Posted: Thursday, January 05, 2023
Author(s):
Joette Schalla, ALC, Ranch Broker | Licensed in CO
Jesica Hicks, Broker | Licensed in OR
At Fay Ranches, we are proud of our agents, the culture, and the family that we have cultivated over the years. A big part of the team is the Women of Fay Ranches. These gals have worked hard to pave their way through the industry and come out on top. They continue to raise their families while working hard to help people find their dream property. We asked agent Jesica Hicks, agent Joette Schalla, and the daughter of agent Kimberly Lowry, Isabelle Lowry, about their perspective on being a woman in the agricultural industry.
Hicks: Growing up in a rural setting quite a ways out of town, with no nearby neighbors, we depended almost exclusively on ourselves for food, transportation, and entertainment. We actually lived off the grid when I was a kid, which is not as crazy as it sounds. We had a generator and propane, so we could fuel a stove, and we had a fireplace. At the time, I hated living in a small town, because we didn’t have a lot to do, so we relied on doing those chores, being outside, and using our imaginations. Now, as an adult, I’m very thankful for that.
Lowry: My favorite part about life on a ranch is being able to grow up and raise my show animals that I have enjoyed traveling around the nation with. With this, I have learned how important it is to set goals and then chase them by working day in and day out and learning new things from more experienced people that I can then use to work toward success. I have been blessed with the opportunity to build relationships with mentors around the country who have believed in me and made an investment to help me learn to improve my skills and reach my goals.
Schalla: My childhood was different from many of the kids I attended school with. I had responsibilities in feeding animals, checking/filling water, exercising horses, and tending to gardens and our living windbreaks. My brothers and I would find time to enjoy the great outdoors and play with the animals that we had to help care for. We tried to teach many of our animals to ride or drive. It was always an adventure, and very few of our schoolmates grew up in this special way. We had friends whom we would ride horses with, swim in the ponds, and spend time roping anything that would give us an opportunity. We learned many valuable life lessons through 4-H and Pony Club. We understood being responsible for our animals and learned about buying and selling the animals we raised and cared for. We learned money management and fundamental business strategies at a very young age. All of these experiences have proven to be priceless throughout my life.
Hicks: Self-sufficiency in rural communities can save you money and protect you from the proverbial ‘rainy day. It can also help protect the environment. With the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve resources, it’s important that we be resilient, and are able to sustain ourselves within our communities. Mutual self-sufficiency increases trust between people. Many of us are ‘money rich,’ but ‘time poor,’ so we pay for others to do what we might otherwise do ourselves.
Lowry: Agriculture is the base of our industry as most of our food, clothes and other products come from the production of ag. Educating the public, or letting friends, schools, and interested individuals visit farms and ranches to better understand ag, may spike interest and could help with the appreciation of what farmers and ranchers do every day.
Schalla: Rural communities are fairly tight-knit in comparison to urban areas. Life in rural areas typically creates opportunities to help your neighbors. A well-known phrase is, “Good fences make good neighbors.”. This statement is accurate, especially in rural areas where these fences don’t just identify your property boundaries. People carpool to school, church, and social events to save time and fuel. Neighbors from miles away “trade help” during branding season and again when ranchers wean or ship their cattle. We share eggs and garden produce and even help each other find buyers for the animals we butcher and retail. The power of a small rural community is amazing, especially if one of its members is in distress or celebrating a milestone birthday or anniversary. Everyone comes together to help lessen the stress or heartache or cherish and celebrate the people who are part of our community.
I currently live in town and don’t even know some of my neighbors’ names, but I know every neighbor around our family’s ranch for at least 20 miles. I own a ranch in the rural area I grew up in, so I still attend all the functions I can within the White Rock community. The members of our rural community know that 2% of America’s population produces the food that feeds our entire population, so we all take pride in knowing that we are all doing our part to contribute. Being part of a rural community is very special.
Hicks: It’s not so much a tradition, but, as kids, we were outside a lot, and used our imaginations to entertain ourselves. We also had a go-kart and rode horses. There was a creek that ran through the property, and my dad created a pond, so we spent time swimming in the pond and trying to catch water skippers. My dad also built me and my brothers a tree fort; we would bring in wood, help dad with whatever projects he was working on, and my older brother had to fix fences. At the time, I hated living in a small town because we didn’t have a lot to do, so we relied on doing those chores, being outside, and using our imaginations. As an adult, I’m very thankful for that.
Lowry: As kids, we would make daily chores fun. While raising cattle, sheep, and hogs, each year we would have baby animals that needed extra attention. Almost every year we had a lamb or a piglet that would need to come into the house on a cold day, and that was fun for us as kids to help a baby animal survive and to spend time with it in front of the fire at the same time or to have to go to the barn to bottle feed a calf.
Before we were old enough to get our driver’s licenses, our parents would send us out to the field to drive through the cows when they were calving, and we would come back to give them a report of what we found. It was really cool because it gave us a sense of responsibility to do that by ourselves and it gave them a much-needed break after a long night during calving season. We have so many happy memories together as kids spending time in the barn. Even today I find the barn is my happy place and I spend most of my free time there working with my animals.
Schalla: Spring branding is my favorite tradition. At our brandings, we help mom cook delicious meals for all the help, neighbors come from near and far to lend a hand, and we get to show off our sorting and roping skills. As branding season progresses, we are blessed to see beautiful ranches, impressive cattle herds, and varying styles of branding and roping, creating a season I look forward to every year. Some ranches drag their calves to flankers, some to Nordforks, and some even head and heel their calves. There are families that process their calves across calf tables, but no one in our local community does. Every fall, our White Rock community has a Rocky Mountain Oyster fry to celebrate another year of hard work and achievement. We cook up the calf oysters harvested from several of the nearby ranches, and everyone brings their favorite potluck dish to accompany the main course. It is an annual event our entire community looks forward to.
Hicks: With gas prices and grocery bills impacting budgets in a big way, the benefits of having egg-laying hens and a productive vegetable garden are obvious. Less obvious, but no less valuable, are lessons that can be learned by tending those chickens, sowing those seeds, and dealing with Nature’s cycles. For families with children, the intergenerational knowledge passed down through the seasons is priceless, as is working with neighbors—trading eggs and vegetables for meat and goat milk or helping mend a fence reinforces healthy interdependence rather than a dependency on centralized goods and services. If you’ve ever grown vegetables or made your own clothes, you know that self-sufficiency can be very rewarding; the sense of achievement can bolster self-esteem and self-confidence—important gifts to pass on to your children!
Lowry: Many of my peers lack the desire and drive to set and reach goals, and the motivation to try new things, but I see that those who want something with all their might will work for it and go get it. I personally see that people who work in agriculture or with livestock push themselves to grow and produce better quality crops and livestock. Putting in the work is not easy, so I commend those who are involved in agriculture and push themselves to do better and work harder because it takes a special person to be able to do this every day while facing many obstacles that are out of their control.
Schalla: I feel these traditions help maintain the bond of the community and significantly help to immerse the younger generations in our heritage and culture. Fewer and fewer young people want to continue forward with the lifestyle and careers of their parents and grandparents. My brothers and I have each continued with our own operations in agriculture. We hope the next generation has the same rewarding experiences we have so that they will continue helping produce food for our Nation and being stewards of the land.
Hicks: Be humble but have pride in your successes. Always be learning something new. When you get bucked off, get right back on!
Lowry: If I could offer any advice to women starting out in the agriculture industry, I would encourage them to never give up on their dream. Raising livestock and working in agriculture is an adventure and every day can present new challenges. As I was raised around cattle, hogs, and lambs, there is a lot I have learned growing up on a ranch from a very young age. It is important to set goals which is something that I have always done and then work every day doing the things necessary to reach them. I set goals to do well in cattle showmanship which is when the person showing a steer or heifer is judged on their ability to show their cattle. In 2020 I won Grand Champion showmanship at National Western Stock Show in Denver. Since then I have also won showmanship at several other national shows including Aksarben, NILE, and Arizona Nationals, and was Reserve Champion showman at National Western again in 2022. To be successful requires discipline and daily practice. I would tell a woman starting out in agriculture to work every day toward her goal, and she will be successful.
Schalla: My advice is to start with the basics, but don’t be afraid to dream big. There are so many opportunities to take education classes, learn through internships, or even take a base-level job at an agricultural operation, learning skills as your work your way into new areas over time. I grew up learning from firsthand experience, but over time I have learned even more about livestock and land management from ranches I have worked on, friends in agriculture, and even field days offered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The USDA has multiple divisions focused on improving the knowledge of farmers and ranchers. The USDA considers women disadvantaged farmers/ranchers, so when women apply for programs or loans through the USDA, they receive preference points or priority in funding. These benefits can help women achieve their goals and even allow them to surpass their expectations.
What women pioneers in agriculture do you admire?
Hicks: My fellow Women of Fay Ranches. I’ve always admired Kebi Smith and Kimberly Lowry. I remember starting at Fay as my dad’s assistant and thinking, wow, these gals know their stuff! And Dixie Barry… I love her spirit, enthusiasm, and energy.
All the gals of Fay are great. It’s not about competition, it’s about helping and lifting each other up, and sharing our advice and successes because we want to continue paving the way for women in this industry.
Lowry: When I was little I worked with a cattle breeder named Kate Roberts whom I really admired and looked up to. Kate was raised on a cattle ranch and has developed an eye for good cattle and has built a cattle breeding operation and photography and marketing business on her experience raised on a ranch. Kate was one of the first cattle-women that I looked up to for her hard work and success. I learned a lot about cattle from her while showing steers that I purchased from her while working to build my own breeding program. She has become a force in the cattle industry committed to raising the very best cattle that can be successful in the ring and also in the breeding pen too. In 2021, I attended Cattleman’s Congress in Oklahoma City and had an opportunity to tour the facilities at Express Ranches, one of the premier cattle breeders and ranches in the nation. As I stood in their sale facility admiring the banners, trophies, and awards earned over decades of raising cattle, I did a 360-degree turn looking at the pictures of famous bulls that have left a strong mark on the cattle industry. Standing there I was in awe, and then I noticed some of the photos of the most influential and accomplished bulls were taken by my friend and mentor Kate Roberts. Kate has proven herself a strong force in an industry that has been dominated by men, and for that reason, in my mind, she is a female pioneer in agriculture.
Schalla: Temple Grandin is a woman I have always respected. She made her mark by sharing knowledge in animal behavior and advancing the way producers handle their livestock. Her designs of livestock working facilities have set the bar for efficiency. She has overcome many obstacles to become a prominent figure in agriculture, which is very commendable in an industry in which only 36% of agricultural operations are owned by women. She currently works in the Animal Sciences division of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University.
