“A family of teachers.”
That’s how Jill Flynn refers to her brood, who together own and operate Hidden Hollow Hideaway Cattle & Guest Ranch in the hills just outside Townsend, Montana, overlooking the Missouri River. Perhaps no one is more representative of that designation than Jill’s late husband, Kelly.

“It is another piece of the puzzle for the next generation,” says Pat Wiebe of Deep Creek Cattle Company and Wiebe Farms Inc. in Buhl, Idaho.

During the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) convention, Justin Benavidez, assistant professor and extension economist at Texas A&M University, encouraged producers to consider their “why” before starting this new venture and provided some answers to questions that often arise when getting started.

Since the dawn of time, mankind turned, and continues to turn, live animals into protein to feed the world. Whether it be by raising livestock or hunting wildlife, the job gets done and people get fed – and in some cases, these two paths cross.

Maili Drachman is the co-owner and operator of J&C Ranch. They run a small herd of Scottish Highland cattle on native pasture.

 In case you haven’t heard, there’s a pretty significant drought on across a big chunk of the U.S. Texas has been hit particularly hard, so much so that drought felt like the unofficial theme of the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, which took place on the campus in College Station, Texas, Aug. 1-3