathered door of an old yellow house, I could not have seen how much that place was going to impact my life. Beckton Stock Farms at the base of the Bighorns in Sheridan WY will forever be my heart’s home as long as I am on this earth. Full of history, between buildings and blood lines, Beckton is dedicated to continuing the legacy of Ms.Sally Forbes. Calving out registered red angus was my first hands-on interaction with the agriculture world independent of my family. Having been raised around cows and the upkeep of family property I was not a stranger to the work. Beckton won me over to the world of raising beef. I was hands on in all the different aspects of a cow calf operation; calving, sorting for pasture breeding groups, haying, fencing and all of the other odds and ends that are involved on a working ranch. Being a quick learner and hard worker, I quickly was allotted more responsibilities as time progressed. Along with the autonomy, my interest and enjoyment of the work grew. My favorite feeling is a day spent sorting cattle and watching the smoothness of a day well spent in the corrals, there is nothing like it. This interest has drawn me to search for different and better ways to accomplish cow work. Having always been intrigued by the how and why of things, I daily asked questions on the ins and outs of our activities. I spent almost two years there when my curiosity of the wider world of ranching took my wandering gypsy soul searching for ranching opportunities in other places.
One of the unique things about ranching is the community there is throughout the country. The common goal of focusing on being productive people, and living life in a way that brings contentment. I have found this community in Oregon, in Texas and now in Montana through Quivira Coalition. My search for new things and new ways in the agriculture world has led me to meet many people, some of those being the connections who led me to this apprenticeship. My goal is to gain experience through my time spent at Veseth Cattle Company, by spending more time hands on and gaining confidence, in all things but specifically in cattle handling. I am looking forward to the focus on the Bud Williams style of handling and the time that I will be able to spend honing in on my own personal skills.
Final Reflections
November 2025
Final? It seems a bit harsh to title this “Final Reflections”. WIll I ever stop reflecting on my summer spent at Veseth Cattle Co. in South Phillips County? I don’t think so. At the beginning of the spring I wrote about doors opening and doors closing. Now I realize that there are some doors that are continually left open. You walk through doors and when it is time to move on to the next thing, instead of the bar falling shut the string is left out and you have the ability to come and go when you please – speaking in terms of old fashioned prairie cabin doors. Perhaps the most comforting thought is knowing that I will always have a community in Eastern Montana who will be cheering me on even when I am no longer living here.The doors at the Veseth’s, and at the Steele’s will always be open for me to visit.
It is a daunting task to try to pinpoint the skills and accomplishments of the season. One of the most prominent that comes to mind is the time spent on Low-Stress Livestock Handling. Stockmanship has forever been my passion, which made Veseth’s the perfect fit for me. Dale is a seasoned stockman and I have strived to pay close attention to the details and care he takes in every movement around stock. Over the summer with guidance from Dale and Jim I believe I have greatly refined my already present natural talent and it has been a joy and an honor to take both criticism and praise them.
I still have a long way to go, but learning which path you want to take is half the battle in life, and I am convinced stewardship of stock and land is for me! I could write forever about my summer on the ranch. It would be hard to make a list of all the things I have learned this season, much less fit all of the details into a 1,500 word paper with details and stories. I have gained so much knowledge in so many different aspects. Not only have I gained experience in stockmanship, and learned about the cattle industry, practical skills have also been acquired. I can now confidently operate a skid steer and a backhoe, build wire gates and weld (functional not cosmetically appealing, but that’s what counts anyways) and accomplish a ton of things that will be forever useful in my life. These are things that are often looked at as the nitty gritty part of ranching and as the dull boring days, but as we all know those tasks have to be done.
It is encouraging to know that because someone spent the time to teach me, I now am more confident in finding wherever it is in ranching that I will travel to next. Lord knows I have had my share of hard days. Eastern Montana wind is not for the weak! I believe that God places you where He does for a reason though, and the wind was worth the reward I got in the end. I will always count it a blessing that God opened the doors in my path to lead me to Veseth Cattle Co, as well as the world of regenerative ag and all that encompasses.