Last updated on February 25th, 2026 at 09:09 pm
A Return To Cattle Roots
Andrew Beavers’ roots run deep in agriculture. “Some form of farming has been done on the property between hogs and crops for several generations,” says the Sherwood, Arkansas, beef producer. “My father’s family has always done cattle, pigs and horses. My mother’s family did row crops.”
Given that background, it’s natural that agriculture runs in Beavers’ blood. However, he didn’t grow up on the family farm. Beavers was raised a city kid in Little Rock, about 10 miles away from the home place.
Rain, Rain, Come This Way
If the definition of a desert is an area that receives less than 10 inches of precipitation a year, what do you call an area that averages half of that?
Kevin Stopanski and his family call it home.
Here’s the kicker: home for the Stopanski clan is north of the 49th parallel, in the southeast part of Alberta, Canada. Yes, Alberta, the Canadian province known for rugged Rocky Mountains and lots of snow.
Producing Top Genetics on Bottom End Pastures
No matter where you are in the cattle business, it can be tough to make a profit. While things are pretty shiny now, the cycle will inevitably turn.
Seth Christensen knew that when he kicked his last dirt clod and became a first-generation beef producer. With a degree in economics from Utah State University and a burning desire to make his mark in the cattle business, he hitched his wagon to the star of technology and hasn’t looked back.
Ranching With Fortitude Since 1908
“You have to have fortitude. You have to have persistence. But to sum it up in one simple word, a cattleman is a man with fortitude. He just knows he’s going to make it regardless of what he’s currently looking at, and he’s willing to take that adventure.”
Those are the characteristics that describe a good rancher, Yancey Garringer says. It’s something he knows a little bit about, because he wraps those characteristics around himself every morning when he puts on his boots and goes to work running the cattle herd on Garringer Farms.
Ranching On The Cajun Prairie
It’s not that Chris Thibodeaux wasn’t familiar with agriculture. His grandparents on both sides were farmers, after all. But as often happens, his parents left the farm for other opportunities. “Our parents were blue collar workers who put us through school so that we could try to better ourselves,” Chris says. “And it’s all worked out.”
Indeed it has. And it continues to do so on the Grace Ranch, near Jennings in southwest Louisiana for Chris and his wife Staci, first-generation Brahman, F1 Braford and Brangus breeders.
All In The Family
Making a living in agriculture is tough. Crops, cattle, agribusiness, it doesn’t matter. While it may not necessarily take a village to be successful, it does require not only brain power, but the mental toughness and entrepreneurial spirit to survive the bad times and take advantage of the good times.
And family. That’s the combination that has kept Jim Friemel, patriarch of an extensive cattle feeding, ranching and farming operation in the Texas Panhandle, going strong.
The Year They Tried Brand X.
Across the heart of ranch country — from the rugged country of Idaho and the grasslands of Oklahoma — a quiet pattern has repeated itself. Ranchers who had relied on Riomax® for years started to wonder: could they get the same results for less?
Each of these five cattlemen — Dain & Kent Rad (ID), Larry Morris (OK), Harold Gleason (OK), Brad Kavorik (NE), and Leslie & Jan Harrison (OK) — decided to find out. What they discovered was a shared truth: the “cheap” option often comes with the highest price tag.
Riding Out A Wyoming Winter: The Reinke Family Way
The wind cuts hard across the hills outside Sheridan, Wyoming. Snow drifts stack up along the fences, and the cattle bunch together in the draws, heads down against the cold.
For Dan Reinke, this country has been home for a long time. The Reinke family tends cattle the way most ranchers do — by the weather, the season, and the cows themselves. Dan Reinke and his son work side by side in a cow–calf and seed-stock partnership, carrying forward a way of life where every winter storm and every calf crop shapes the year ahead.
Lessons From the Homeplace: An Oklahoma Rancher’s Story
If you’re going to spend that much money, you’re darn sure going to take the time to learn enough to convince yourself that the investment is worth it. That was Dale Ferguson’s mindset at the beginning of the journey that led him to swallow hard and write a check for his first load of orange Riomax tubs. He’s glad he did. He only wishes he’d pulled the plug earlier.
The O Ro Way: Hard Land, Hardy Cattle, Smart Management
Tucked away in the remote hills northwest of Prescott, Arizona, The O Ro Ranch isn’t your average cattle outfit. It’s rugged, it’s historic, and it’s run the way it always has been—on horseback, by folks who know the land, respect tradition, and aren’t afraid of hard work.
