How did you get interested in agriculture? And what are you hoping to gain from your apprenticeship?
May 2025
Road Gap Of Faith.
“Leap of faith” is what most people call it. In my little family and I’s particular case, that phrase just doesn’t quite cover it. You see, in the mountain bike world, there is a kind of jump called a “Road gap”. Road gaps don’t generally take a lot of skill, but they do take tremendous commitment. As the name implies, a road gap is a jump that shoots you over an active road for cars/trucks. If you hesitate on a road gap, the consequences can be serious. So therefore, I am calling this step my family has taken a road gap of faith.
So what did we do, exactly? In short, we moved.
My wife Kara and I both spent the majority of our lives growing up in Meridian, Idaho, a suburb of Boise. We met in high school, and eventually reconnected and were married. We bought a home just a few minutes from where we grew up in Middleton, Idaho and had 2 beautiful daughters there. Our 7 years in Middleton were very comfortable. We had great jobs headed full steam into lifelong careers. Both of our parents lived within 25 minutes from us. Most of our siblings and their kids lived in town as well. We had our favorite restaurants and grocery stores, not to mention a rock solid routine.
Kara and I became interested, and then passionate about our health and what we put into our bodies. (Food, medicine, clothing, home, and toxic exposure of any kind) We learned about what is being called “Regenerative Agriculture”. We loved the idea of working with nature and the seasons to generate food and wellness products, while at the same time healing soil and ecosystems. We volunteered at several small farms and helped producers who applied many of these kinds of practices. Our interest in the moral foundations and lifestyle grew.
December 5, 2024.
9:40 AM.
Kara was on a regenerative ag site, when she saw a tab that said “Jobs”. Curious, she clicked. There were a couple of listings on there, but one in particular caught her eye. A farm and ranch in Northeastern Montana looking for a Farm Assistant. She read the requirements, and sent the link to me. “You have got to read what they’re looking for. It is you to a T.” I loved what the listing was offering, but I definitely didn’t have the experience they were looking for. They were offering free housing, some food from the operation, and a stipend. It was a lot less than we were making at the time, but with the other offered benefits, it actually could work out. Not without some sacrifice of course. “Let’s work on a resume tonight” I sent back.
3:49 PM.
Kara sends me a link to a completed resume. It doesn’t bother me. I really doubted that we would even get a phone call with my lack of required experience. Kara told everyone in her family about the application and they were very supportive and excited. I still brushed it off, and didn’t really think much more of it than “boy, wouldn’t that be cool?”… That is.. until I was notified that one of my references had received a call from the ranch we applied to. That really got my heart racing. The next day, I got the call. “Hey Trevin, this is Jeff Sather. Do you have a moment?” I couldn’t believe I was even worth the time for a phone call. We set up an interview, and he invited me and the family to come take a tour of the place. I was shocked to say the least. My mind immediately started racing with all of the possible logistics. I didn’t hardly sleep for 3 days. Well long story short, the interview went really well, and we booked a flight to Williston, South Dakota (the nearest airport to the ranch) packed up our little family, rented a car, and drove 3 hours to visit. We were impressed. We took the job.