Jordan and Anna Shearer are members of Rocky Mountain Supply Cooperative, based in southwestern Montana. They shared the following reflection at the 2024 CHS Annual Meeting in December 2024.
Jordan:
“We feel fortunate to be here to speak to you today. We feel fortunate to live where we do in southwest Montana. And we feel fortunate that our livelihood is in agriculture.
“There is tremendous diversity across the different ag operations represented in this room, but we also have so much in common. We can probably all agree that we are the lucky ones, to have livelihoods where the work is different every day and every season. We are outside in God's creation each day – even when it's 100 degrees or 40 below with windchill.
“And we are blessed to bring our families along for much of our work. In our children, we all hope to instill a strong work ethic and a love of agriculture, passed from one generation to the next.
“I blame my grandpa for my love of agriculture. As the oldest child, I was allowed to go with Grandpa while my dad kept track of my siblings in whatever work was happening. I’m sure I covered a million acres riding on the armrest of his old Massey Ferguson combine.
“It was one of my great honors to be the one to help Grandpa Don up the combine ladder last year at age 98 for his last combine ride. He passed away this summer and we spent a great deal of time considering all the changes he’d seen in his life. He would tell countless stories of using horse-drawn implements, riding his horse to school in first grade and his first tractor: a Farmall M.”
Anna:
“As the seasons change, there are many aspects of the job that we look forward to each year.
“On our operation, the pace after a busy summer has slowed down. Fall on the ranch brings a lot of time in the semi, delivering hay, straw, wheat and peas. Just days ago, we shipped our 2024 calf crop on to their next destination. Fall gives us an opportunity to catch our breath, but just for a few minutes.
“Overnight, the season changes to winter, which means feeding cows. There is something exhilarating about feeding cows in fresh snow, below zero weather and the adventure that could result. Feeding cows involves drivers-in-training standing in the seat to steer the feed truck while flaking off bales to the cows.
“The winter season also gives us time to get some equipment through the shop for services and to properly repair any ‘band-aid’ fixes made in the heat of battle.”
Jordan:
“Springtime is ushered in with calving season. After late-night checks, tagging newborn calves and feeding bottle calves, it’s time for branding. All generations are involved. It was especially meaningful to have Grandpa there last year to supervise and make sure we did things his way.
“Springtime also has excitement in the air as we get back in the tractor and anxiously watch to see if our neighbors have started seeding yet.
“Summer brings a season of many hours of haying. Thankfully, long days in the tractor are accompanied by visits from my wife and kids with meals in hand. And better yet, those long days are made a little shorter when I can put Anna to work raking or baling alongside me.
“My first real tractor driving job as a little kid was raking hay and our 6-year-old thinks he's close to taking over that job. Like many of you, we are hoping the next generation takes interest and becomes reliable, well trained and affordable hired help.”
Ranch family, from left, Wade, Anna, Jordan and Weston Shearer on a winter walk on their ranch in central Montana.
Anna:
“When the seasons turn to fall, we begin combining wheat and peas. Every year, when we all cram in the combine together as a family, the cab seems a little smaller with growing boys. We celebrate when the last windrow of hay is baled and the last truckload of wheat makes it to the grain bin.
“Before you know it, we are back to the winter chores of plowing snow, keeping ice off water troughs, feeding cows and eventually calving. And just like that, our kids are another year older.
“With any luck within that year, our boys have gained more independence so they can someday take over the ranch for themselves. And if not, then the ranch has hopefully been a place for them to gain skills and work ethic to chase their dreams in another direction.
“We feel so fortunate that there are so many parts of agriculture where our kids are involved and learning alongside us.”
Jordan:
“Of course, agriculture comes with its daily challenges. It requires creative innovation and adaptation that only fellow farmers and ranchers can understand. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned and it seems that something is always broken. Sometimes the money is in short supply and the days are long and stressful. We make sacrifices on our social calendars and forget what a day off looks like.
“But at the end of the day, aren't we all blessed to be part of such a life-giving industry that is unmatched by all other careers? It isn't just a job or even a career, it's a way of life.
“We are truly fortunate to build our lives around agriculture.”
Check out the full Winter 2025 C magazine with this article and more.
