Pioneering Agricultural Journey:
From South Dakota Angus Ranching to Florida Grass-Fed Cattle Farming
Wagons East!
I bet my and my husband’s ancestors never thought that all the sacrifices that they made to move their families West to homestead in new lands and to farm and ranch would ever think that their progeny would load their belongings to travel 2,200 miles back East. I guess you could call us pioneers in that we don’t meet very many other people in agriculture that leave their roots to start over in a whole new area. All of us have a history, though, and all of our ancestors at some point had to make huge changes just like us, either coming from another country or struggling to survive in a tough environment.
We knew that what we had been doing with maintaining a registered Angus herd and having a longstanding annual bull sale, wasn’t going to work in Florida. But, we also knew that ranching was all that we wanted to do. By the grace of God, we found a place that we were able to buy to start a new cattle program with the idea that we could get them to be more efficient and produce a better quality grass-fed meat product. We have learned a lot in a short 5 years of what works and what doesn’t work in the Everglades with cattle. And we will continue to learn as long as we live. I heard a saying once that “when you stop learning, you stop living”.
I have been involved in agriculture to some extent since I was born. I grew up in Northern Nevada and spent my summers with my Grandpa on his cattle ranch in Eastern Idaho (50 miles from West Yellowstone). I did all the ag clubs that I could in High School and College and represented the University of Idaho as Ag Ambassador for the College of Ag. All I ever wanted to do was be involved in agriculture. After college, I was hired by Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva) as a Range & Pasture Rep for Florida and was a part of the research team to help get Milestone herbicide registered with the EPA. Working for Dow gave me the opportunity to move back to Idaho to be the Telone Fumigant Specialist. After several years in Idaho, I had the opportunity to go work for Valley Agronomics, a large and growing agronomy cooperative, as the Specialty Product Manager. I met my future husband in 2011 in South Dakota at a friend’s ranch and then my life took a new direction. I moved to South Dakota and helped the small CBH Co-op start their agronomy business by cooperating with a family-owned feed & seed business. I have had some wonderful opportunities to do some challenging and fun jobs in agriculture.
After trying to stay on the family place in South Dakota and not being able to find a good solution to stay, our new adventure began in Florida in the fall of 2019 on a ranch near Immokalee. We are raising cattle and kids at this time and always exploring ideas of what else we can do to be better stewards of the land and find new ways to grow our business. I have started my own business called Ranching for Infinity based on using the Infinite Banking Concept and life insurance as your banking vessel. And I work for the University of Florida in Extension as the Biological Scientist for the Commercial Vegetable Agent.
I’m passionate about the importance of agriculture and protecting our lands for our legacy which is our children and our children’s children. Making the decision to be in agriculture has never been an easy one, but it is rewarding in so many ways. I think Green Jean Foundation will be a great resource for young people interested in knowing more about agriculture and seeing that it’s a rewarding career choice.
Meghan Foos: I’m a lifetime and career agriculturalist from production to sales to education. Currently, a beef cattle ranch owner with my husband, Bryce, in Immokalee, Florida. And working for the University of Florida Extension as a Biological Scientist for the Commercial Vegetable Agent and maintaining my Ranching for Infinity business. I’m just trying to do all I can to protect agriculture and build a legacy for my family.