Where It All Began

The year was 2013.  

Isaac was 10, and Walker was 7.  

It was only our second show ever.  The first was the county fair the previous summer.  

We didn't know much more than we did at county fair, but we were going for the "big time".  

We had never even been to the Ohio Beef Expo, so we were going in blind...and a lot dumb.  We still laugh about it with those that were there with us that first year.  

Daniel was still working in residential HVAC and the spring months always made for smaller paychecks.  By the time we got to the Ohio Beef Expo, I was packing lunches and pinching pennies any way I could.  

I'll never forget going to our local K-Mart and finding a new show shirt for Isaac for $4.00. 

If you've seen our trailer recently, you know that we have a LOT of stuff packed in there, but it wasn't always that way.  

We were so short on money and needed so many show items.  We had to get creative and even made side panels out of the horse dividers in our trailer.  No, the Jersey cow didn't go to Expo with us...she was just testing out the new panels.  

It worked.  But we look back at ourselves now and just laugh.  ​

We bought the cheapest pair of clippers we could find...and then found out they weren't the right kind.  But it didn't matter, because we were so bad at our clipping attempt, that we quickly realized we were going to have to cough up the money to pay a real fitter to bale us out.  

Everyone has to start somewhere, but man...we really started at the bottom. 

But, those memories are what make us so proud of where we are now.  

Things have changed just a little bit. 

And, we have a few more blowers than we really need (except they are still trying to convince me that we really could use another set).

But what we are most proud of is how we have gotten to where we are today.  

It's been by blood, sweat and tears.  Quite literally.  

This life doesn't come easily, and we have busted our tails day after day, and year after year to get here.  

Have we arrived?

I don't think you ever arrive.

But, we're sure a lot further than where we were in 2013.  

Today, we move cows in to the Ohio Beef Expo for the 13th time.  

Will we come out with another buckle like we did all those years ago? 

Only time in the ring will tell.

We've earned a few buckles over the years, but I don't know that any buckle will mean quite as much as that very first one.  

They all mean a lot...especially now that we actually know what Grand Champion means.

I'm really not kidding.  Come see us this week at the Ohio Beef Expo and we'll tell you the story...

Everyone has to start somewhere.  

You can start at the top, or you can start at the bottom, but everyone has to start.  

That 7 year old is now our own home-grown fitter. 

That 10 year old is still walking those cows through the show ring.    

We lost 4 Wiley Miss Bunny to cancer this summer, but she'll always be our first champion.  

Our breeding program has grown throughout the years, but those foundational genetics still remain.  We started with cows straight from the Largent farm, and we've paired them with some of the best modern genetics in the breed.  Mixing foundational with progressive breeding to create some cows we are pretty proud of.  

Come visit with us at the Ohio Beef Expo this weekend.  

Everyone has a story. 

​We'd love to hear yours.