It's been nearly six weeks since the plane touched down in Bozeman, MT with me as a passenger. And it's been a wild six weeks with a big learning curve attached to it. The most significant part of the experience so far was this past weekend. But before I get to that, we have to travel back in time, about 11 years.
Family vacations in the Mosher household always involved one of two things: a trip to the county and state fair or travels outside the state of Iowa. And you had better bet that if Jim Mosher was riding along, there was going to be at least one stop at a ranch to see some cows. Little did Leah and I know that our family vacation in 2009 to Montana was going to change the face of our cowherds and direction of life.
It was a chilly day in July in Twin Bridges, Montana. Leah and I were excited to go see a place called “Yellowstone”, but the first stop of the day was at the Talon Angus Ranch. We fondly remember sitting on top of a hay ring feeding heifers while Dad and this lady named Cam Cooper talked about her cow herd. Mom took many pictures (below) and Leah and I were happy to watch the cows.
The following winter, two heifers showed up at Mosher Angus Farm, along with several phone calls from Cam checking in to see how the heifers were doing. Leah and I spent several cold winter mornings with Grandpa in the cattle shed halter breaking the heifers – they weren’t too keen on being pets, but that changed very quickly. And they went on to be some of the most productive cows in our herds. Leah’s cow, Miss Henrietta, has gone on to produce a number of successful bull and heifer calves. Miss Shoshone, my cow, has had her fair share of calves, allowing me to grow my herd and get me started in the feedlot business.
The title of this blog hinted at a generational legacy. There are many ways that you can take this phrase, but today's has to deal with the gift of a heifer that provided me the opportunity to grow my love for the beef industry, and I hope that someday when I have a family, they can look at the pedigrees of a heifer they pick out of the family herd and be able to ask some questions about where the cows originated from.
But the legacy of Cam Cooper lives much beyond the gates of the pastures in Iowa. When Cam passed away in September of 2014, she left Talon Ranch to the American Angus Foundation. The proceeds from the sale of the ranch and dispersal of the cowherd went back to the Foundation and into a program called the Talon Youth Educational Learning Program which sponsors college students to complete internships on ranches across the U.S. She loved youth and this was one of the ways she knew that she could help the advancement of the industry.
It seems only fitting that Leah and I visited Talon Ranch last weekend, seven years after Cam passed away. Some tears were shed and we wished over and over that Cam were still alive today for us to meet. There are some conversations that just can’t be had by a nine- and ten-year-old. But that doesn’t mean that Cam’s legacy within our herds won’t live on. We’ll always remember her passion and love for Angus cows and the beef industry, and if we can just emulate 10% of that someday, we will have done our part. We know she’s watched the lessons from the barn while working with those cows and their offspring, and we know she continues to watch us as we think about returning home to the farm. Thank you, Cam, for allowing us to become the beef producers we are today and leaving a legacy that will go on for generations to come.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO EAT BEEF.
Lauren
