Megan lives with her husband and three sons on a multi-generational cow-calf ranch in south central Idaho. Megan serves as the ICW Representative to the ICA board of directors. In her spare time, she enjoys working and playing with her family, reading, gardening, fishing and watching her sons play football.

How are you involved in agriculture today? I work as an agriculture research technician in the soil science division for University of Idaho Extension. When I am not working in town I help my husband, Kabel, on the family ranching operation.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? I grew-up on a small farming/cattle operation and developed a love for the land and animals at a young age. My passion for agriculture continued into college as I pursued an Agricultural Science degree. Yeah, I know it’s weird, but I enjoy working long hours outside, and getting dirty!

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? There have been several individuals who have inspired and encouraged me throughout my life, but my daily motivation is to be a better person today than I was yesterday.

How do you provide encouragement to others? One way I offer encouragement to my children is to live by example, although that is not always easy. Oftentimes when a close friend needs encouragement and I don’t have the right words to say I will refer to scripture, some of my favorites include Proverbs 3:5-6 and Isaiah 40:31.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? Animal agriculture is essential to the welfare of America as well as the rest of the world. Not only does animal agriculture provide food for an ever-growing world population, it is a strong component to our economy. Livestock producers also maintain and enhance millions of acres of public lands and supply consumers with necessary and valuable byproducts.

What are you most thankful for? Weekends! And of course, my family!

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? I enjoy cooking anything that does not require a ton of clean-up afterwards! My favorite would be soup/stews with homemade bread.

What is the first thing you do when you walk into a grocery store? Cringe! I really hate grocery shopping.

What are some of your favorite pastimes and/or hobbies? When I have free time I like to read and garden. And I love watching my boys and nephews play football.

Favorite place to visit? The Oregon coast; it is so peaceful and relaxing.

Celia Gould was appointed Director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture in January 2007, the first female to hold the position. She is also the owner/operator of a third generation ranching and farming operation, G+ Ranches of Buhl, Idaho. G+ Ranches raises Black Angus and Angus-Wagyu cattle. Celia is a graduate of Buhl High School and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Boise State University. Celia spent 16 years in the Idaho House of Representatives, where she served on the Agricultural Affairs, Education, and Revenue and Taxation committees, in addition to serving as the Chairman of the Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.

 How are you involved in agriculture and/or the beef industry today?

• Owner/operator of third-generation cattle ranch
• Director of the Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture for nearly nine years
• Proud inductee into the Southern Idaho Livestock Hall of Fame
• Member of Idaho Cattle Association
• Chairman of National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Natural Resources & Environment Committee

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? Agriculture has been my life-long passion, and it has shaped nearly every facet of my life. Throughout my career, the lessons I learned on the ranch have enabled and defined me. In agriculture, we know that the work day doesn’t start at 8 and end at 5. We also know that agriculture is woven into every fiber of our daily lives, not just when we sit down to the dinner table. Those experiences taught me about hard work, community, kindness, leadership and sometimes shear doggedness.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? When I was young, I interned for former Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives Thomas Stivers. During his chairmanship of the House Judiciary and Rules committee, he allowed me incredible opportunities that weren’t normally afforded to interns. I am very grateful for that experience; it piqued my interest in public service and put me on my career path. For the last 25 years, my husband Bruce has always been my sounding board and mentor. That doesn’t mean I always take his advice, but I greatly respect his opinion, knowledge and integrity.

How do you provide encouragement to others? I believe strongly in the power of mentorship and being generous with your time, expertise and praise. It’s no secret that the average age of a person involved in agriculture is going up. It’s incumbent on industry veterans to do whatever we can to engender an environment of mentorship and teaching that encourages young people to stay in agriculture. In that vein, keeping my door open to young people has been a priority. My work with the Idaho FFA Foundation has been particularly important and rewarding.

Cattle graze at Celia’s G+ Ranch.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? My main message is simple: The future of the beef industry—and all of agriculture—is incredibly bright. During the recession, agriculture was Idaho’s strongest industry. We are the lifeblood of every community in this state, and somehow we always survive the ups and downs of markets and changing public opinion. More than that, ranchers aren’t relics of the past. I look forward to seeing the incredible advancements that beef industry will continue to make while holding on to our best traditions and time-honored way of life.

 What are you most thankful for? Very soon, I will get to welcome our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren back to the ranch. They are both Captains in the Marine Corp and while I am extremely proud of their service to our country nothing brings me more joy than knowing that the fourth generation of our family will be building a life on the ranch.

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? Anything with beef, but tri-tip seems to be my go-to meal. It’s incredibly versatile and delicious. Whether it is for the branding crew or a week night after work, tri-tip is always a hit and incredibly easy to prepare.

What is the first thing you do when you walk into a grocery store? Check out the meat counter. When I was a kid my family owned a butcher shop in Buhl. To this day I love to see a beautiful, well-stocked meat counter.

Director Gould, listening intently during a Governor’s Trade Mission.

What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memory was going to the Saturday livestock sale with my Grandfather.  Sometimes I would take my best friend and sometimes after the sale my Grandpa would take us to the local pool hall for a cherry coke. That was living large!

What are your guilty pleasures in life? My guilty pleasures in life always involve food. I simply love to eat. I believe I developed this love of food from all the delicious variety of
home-grown and home-cooked meals prepared for our family as I grew up.

Day 1: Women in Ag, Idaho CattleWomen Chair, Robin Lufkin

We’re starting off this month’s Women in Ag feature with Robin Lufkin, a rancher from Leadore, Idaho. She is currently the Chair of the Idaho CattleWomen Council, having served in such capacity since 2013. Robin and her husband Carl (who currently serves as the President of the Idaho Cattle Association), have 3 kids and 4 grandsons.

How are you involved in agriculture today? For the past 16 years, my husband has managed a registered/commercial ranch; however, we just moved to our own ranch where we’ll be running a registered herd and having spring bull sales. The new ranch has kept us busy this year, as we’ve been building new corrals, fixing fence, and getting a calving shed built.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? I would say that my life has been more than shaped by agriculture—it’s the way many generations of my family, and my husband’s family, have made a living. We’ve been in the cow business for 36 years, and now our kids are too! It seems like every day revolves around what needs done with either crops or animals.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? My mom—who’s almost 80 years old—but looks closer to 60! She has cooked lunch every day, her entire married life, for whomever works on the ranch. She doesn’t expect a lot of fuss over doing it, but she knows it’s a big thing for everyone who eats at her table. I think her cooking meals has also helped all of our family members get along better, because they have a time and a place to discuss what needs done on a daily basis. I really admire her fortitude.

Photo Credit: Kathy Gines Hunt

How do you provide encouragement to others? I ranch with family and sometimes I think people just want to be heard, appreciated and included. By lending an ear, or an encouraging word, I think people can easily work out a lot of their own frustrations.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? That we are good people, trying to provide a great product, that is beneficial for everyone.

What are you most thankful for? That I really do have the opportunity to live a simple, wonderful life. I don’t always take the opportunity to do so, but I can make my life pretty simple and enjoyable if I choose. We live in a beautiful place, do what we love, go to bed tired, eat great food, have darling grandkids and have raised really nice kids. Some people never have it so good!

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? Probably meatballs and au gratin potatoes. That’s what I get the most compliments on, but I’m a baker at heart. I love to make anything with dough!

What is your favorite childhood memory? Just simple things like riding on the motorcycle with my dad to change water in the evenings, or him singing us silly songs. We were very poor, so we didn’t take big vacations or spend a lot of money. Our fun came from everyday things, eating together, talking at the supper table, helping hay, or moving cows.

Photo Credit: Joyce Caywood Photography

What are your guilty pleasures in life? A new purse, a new cookbook, and a little bit of time to myself occasionally.

What are some of your favorite pastimes and/or hobbies? I love to read and knit.

With the season of Thanksgiving approaching quickly, the Idaho CattleWomen are taking this opportunity to show our appreciation to our fellow women in the beef industry.

Come put a face and name to Idaho agriculture! Stay tuned for our 30-day Idaho Women in Ag Blog Series. Every day in November, we’ll feature a different women every day.

Come here daily to learn more. Or better yet—sign up to receive our blog posts directly to your email so you never miss a post! Fill in your email in the Subscribe box in the righthand column.

Every rancher we know has a plan—that outlined picture of what the future holds. Some people have it typed and saved on a hard drive, others pencil it out on paper-—or scribble it on a napkin—and yet others sketch their plans in their mind map. Whatever the case, we are all aware of what we’d like the future to look like. If we are really honest, we often have two plans—the practical plan and the “whoa, I’m dreaming big, baby!” plan. Usually we file the first and tuck away the second in our underwear drawer so no one will see our outlandish thoughts.

Recently, something happened in our own little world that defied both plans and made us stop and think: “What do we do with this?”

It isn’t on the plan—not even the wild plan. It feels like it’ll really make things better or spiral us toward the polar opposite.

Will it be like the time I lost my rope or saved a calf?

Gathering the girls

Often things come into our lives that we aren’t sure what to do with—and somehow our uncertainty seems to make us think we’ve failed. There should always be a plan, whether it is the normal one or the big one, right? Plans have always helped us, but they just can’t always be concrete. Life is bound to change; surprises happen. Sometimes it isn’t exactly a cut and dry answer that’s needed (Unless it can be fixed with duct tape or baling twine), as much as it is a process.

One year we were surprised with twins—a red one and a black one!

Truly ranching is a process and one that I’m thankful for regularly. As we celebrated Thanksgiving this week, thankfulness is on my mind. I love how producers help each other and share information. I treasure how friendships can be formed easily. I’m thankful for fresh air and animals. I’m grateful that even though plans change or get flipped upside down, we still have ranching. I’m thankful for everyday ideas and “Whoa, baby” big plans—and for the people in my life who appreciate both. As producers, we have a lot to be thankful for—both in industry standards and in each other. Here’s to dreaming big and flexible plans!

I am thankful for cows!

~ Marci

Marci is a city girl gone country. She married her cowboy and never looked back. While life may be different than what she first imagined, it’s also better than she expected as well. She and her husband are raising their three kids on the ranch, and she has grown used to all the boots by the door.