Family Life on the Ranch

on the Ranch

Sage DuBois Photography

Agriculture Provides nourishing setting for blended families

WRITTEN BY REBECCA COLNAR PHOTOS BY SAGE DUBOIS PHOTOGRAPHY AND CANDACE WEEDA STROBBE

Blended families are continually becoming commonplace, and agriculture provides an encouraging environment for families learning to spend time together. That’s what Candace Weeda Strobbe learned when she married a rancher from Cascade, MT, who already had a daughter. Candace was raised on a diversified farm (cattle, corn, soybeans, hay) in southern Iowa and received two undergraduate degrees in agricultural communications/journalism and agricultural economics from Kansas State University. After exploring the corporate agriculture industry, Candace discovered her heart was back in rural America. So, she moved to South Texas to earn an advanced degree at the King Ranch Institute (Texas) for Ranch Management. Then Candace headed north to Montana for a job interview and instead of a ranch management gig, she found her future husband, local rancher Chet Strobbe.

“That was 2018 and I essentially went from one border to the other,” said Candace. “Now I’m near Cascade where we lease/manage a ranch, own our own cows, take in yearlings and have a custom haying business.”

When she married Chet, she gained a daughter, Royce, who is now 11. “People focus on moms, dads and grandparents, but being a stepparent is a whole different ball of wax, and provides a unique challenge. You’re tasked with essentially fostering a relationship with a child who is not your blood, but whom you love dearly. Bonus parents as I like to call us, as a whole, don’t get a lot of praise or appreciation. There is a lot of negativity and misplaced judgement, but I constantly try to push that aside. Ultimately what matters is connecting in a loving, meaningful way with the child.”

Fortunately, Royce loves the ranch. Although Chet and Candace work seven days a week, when Royce is there the couple strives for a balance of work and play. “We have a lot of cattle on feed in the winter months, so we just can’t take off for the weekend to go ski and leave the cattle. Having animals to care for teaches responsibility at a young age, and it’s not all fun and games,” said Candace.

Candace learned from her rural upbringing how to get creative for fun. “For example, after we feed our cattle in the winter, sometimes we

Photos by Candace Weeda Strobbe

“ranch ski” (pull a skier with our four-wheeler) or go sledding. In summer months, we’ll take innertubes down to float in the irrigation ditch. It’s important to make fun memories. For us, it’s not about getting our nails done or going to the mall, but appreciating the simple things in life. It is important to teach kids we don’t have to be fancy, spend a bunch of money or go somewhere special in order to have good, old-fashioned fun.”

The “new mom” admits the great thing about raising kids in an agriculture setting is the time spent outdoors with animals. “We parent very differently than modern society. Ranch kids aren’t sitting on their phones or staring at a computer screen all day. Hands down the best quality time we have as a family is when we are off the grid with no cell reception, immersed in nature with our horses, dogs and cattle. We’re old-school, and so the ranching and rural lifestyle is raising kids in a meaningful and nourishing way.”

Candace promotes agriculture and caring for the land. “Grazing animals have been a part of the landscape forever. Animals are here to eat, fertilize, trample the land and move on. Even though there aren’t huge grazing herds of bison and other wild animals everywhere today, it’s important we (ranchers) mimic nature with forage being grown and grazed off. When that doesn’t happen, we risk having massive wildfires because there is a heavy amount of fuel load (dry grasses) that hasn’t been eaten. Rangelands are, in general, less healthy if they sit stagnant with no animal impact.” Along with decreasing the threat of fire, Candace explains that cattle take low-quality forages and upcycle those grasses to human food and other products.

“The superpower of cows is taking crummy grass and upcycling that into protein-packed beef. Cattle were recyclers before recycling was cool. We are passionate about quality livestock and taking care of the land, and when it’s done correctly, those two practices go hand in hand.”

Rebecca Colnar is Director of Public Relations for Montana Farm Bureau and a freelance writer from Custer, Montana.