Cory & Elizabeth F

Counties of interest

Carbon, Cascade, Fergus, Gallatin, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Meagher, Musselshell, Park Livingston, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland, Yellowstone

Planned Operation

Hay & Forage, Grain, Large Animal (cattle, sheep, goats), Small Animal (pigs, rabbits, poultry)

Check all experience and education that apply to you and your farming partners

Farm/Crop management (over 3 years), General farming (over 3 years)

Land Tenure

Buy/Sell, Cropshare, Lease, Partnership, Open to other arrangements

Briefly describe your current occupation(s) and responsibilities and list previous agricultural employment and experiences. If you are currently farming or ranching, please state the size, type(s), and location of the operation.

I am currently working for a rancher in Lewistown MT with approximately 400 head of cattle and over 6,000 acres of farm ground. At my current ranch I am responsible for calving, working and feeding cattle, fencing, farming, equipment repair and maintenance as well as trucking. Prior to working on the ranch in Lewistown I worked on a ranch in Harlowton where we worked over 1,000 cattle and 1,200 sheep and had a few hundred acres of farm ground. My responsibilities included calving, working and feeding cattle and sheep, lambing, farming, equipment repairs and maintenance, trucking, and anything else that needed to be done.

Prior to my ranching experience I lived in Michigan and worked over 20 years in the dairy industry where I milked and fed cattle along with worked and harvested farm ground. When I was not working on a dairy I had anywhere from 10-15 cattle and calves on our 12 acre farm with about 5 acres of hay crop.

Acreage

41-100, 101-500, 500+

Farming Practices

Conventional

Please elaborate on the type(s) of agricultural operation you plan on running.

Ultimately I am looking to run 100-200 cattle at any given time with enough hay ground to maintain feed for the cattle through out the year. Any extra ground I would look at leasing out or potentially growing wheat or corn depending on the area and soil. I would also at some point in time like to potentially raise some organic beef to sell. My wife would like to raise some chickens and vegetables as well.

If you are interested in another type of business arrangement, please explain

I would potentially like to offer a small guest ranch for others to be able to enjoy the land and experience the ranch life.

Onsite Housing

Yes

Please elaborate on the kind of additional training/information that would help you:

We are in the process of creating a business plan and taking the Certified Farm Start Up Program to help educate us on some of the above topics. We need more information on financing help and what are options are available as we have very little start up funds available to us.