Karen Marchant Williams was raised on a cattle ranch in Oakley, Idaho. After graduating from college with a degree in Animal Science with an agri-business and political science emphasis, she began working for the Utah Cattlemen’s Association. The pull back home to Idaho was strong and after one year, she was able to find a job with the Idaho Cattle Association (ICA) where she has now worked for the past 16 years. Her role for ICA centers on natural resource policy issues, particularly relating to public lands grazing and wildlife issues. Her experience on public policy issues, combined with her family’s cattle ranching heritage provides her with the unique ability to represent Idaho’s cattle industry on the issues that affect the livelihood of Idaho’s ranching families. Karen works from her home office in Twin Falls where she and her husband Jason raise three red-headed girls, Sadie (10), Abigail (8), and Ellie (6). As often as possible, Karen and her family help out on her family’s ranch.

How are you involved in agriculture and/or the beef industry today? It is fair to say that my life is consumed by my care for agriculture, particularly the cattle industry. With my job for the Idaho Cattle Association, I literally spend every day studying and seeking resolution to the problems that face our industry and threaten the livelihoods of Idaho’s cattle ranching families. In addition to going home to my family’s ranch to help as often as possible, we also own a few acres, which allows me the satisfaction of having livestock around. It also provides my girls with the connection to chores and animals that helps to build their character, sense of self-worth, and value of hard work, even if on a smaller scale than what I grew up with.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? I cannot remember not having a passion for agriculture. It is in my blood as generations before me pioneered their way through the agrarian lifestyle. I grew up on a place where the term “family ranch” truly characterized our outfit. We worked together and were given responsibilities at an early age that were essential to the running of the ranch. My ties to that place are as strong as any of the bonds I feel with the people in my life. Because of that, I have an innate desire to stay close to that livelihood and do all I can to protect it. My education, my career, and my efforts to raise my children have all been centered with a love of this industry.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? I consider myself greatly blessed to have been surrounded by inspiring people my entire life. Both my father and mother were raised on cattle ranches and then together built up their own ranch and spent countless additional hours volunteering their time in community and state-wide agricultural organizations. From them, I learned an appreciation for the honest reward of hard work and a strong sense of my civic duty to work for the betterment of society. Also, I never cease to be inspired by the incredible men and women that make up Idaho’s cattle industry. I often think that that term “salt of the earth” had to be coined based on a cattle rancher. It is for them that I am proud to work every day.

How do you provide encouragement to others? I am generally an optimistic person who recognizes the great blessings of my life. I hope that my positive outlook drives the way I interact with people from all walks of life and provides encouragement and hope.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? With very few exceptions, Idaho’s cattle men and women are driven by the pure desires to care for their animals, pursue an honest, hard-working lifestyle, and to provide nourishing food to the world’s growing appetite. Their presence out on the land, both private and public, ensures that the cherished nature of wide open spaces are preserved and that the land is conserved. With all of the very real crises facing humanity across the globe, I am constantly confused by those activists who target our industry and seek to destroy the livelihood of those people who only desire to provide for the world. These are the acts of a generation who have never known true want or starvation. With our bounty comes trials.

What are you most thankful for? I am thankful for my faith, which fortifies me with daily strength and provides me with perspective on those things that matter most. At the very top on that list is my family—nothing comes before them. I also live in daily gratitude for the freedoms and peace we enjoy in this country. Lastly, I am ever-grateful for my heritage, which is steeped in the cattle industry and for the way of life I was born into and continue to be blessed to pursue and share with my children.

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? There are few things more satisfying than eating from the fruits of your labors. I love to make a late summer meal for my family where nearly everything on the plate is homegrown: grilled steak from the spare fair steer we raised; new potatoes and corn on the cob—both smothered in butter, along with tomatoes and watermelon from the garden, and peaches from our trees. Throw in some straight-out-of-the-oven rolls and it’s hard to imagine that life could be much better!

I also often take the opportunity to provide meals for friends who are sick or need a pick-me-up. I wouldn’t even consider bringing them anything other than a beef dish. I always hope that my cooking brings the comfort of a good hearty meal and a reminder of the versatility and nutrition of beef as a key ingredient in meals.

What is your favorite childhood memory? I was blessed with a childhood full of wonderful memories, but one that really stands out to me is my participation at the county fair. Showing cattle is also something that is also in my blood and I loved everything about the fair—from the feeling of reward at the end of a summer of hard work to the strong sense of community gathering to the delectable once-a-year food. The best part about this memory is that it is one that can be relived every year—especially since my oldest daughter is now showing a steer, and from all appearances, it’s in her blood every bit as much as it is in mine. That is a joy to watch.

Favorite place to visit? First and foremost is the Basin (home of my family’s ranch). It does a lot of good for my soul. Secondly, I love Washington, D.C. I really enjoy American history and there is no place richer with history than D.C. I also get carried up in politics and love the electric feeling of being at the heart of the place where our great country is governed—yes, even in spite of the fact that I am more frequently than not frustrated by the actions our leaders take. During my college years, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete an internship in D.C with an Idaho senator. That experience was very formative for me. Now I typically have the opportunity to travel to Washington about once a year to meet with elected and agency officials to represent Idaho’s cattlemen and women on the important issues facing our industry. That is an opportunity, and a responsibility, that I do not take lightly.

What are three little known facts about you? 1) It may not be little-known, as my infatuation is made quite clear to those around me, but I LOVE George Strait. I can say with 100 percent assurance that no musician will ever, ever come anywhere close to eclipsing my love for all things George. 2) I turn into a different person when I watch BYU football. All of my normally subdued character traits become overshadowed by the rabid fan within me.  Since my kids have had to live with me during the tremendous ups and downs of this season, they have taken to asking me at the start of each game, “Are you going to scream this time?”  3) I hate mice. With every fiber of my being. I cannot understand the purpose for the creation of these vermin. Knowing that he married a “tough” ranch girl, my husband can never comprehend how I can get so worked up and completely undone by the presence of a mouse or even their often-present calling card. I can’t comprehend it either; it is irrational, but I just can’t help myself. I think they might be the only drawback to living in the country.

Keep up with Karen by following her on Facebook and Instagram!

Maureen Mai was born and raised in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho—a town just 30 miles south of the Canadian border. She and her husband, Ryan, met during their time at University of Idaho, getting married soon after they graduated. They have been involved in almost all aspects of the cattle business, starting with buying and selling stocker calves, developing a feedlot, and leasing a set of commercial cows, all while continuing to grow the purebred herd she started in her early teen’s. Maureen, Ryan and their son Dillon are now focused on their purebred herd, selling their bulls each February in the Bulls of the Big Sky sale.

How are you involved in agriculture today? It certainly varies from the seasons, but driving tractors and working with cattle fall into all the seasons. I tend to fill in where it is needed, whether it be with the hay rakes, the big baler, as a fence builder, or a truck driver. I operate the combine during our grain harvest…but I am trying to retire from that since I am now more involved with our county fair and 4-H. I am a 4-H leader for the Beef projects. The cows need checked weekly at all their pastures in the summertime and they get fed daily when they aren’t on pasture the other six months of the year. I do the bookkeeping for our business as well as the Idaho and Montana Simmental Associations, and our Bulls of the Big Sky Sale group. So, unfortunately I have to sit behind the computer quite a bit as well.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? Agriculture has shaped my life from the beginning. My parents had cattle since they were married. They also farmed hay and grains on a small basis and also were involved with the nursery industry for a while. I started 4-H as soon as possible with market steer and horse projects. When I was in high school I was selected to attend the ACT (Advancement for the Cattleman of Tomorrow) Program sponsored by the University of Idaho. After touring Idaho and seeing all of the possibilities and potential with agriculture, I knew I had no intentions of leaving it.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? Lots of people have inspired me and many have and do serve as mentors. In the beginning it was a family friend who drug me all across the country to cattle shows. She got me hooked on showing beyond the county level and being an important part of our breed association. All she ever asked is that I would do the same for someone sometime (I have since then hauled her granddaughters and several other kids a great many miles). Dr. Carl Hunt, retired Beef Nutrition Professor at U of I certainly inspired me to think “outside the box” whether it be for feeding/nutrition or profitability or general beef management. Marty Ropp with Allied Genetic Resources has mentored us into developing a pretty strong and competitive herd of Simmental cattle, which we sell to commercial cattlemen at our bull sale.

How do you provide encouragement to others? Providing encouragement to others???  My husband might say I yell really loud… but I try not to use that technique first. Especially with kids I try to help them achieve their goals by providing advice, pointing them to the right resources, and build their confidence as we go. I usually try to show them how to do something and then make them do it-—with supervision. It helps build their confidence and it teaches them to try new things. They usually end by saying, “that wasn’t so hard” or “that was really cool.”

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? My message about the agriculture and beef industry is…it is SAFE, DELICIOUS and NUTRITIOUS. The farmers and ranchers of the U.S. get up early and stay up late to take care of their animals and crops to make a safe and delicious product for our consumers. It is often a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, on call job to keep animals safe and harvest crops before bad weather. The dedicated 2 percent of the population commits their lives to put a safe product on the table for the other 98 percent.

What are you most thankful for? I am most thankful for my family and the ability to live the life we do. We work hard but it is so exciting every spring to see a new year of baby calves hit the ground and see if all of last year’s plans worked. I love the early mornings of spring when the green grass pops up as you go out to feed the cows. It is exciting to start the harvest to see how the crops do that you’ve watched grow all summer. Most of all my son gets to experience all these joys as well.

What is you favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? Cooking isn’t my favorite thing to do but it seems to be essential. My favorite quick dish and family favorite is the Black Bean Tamale Pie—it has a corn bread/sour cream crust with hamburger, black beans, corn and taco/fajita seasoning inside. It was a “Beef It’s Whats For Dinner” contest winner years ago.  If company is coming over though I do love to BBQ a good Tri-Tip and some sort of high-calorie loaded potatoes.

What is the first thing you do when you walk into a grocery store? The first thing I do when I walk into the grocery store is…remember I left my list at home!

What is your favorite childhood memory? My favorite childhood memories are usually related to horses and riding around the neighborhood with my friends. On our adventures we would stop and pick flowers for our moms—which were really weeds, but at the time we didn’t know that!

What is your favorite store to shop in? Favorite store to shop in is Costco and a Big R or D&B. If they don’t have it, we probably don’t really need it!

What is something people might be surprised to know about you? We put up and delivered small bales to the local horse market before we moved to the big 3x4x8’ bales and entered the export market—some of our hay has gone to Korea, Japan (to feed their dairy cows and race horses), and Saudi Arabia (to feed their camels). We continue to custom bale thousands of tons of hay and straw each year.

What are a few of your hobbies? In our spare time, I enjoy boating with family on Lake Pend Oreille, riding our horses, attending to my yard of flowers, and snow skiing.

You can reach out to Maureen by emailing her at rymocattle@gmail.com.

Diana Graning was raised on northcentral Idaho’s Camas Prairie. A graduate of the University of Idaho, Diana majored in Animal Science Production, putting her degree to work as a Feed Consultant for a local Ag Co-Op. Recently Diana made the decision to leave her job, so she could focus on her family and their cows. Diana and her husband, Cody, have a little girl named Mesa Rose, and are expecting another little girl arriving at the end of January!

How are you involved in agriculture today? My family and I ranch, as well as operate our own custom spraying and fertilizer business, specifically for crop fields.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? My life has been shaped positively by agriculture in the way of learning core life values such as work ethic, treating others and animals fairly and the value of a dollar.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? I’m inspired by all women in agriculture!

How do you provide encouragement to others? I love sending cards in the mail, or utilizing social media to share a quick message to someone I’m thinking about.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? I would most like to share the message that as rancher, we treat our animals the very best we can, not only because of financial impact, but because care for all ranch/farm animals. There is so much misconstrued information about livestock coming from “factories” i.e. “Factory farms.” This is nothing even remotely similar between a farm/ranch and a factory. I think this is one of the common myths that bothers me the most.

What are you most thankful for? I am very thankful that I was born and raised in agriculture! I’m even more thankful for the opportunity to continue living this lifestyle and to be able to raise my children the same way I was brought up!

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? Anyone in my house knows that answer would be spaghetti! It’s easy to make, especially in large quantities, and we never seem to get tired of it.

What are a few of your guilty pleasures? Although I don’t get to watch a lot of TV, I have to say when given the choice to something completely on my own time, especially if its dark outside I really enjoy a good TV show series or a movie. Some of my favorites are Big Bang Theory, Brady Bunch and movies are of course any horse show (Seabiscuit, Secretariat…love them all), Ms. Congeniality or most all Sandra Bullock movies.

What’s your favorite store to shop in? Any farm/ranch store that has TACK! I also enjoy Old Navy for clothes shopping for the family. It’s inexpensive, offers simple styles, and good quality.

What’s the first thing you do when to get to the grocery store? Well first thing is to grab a cart and check my list if I didn’t leave it at home or in the pickup. My favorite isle is the laundry soap isle. It just smells SO good!

Be sure to stay in touch with Diana on Facebook!

Day 4: Women in Ag: Julie Kerner
Day 3: Women in Ag: Megan Satterwhite
Day 2: Women in Ag: Celia Gould
Day 1: Women in Ag: Robin Lufkin

Julie and her family own a cow-calf, yearling operation and custom feedlot in southwest Idaho. She and her husband were raised on livestock ranches and their industry roots run deep. Their children have been very active and involved in the ranch and feedlot, and are developing their own herds of quality cattle. Julie enjoys read and playing the organ at church.

How are you involved in agriculture today? I am a partner with my husband, Bruce, in our family operation, Kerner Cattle Company. Day-to-day tasks include bookwork, riding pens and cattle care, phone calls and more phone calls. It also involves daily discussions about cattle and our family. Our lives center on faith, family and the land and cattle we care for. In our community, we strive to show our neighbors what “good stewards” are, in the tangible sense. We work with the 4-H & FFA groups during weigh-in, offering our scales and chute so the kid’s animals are vaccinated and tagged correctly. We stay active in our Weiser River Cattle Association, working on local and state issues. We also work on Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) principals with our family and employees.

How has your life been shaped by agriculture? One of my earliest memories is sitting on the back of a Hereford bull in a stall of my family’s barn. Born and raised on a registered Hereford ranch, I was always in the barn with my Dad and Granddad. I loved being around cattle. I became active in the Jr. Hereford Association, which allowed me to see cattle across the nation and fuel my passion to be involved in the cattle industry at a young age. With a degree in Animal Science from the University of Idaho, I continued working in the livestock and allied industries. As our family and Kerner Cattle Company grew, I was able to become a full time “ranch wife.” This has allowed Bruce & I to raise our children in ranching and has continuously taught them life lessons tied to agriculture.

Who inspires you or serves as a mentor? My mentors were my grandmothers and their quiet strength in their family operations. These women never complained about hardships, but relied on their faith and competence in difficult times. They found joy in ranch and farm life.

How do you provide encouragement to others? I hope a daily positive attitude is evident to others. I hope I truly listen to others and respond with care and concern.

If given the chance, what message about agriculture or the beef industry would you share with a large group of people? The necessity of family ranches. We have many people comment on the work ethic of our children, which we can directly tie to working with cattle and the land. These ideas are antiquated in modern culture, but are still recognized as positive. I would hope to share that ranching is a “serving” industry; our mission is to feed a growing hungry world and we do that by the ranch values of caring for others and our livestock. It goes back to living The Golden Rule.

What are you most thankful for?  A life lived with family, cattle and land.

What is your favorite meal to cook yourself or for others? An old Idaho CowBelles recipe, Chinese Whisky Steak. I usually add a side Sides of ranch potatoes, Rosemary Rolls (from The Pioneer Woman), green salad and Texas Sheet Cake for dessert! Wins them over every time!

What is the first thing you do when you walk into a grocery store? Look at my list!

What is your favorite childhood memory? Helping feed the sale bulls in our old barn. All the rations were hand-mixed and bunk fed as we halter-broke the bulls to come to the bunk.  You learned to judge their temperaments and gain their trust. Those hours around the bulls taught me to “read” cattle. Not paying attention garnished a few bruises from being kicked!  The radio was always on KSRV and everything had to be quiet when the market report came on!

What are some of your favorite pastimes and/or hobbies?  I love college football! My favorite season is fall, so we can watch the race to the championship. I love all kinds of music—Big Band, Dean Martin, Classical, Irish, Red Dirt, Classic Country and George Strait, so an hour at the piano with no interruptions and all my music books is a treat!

Be sure to connect with Julie on Facebook!

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.

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.

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.