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The Age of the Microbrewery
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82801 Features
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Ag: From Field to Fork With the average age of the American farmer at 58.3, and a projected global population of 9 billion by 2050, the agriculture industry has ... a bit of a problem. But it’s not what you think.
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Life: The Age of the Microbrewery
Culture: The Coal Camps of Sheridan County
Culture Cont.: Ghost Tales
In a conversation with Kevin, Black Tooth Brewmaster Cooley Butler says his brewery is doing their best to help Sheridan to establish a strong microbrewery culture — where local is better.
In an article first penned for WyoHistory.org, Kevin talks about coal mining’s vital influence on the development of Sheridan County, despite the more popular, perceived image of Sheridan as merely a “cowboy” town.
In this extension of Kevin’s coal camps piece, he teams with new 82801 contributor TJ Parks to tell a slightly haunted tale of the Sheridan Inn’s resident ghost: the perfume-wearing, rose-loving, cigarsmoking Miss Kate.
JUNE / JULY 2018
Coming Home: Raising Families and Businesses yoming has always been a topnotch place to raise a family. As a kid, it’s not something you really think about. I received a high-quality education, ran around in relative safety, and had exposure to quality art and cultural programs. Of course, I naively assumed it was like that for everyone. We always had the newest text books, up-to-date technology, and clean, wellmaintained facilities. It wasn’t until I had moved out of state and had a child of my own that I came to truly appreciate growing up in Wyoming and the opportunities that were available to me thanks to our state’s historically strong economy. To me, this stresses the importance of diversification in ensuring a future for our kids in Wyoming. Sheridan has long been a retirement destination. Nestled at the base of the Bighorns,
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“The Cowboy State’s Coolest Small Town” offers picturesque views, a myriad of outdoor activities like golfing, hiking, fly fishing, and a vibrant and historic downtown. Being an attractive place to retire gives Sheridan an extra economic boost. Luckily, the amenities that are attractive to retirees also capture the interest of young families looking for steady work and a community that nurtures them. This issue dives into Sheridan’s rich history along with its growing and diversifying economy. We sit down with Cooley Butler of Black Tooth Brewery who made the decision to come home to Sheridan to build his business and discuss how the microbrewery culture is an untapped opportunity for Sheridan to grow, diversify, and make it more attractive for young families. Ron Kensey, owner of Kennon Products, Inc., gives us the scoop on what manufacturing brings to Sheridan, highlighting the community’s
recent remarkable win in attracting firearms manufacturer Weatherby, and the role of Sheridan College in providing a skilled and trained pool of potential employees, in addition to the outdoor living amenities Sheridan is famous for. Sometimes it takes leaving a place to realize how special it is. I am incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to bring my daughter “home” after seeing Wyoming through fresh eyes, and it seems others are following suit. Hey kids, Wyoming is waiting for you with arms wide open! By: Candice E. Schlautmann for 82801
ON THE COVER Whitney Benefits grant Sheridan College over $11,000,000 to support academic programs in areas like agriculture, computer science, diesel technology, machine tool technology, and welding technology, which represent potential growth areas and align with regional economic development priorities. Pictured: Sheridan College Technical Center. Photo courtesy of Claire Barnes, Sheridan College. Photo credit to Dennis Jacobs, Sheridan College.
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Quality & Quantity What Manufacturing Brings to Sheridan
on Kensey, owner of Kennon Products Inc. said of two visitors to his facility last year, “We had no idea who these people were.” “A couple of questions came up like, “What do you like most about Sheridan, Wyoming?” One tech said, “Well, what I like most is that, at lunchtime, I can go pheasant hunting and be back within the hour.” Now, Kensey and all of his employees are well aware that the couple were Adam and Brenda Weatherby, owners of the iconic Weatherby Inc. “We got off the plane here,” Adam Weatherby said in April at the groundbreaking for their new facility, “and birds were chirping, and the turkeys were running around, and the snowcapped Bighorn mountains were in the background, and it was amazing.” Weatherby, Inc. had chosen, quite enthusiastically, to relocate their corporate headquarters and manufacturing operation to Sheridan. A few weeks later, 100 years to the day after E.A. Whitney passed away, Whitney Benefits held a celebration in the Sheridan College Technical
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Center, including the announcement of a gift of $11,369,000 to Sheridan College. Included in the gift is support for academic areas including agriculture, computer science, diesel technology, fine and performing arts, machine tool technology, music, nursing, and welding technology. These programs were all selected as potential growth areas and align with regional economic development priorities. Also included is support for marketing and recruitment and the creation of a student success program modeled from the current TRIO program at Sheridan college. This program will improve student persistence and completion by utilizing a contemporary mentoring model that goes beyond traditional advising to include comprehensive service, from selecting a career path through acquiring the first job upon completion. Over the last decade alone, Whitney Benefits has contributed $72.5 million in support to Sheridan College. The old Technical Center building is in the process of being completely renovated. The finished building will be over 50,000 sq.ft., almost doubling the original space. The welding, machine tooling,
and diesel departments will all receive significant makeovers, each gaining roughly 40 percent more space. Many more classrooms have already been added, as well as “student hangout” areas that are purposefully located near faculty offices. Sheridan College Facilities Director and tour guide Kent Andersen was particularly proud of the welding department’s new training floor. He said his favorite part of the project was watching the students get excited about the new equipment. He also said that Weatherby Inc. was very impressed with the machine shop when they visited Sheridan in the process of deciding where they would like to relocate. Anderson explained that, with classes still happening in the building, phasing the project has been complex, and some construction will continue after graduation. Sheridan College President Dr. Paul Young made some introductory remarks, recalling the “horrible day” in August of 2013 when a bond measure that would have funded construction was voted down. “The Tech Center was always a priority,” Young said. “Sheridan never gives up, we just find another way.” JUNE / JULY 2018
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Young praised the construction being done and issued a challenge for anyone to define where the old building ends and the new one begins. However, Dr. Young said, “…the most important thing is not visible in the facilities.” He highlighted the ambitions of Governor Mead’s recent Executive Order on Educational Attainment: 67% of adults with a college degree by 2025, and 82 percent by 2040. “The days of saying ‘high school is enough’ are over,” Dr. Young said, “and in Wyoming I hear that a lot.” He pointed out that, last year, Sheridan College appeared on the Aspen Institute’s list of the top 150 colleges in the nation, the only one in Wyoming to do so. According to the Aspen Institute, colleges are assessed for exceptional student outcomes in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion (including of a bachelor’s degree after transfer), employment and earnings, and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students. Dr. Young credited Whitney Benefits for Sheridan College’s distinctive excellence. Dr. Young then introduced Whitney Benefits board president, Tom Kinnison who, in turn, asked all former and current Whitney trustees and staff to come forward for recognition. Kinnison said that we, as a community, have a unique asset in Sheridan College. He explained that, if you graduate from Sheridan college, you’ll get a no interest loan plus $16,000 for college. He also highlighted the funding challenges the college faces by showing a chart of funds provided from mill revenue, which shows a steep decline in recent decades due to the collapse of the local coalbed methane industry.
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The Whitney Grant, referred to as a secondcentury legacy gift, will add 18 full-time positions, and one part-time position. “Sheridan is at a turning point,” Kinnison said, but he has two concerns: housing and workforce development. “Sheridan College is not going to be a star of Wyoming,” Kinnison said. “It’s going to be a star of the entire region.” Ron Kensey has known Sheridan was the right place for his manufacturing business since he moved here from California in 1989. “It was a good move then, and I think it’s a very wise move for Weatherby to move to Sheridan, Wyoming 29 years later,” Kensey said. “It’s an even more positive thing for them to do. It’s tough doing business in the state of California.” Kensey said that finding a good workforce, “… is an issue wherever you are, but Sheridan has a wonderful workforce and certainly Sheridan College helps us a great deal.” Kensey says it is common for them to hire students from the machine-tool technology program. “That’s important to us. We’re an innovation company,” he said. “We reinvent the old and manufacture the new for the Department of Defense, Lockheed, Sikorsky Helicopter, General Dynamics, and others. We employ 50 people or more. A third of our team are engineers or design technicians. They use 3-D modeling and 3-D printing. Those are the skills that are offered in the machine-tool tech program.” The fact that Weatherby is coming to town means that the program will sustain itself and probably grow in the future. “At Kennon, we always
look at it as: We’re going to be competing for the very best from that program,” he said. “The program will obviously grow in the number of students, but the quality students are already there. I always say that we keep people who can work with their brains and their hands. That’s really what they’re putting out in that program and we’re very pleased”. Kennon has one intern and one full-time employee from the machine tooling technology program who traveled to the national Skills USA competition with Jed Jensen, dean of Career & Technical Education. “We have students at Vacutech,” Jensen said. “We have students at Emit, we have students that are at Craftco. Students that come out of there go to a variety of local industries, some of the ones that I mentioned or L&H (Industrial), and we have students that come out and go to mines.” Access to skilled employees aren’t the only benefit of working with Sheridan College as a manufacturer. Kensey shared, “We also collaborate on projects using some of their equipment to do testing that we need to do in order to improve product lines or innovate in the way that we do. So that’s really important too.” According to Kensey, investment in the manufacturing sector returns eight times its value. When Weatherby moves here, there will be another UPS, and maybe another FedEx, route added and another driver, for example. “My point is that you get extra drivers, you get extra trucks,” Kensey explained. “In the local supply chain, we have plumbers and electricians, or things that we do in order to keep us in operation. We export product out of the state and we bring money in to the local economy. That’s what manufacturers do. We’re not just recycling the same money. Besides jobs, were contributing to the other things that make the community a great place to live and work.” The students attending technical programs can be so attractive to employers that Jensen said almost all of them are employed before they graduate. “But most of the employers that they work with understand the value of finishing,” he added. “So, they will say to the students, ‘Dear student, we want to hire you and, as soon as you’re finished, we’ll take you.’” “We have had a couple of employers, out of town employers, in the past that would come in and take students before they are finished,” Jensen
lamented. “You know, two weeks before graduation. I will tell you quite frankly that I don’t talk to those people anymore. So, the local employers all, in my opinion, they all know and understand the value of completing the program and, while they’ll hire them before they finish, they don’t take them until after they finish. By the way, I really appreciate that from the employers that do that.” Jensen said the majority of students in technical programs are from Sheridan County, but they do get students from around the state, a few from South Dakota, a few from North Dakota, and a few from other parts of Montana. All of the tech programs are structured in the same way. One-year certificate programs are offered within each of them, “But we really encourage the students to stay for two years to get their associates degree,” Jensen said. “When they complete their degree, we like to tell employers that they’re ready for entry-level positions.” Students wishing to continue their education after two years can transfer the majority of their credits to the Bachelor of Applied Science program at UW. “Not many do,” Jensen clarified, “Most of them, when they come into the tech program, they’re really seeking to go into the tech program, and then go to work afterwards.”
In Jensen’s six years as dean of Career & Technical Education, he feels that the college has had solid partnerships with employers. “We always try to work with the local employers to find out what they need,” he said, “what skills they need, what they’d like us to do for students and, within the bounds that we can, we try to meet those needs.” Some of the Whitney funds will go to salaries for instructors. “The expansion does give us the ability to put more (welding bays) in,” Jensen said. “We have space to do that, and we are in the process of hiring an additional instructor so that we will be able to have classes more times during the week than we have been able to do previously.” Technical programs are full for this fall, with some hopeful students on a waiting list. “So, we’re doing what we can,” Jensen said. “I’m trying to hire a welding instructor right now. Tech instructors are very hard to come by, I’m trying to hire someone so that we can take more students and not turn anybody away.” The cold truth, Jensen said, is that, “The education world pays less than the industrial world. There’s trade-offs to both. In the tech world you need to find someone who knows and understands whatever that particular process is, whether it’s welding or machining… not only knows and understands that but has a desire and an ability to teach it.” Jensen said it takes a special kind of person to teach technical skills. “It’s no secret most of my instructors could walk out of the college and walk across the street (not quite literally) back into industry and get a good-size raise. So, people have reasons for wanting to do whichever career they’re doing, but it can be a challenge.” Regardless, Sheridan’s newest manufacturer was convinced to move here based in no small part on Sheridan College’s technical programs. “A year and a half ago when Weatherby was looking to relocate someplace,” Jensen said, “the two owners, Adam and Brenda Weatherby, came to Sheridan and we met with them… Part of that was we took a tour of machine tooling and looked at what we do there and the capabilities we have to train people. My belief is that they were impressed with that, impressed with what we can do to train
potential employees, and that made a difference in their decision where to relocate." “We didn’t know exactly who Adam and Brenda were when they visited Kennon,” Kensey said. When the Kennon tech related to the Weatherbys that he could go pheasant hunting during his lunch break, it certainly seemed to strike the right chord with them. “I think that was one of the things that probably helped sell Sheridan to Adam and Brenda, because I think that was the lifestyle that they were looking for too and, coincidentally, it had to do with hunting.” The Weatherbys also asked Kennon employees about housing in Sheridan and one of them replied, “You know, you may have to pay a little bit more to live here in Sheridan, Wyoming but all the features of the community make it worthwhile.” “You can see, by looking around, that the housing starts are up in Sheridan dramatically,” Kensey said. “So, as more houses are put on the market, their prices might stabilize and there will be more available.” Kensey, in his capacity as a Wyoming Business Council board member, visited Alpine, Wyoming, where they’re building 1,800 to 2,200 square-foot homes but share in-common areas like the pathways and the landscaping. They share that area and it’s maintained for them, so they can spend more time out doing what they want in the mountains recreationally. “I think some of that’s coming to Sheridan,” Kensey said. “I think that would make housing a little bit more affordable, especially for the people that are starting out.” “We have no problem recruiting these people to the Sheridan, Wyoming, area,” Kensey continued, “as long as they know our area. So, we recruit from the University of Wyoming or Montana State… People who’ve grown up or lived in Montana or Wyoming know why they want to move to Sheridan, Wyoming. The recreational opportunities and many other things that we’ve got going for us. The skating rink, the YMCA, the library, the theater, Main Street. Wow! It’s just a great place to live. I think that Sheridan is a great place to raise a family, and a great place to raise a business.” By: Kevin M. Knapp for 82801
Thomas D. Kinnison passed away Sunday, July 1, 2018. His efforts on behalf of the Whitney Benefits board will forever be remembered. JUNE / JULY 2018
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The Age of the Microbrewery
A Conversation with Cooley Butler heridan has two great, and very different, breweries. Black Tooth Brewery is the second largest distributor in the Rocky Mountain region, but still maintains a strong local following and hometown charm. A few blocks away, Luminous Brewhouse has the feel of a village tavern. Their distribution isn’t as wide as Black Tooth’s, and they are more focused on the hyper-local beer scene. Now, these establishments will be joined by a third local brewhouse, Sheridan Brewing Company. This
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upcoming addition has some people asking whether Sheridan can support another brewery. Kevin Knapp of 82801 sat down with Cooley Butler, owner of Luminous Brewhouse to get his perspective. 82801: Why did you decide to open a brewery in Sheridan? Cooley: Seth (Orr) lived just outside of Cottage Grove, Oregon, a similar town to Sheridan. There were no microbreweries at all. We were really close to actually landing a location there. An anonymous party just hopped in and bought it out
from underneath us because it was an owner-finance kind of thing. Anyway, that just made us rethink because a few months earlier we were thinking, “Well, there’s already an established culture out there and there’s no microbrewery in Cottage Grove.” But here in Sheridan we’ve got family roots. Almost like it’ll be more of a challenge to develop something here because it is still a new thing. But once it becomes more and more developed, hopefully it will reap better rewards through the battle of going through all that. JUNE / JULY 2018
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Because in Oregon, the culture’s already there. There would’ve been some minor shifts in the culture in Cottage Grove. Here it’s been a really tough time to shift the culture, and it’s been a lot of persistence, but it’s nice to be getting there. I mean, geez, I don’t even know the number of microbreweries in Oregon but it’s in the hundreds. I think we’ve got 27 or 29 in Wyoming. 82801: Sheridan Brewery is a name with some local history, right? Cooley: Sheridan Brewing Co. bought the trademark rights from Steve Kuzara. He offered that to us a couple years ago. Sheridan Brewing Company was a well-known brand. It has a unique history and it means a lot to Sheridan. We thought about adding that in or working in collaboration on that, but it was almost too late to do it because the Luminous name was established. It was last winter when he approached us again with it, (being really secretive through the DSA) it was like “yeah it’s a really cool name.” If it was at the very start of it then we probably would’ve used that name because that’s a really cool concept that has a lot of familiarity, a lot of emotional connections. 82801: I hear they are recreating a recipe from the original Sheridan Brewery. Cooley: The difficult thing is that Sheridan Brewing Company, historically, was a lager style beer. So, usually that takes at least 35 days to ferment. The reason why most microbreweries are focusing on ales is because it’s a five to seven-day turnaround in fermenting. Some of them, you only need three or four. That’s where lagers, typically Budweiser, you know, Coors, that’s why they’ve got those massive vats. That occupies that vat for around 30+ days. Our average fermentation is six days here. We’re able to cycle through so we don’t need to purchase huge vats to do that. We were talking to Steve to try and get a very similar brew, you can do a Pilsner style ale that tastes a lot like what a lager would taste. But that just never moved forward after that. 82801: Are you worried about another brewery coming into Sheridan? Cooley: You know I’m kind of excited for them. I’d like to know more information on how they’re going to operate. What I’ve heard is they’re going to be kind of a brewpub. I don’t know if they’re going to have other companies’ beers. Most restaurants should probably have Budweiser, Coors…
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It’ll sting a little bit to lose five or 10 handles in Sheridan, but that’s only if they intend on distributing and distributing pretty hard. I think that I would be more concerned if it were happening this time last year where we had six months under our belt being here, still just trying to figure out how to make things work. I went and talked to Carol, who manages Star Liquor, and asked her just her ballpark guess on the percentage of microbrews versus macrobrews, the big domestic ones, out of everything they sell through their retail store. She said that out of everything they sell (just ballpark) between 17 and 18 percent of it is microbrews. And that goes from small companies like us up to New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada, so it’s the broad spectrum of small, medium, large and really large microbreweries. There’s two different ways you can look at beer consumption in Sheridan. The negative way to look at it is, “Geez, will Sheridan be able to support a third microbrewery?” We’ve thought a lot about that too, but if it’s somewhere between 15 and 20 percent that favors microbrewery beer, there’s still 80 percent remainder of beer consumption that’s out there. So, I see a lot more potential. You know,
it may be a little bit of a slowdown for us. But we’ve been collaborating and working together with Black Tooth. Conceptually, larger domestic manufacturers would love it if microbreweries were bickering between themselves. Black Tooth’s goal is to be a regional brewery, to have a large span of regional space. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to focus more locally, but also, we’ve tried to tackle several other things that a lot of other microbreweries haven’t. Fundraiser events, music events, family-friendly events. We’ve got a lot of things that we want to push here that Black Tooth hasn’t been. I know nobody can catch up with the music scene we’ve got going on. If you’re a restaurant it’s way more difficult to host a fundraising event or show movies. There’s so many things that we’re able to do with this open space. I think with the local support and stuff that we’re doing, we’ve been flexible to the point that we can work around anything. We’re pretty comfortable with all the accounts we have in Sheridan and now we’re working on Gillette and then we’re going to start working on Casper. We’re working with a couple distributors to help facilitate that for us.
We have to be a little bit creative. Black Tooth has done really well at tackling the big events. They’ve gotten to the point where, essentially, they’re two to three years ahead of where we are. I don’t want to copy or duplicate anything that they do but we’re trying to tackle some other stuff or help start other stuff.
Competition helps to keep us in check. It ensures that we do our best to produce a quality product and good customer service. It develops a subset culture of people who start to get a little bit serious about the beer that they taste. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a person take a sip of Bud Light and
We’re comfortable and we’ve got our ducks enough in a row internally to be able to start thinking about doing some events outside and shutting down First Street. A lot of our stuff is more focused on music. Laramie’s had a singersongwriter competition for, I think, the last five years and they’re thinking about expanding it, so they contacted us. It’s the third and fourth weekend in August. Depending on how many people come, that’ll be two Friday nights just full of music. And they’re trying to offer an amazing package. So, I guess that that’s how I’m looking at a third microbrewery. Because we were a little bit leery to start a second microbrewery, but we’ve done pretty well, and we continue to grow outside of what Black Tooth is already doing. 82801: Do you think there is a microbrewery culture developing? Cooley: Fort Collins is more than flush with microbreweries. They’ve got big ones, it’s no joke. And that town started out with just one. I guess I’m probably ever the optimist because we can always work around something.
say, “Mmm... a citrus taste.” That’s what we get a lot of the time at the bar, there is an abundance of flavors, it’s not just a plain jane lager. Nothing against Bud Light, and I’ve had more than my fair share, but it’s just old and worn out. There’s a behind-the-scenes game going on between large domestic breweries and microbreweries. InBev is the biggest one that’s been well-known for buying dominant microbreweries because they can’t compete with the flavor, they can’t compete with the variety, they can’t compete with the growing culture. But they do, in fact, have the capital to buy them out. The Brewers Association created something you can post and use on all of your cans and bottles and doors. It’s an upside-down bottle that says, “Independent Crafter.” So, you can have investors, but it’s a way to identify that you’re not sold, you’re not bought out, you’re still an independent brewer. Microbreweries, it’s almost grown into its own little cult following. For me, when my family travels, it’s like, “We can go to McDonald’s at home.” We don’t go to all the franchise places. When
we’re getting hungry and we’re about an hour out of town, we hop on our phones and see if there’s a family-friendly brewpub. You know it’s kind of tough to find a microbrewery that just serves beer. We normally scout for brewpubs or restaurants that feature microbrewery beers. So that’s how we changed the way we travel, especially if it’s our final destination. We used to like franchises, we used to like the Olive Garden, we used to like Chili’s, we used to like all that. But we shifted away from that because it’s like Budweiser as far as beer goes. It’s plain jane. It’s OK. It’s like the farmers market, trying to source a lot of locally-grown stuff. We’ve gone from a century or century-and-a-half ago where everything was predominately localized because there was no refrigeration, no mass agricultural companies. I think a lot of people are starting to understand that we’ve grown too big, too fast. And I think it’s getting to the point where, especially as far as food goes, it’s hard to understand if something that you buy as organic is truly organic. It’s also about building a local network where you can make friends and connections. Like here, a good example is music: You have an open mic, and that’s helped start at least four bands that I know of. That’s also cool, where we can see people develop. That’s kind of part of our thought, to be as involved in the community as we can. We focus a lot on the community, and it’s been paying off really well. We rely on the community’s support. But, also, we have a location that lets them come do pretty much whatever they want to do. We’ve hosted anything from baby showers, receptions, we’ve done climbing and skiing movies. Besides us, I don’t know of another place that doesn’t charge for a space. For us it works well because it’s always a little bit of a boost in our business and our revenue for that night. Every company needs revenue, so that’s a no-brainer, but also the focus is to provide a location where we’re wide-open to almost anything that the community wants us to do. A good example is Hood River, Oregon, where it’s had another decade or two as far as microbrewery culture evolving. Hood River has a large footprint. I can’t remember the population of Hood River, but it’s probably far less than Sheridan, maybe 10,000. Besides Full Sail, there’s three other small microbreweries in Hood River. Across the Columbia River, there’s two microbreweries over JUNE / JULY 2018
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there. So, in an area with maybe a total of 15,000 people, there’s one massive microbrewery and five small breweries and they do well. It’s almost the opposite of here, where they make fun of people for drinking Budweiser or Coors or whatever domestic because the culture shifted to where they’re more focused on local and sourcing
of changing the culture… It’s hopefully better for the customers, but we’re kind of chipping away at their comfort zone. We’ve got seven or eight beers that we can sell so we’re being thoughtful on what else we can do. 82801: It seems like distribution of local beers has picked up lately in Wyoming.
they’re not pushing us very hard. So, that’s pretty cool that PK Distributing started. And we have a lot of control and a lot of influence because it was a collaboration between us and Big Lost (Meadery/Brewery) to try to develop something that focuses predominately on microbreweries. There’s a lot of retail
out locally. I think that’s one of those things too, where it’s hopefully shifting in a good way. There’s been no competition, nothing different than just your plain jane bar. We’ve got a dozen or more of those. There’s been nothing different for the last several decades. In order to compete with the bars, we’ve got to make a good product, but we’ve got to be more competitive to have customers come here and stay here. So, that’s why we’re doing music and it’s pushing a lot of other people to do that. We’re kind
Cooley: PK Distributing just started three weeks ago. Their hub is in Gillette. In the distribution network, we’ve been trying really hard to work with established distributors that are normally backed by Bud and Coors. There’s only one that has broken away, Teton, but they’re backed by Pepsi. So, they’ve got this sound revenue to where they don’t really care that much about anything else that’s going on. Philosophically, they like to have us in the portfolio. But of the hundred plus beers they have to choose from,
alcohol stores that want different stuff but the established distributors, they have the same stuff. Big Horn (Distributors), they’ve got a small number of microbreweries, but all the ones they say are microbreweries are Blue Moon or Goose Island, Shock Top — all those that pretend they’re microbreweries, but they’re not. They’ve been bought. There are so many ways we’re trying to shift, and I think it’s in a positive way. Because the angle is that we’re trying to serve customers with
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something different, something higher quality, better customer service. We’re trying to change what’s already been established and comfortable since prohibition ended. Established distributors are already starting to get frustrated with PK three weeks in. They’ve already lost quite a few handles, and it’s growing,
we would be OK. But we’re trying to match and upgrade the quality of the product and push that excellent customer service. I think that’s where we’re gaining recognition and growing. 82801: Do you know how many breweries in the state package their product? Cooley: Black Tooth, Snake River, and
out-of-the-way, but in a massive building. From just the photos, they look to have a really nice canning line. I don’t know if they know how to make beer or they’ll hire established and proven brewers. I don’t know what their plan is. They’re just now, in the last few days, getting their large vessels moved in. So, it’s hard to tell exactly when they’re going to open.
because they have been known for OK customer service. Well, you come in with a company like PK that’s distributing a high-quality variety of beers and excellent customer service… We’ve got several focuses. We have to focus on a good, high-quality product, but the other focus is, if we’ve got the best product in the state but we have crummy customer service, we won’t last. So, we’ve got sustainable policies that were implementing. The opposite would be if we had an OK product, but we had excellent customer service,
actually Wind River. They just came back online. They’re starting to can, and they’re starting to distribute in the western part of the state. Hopefully in the next few weeks, or the next couple months, they will be distributing in Casper and Gillette and, at some point in time, Sheridan too. That’s a quality product. I just saw there’s a really big facility. It’s Gruner Brothers in Casper. I think they’ve got a 30-barrel production facility. They’re up by the Campbell County CAM-PLEX. So, they’re a little bit more
So, I think that’s evolving as far as canning facilities go. But, right now, as far as I’m aware, there are three in Wyoming. And the other thought is there are a few other microbreweries that are small like us, that are trying to figure out if there’s a way to can, using another canning facility, or trying to have a conversation with the Gruner brothers. It was kind of an interesting trip down to Denver to help start PK Distributing. We met with Good River brewing based in Boulder. We met them at Sleeping Giant (Brewing Company), JUNE / JULY 2018
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which they’re just a contractual brewing company. They don’t make their own stuff, so they have Uber (Brew)… That’s probably the only one close by us. That’s what they do. And that was just one of those things, it would be cool to use it as an established place or to collaborate. It wouldn’t have to be all that large, but a contractual brewing Company in Wyoming would be great. We’ve thought quite a bit, it won’t be full time, but our biggest seller, which is Half Speed (Cream Ale-Style Beer); maybe next spring we
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could be doing 15 or 30 barrels of canning to last throughout the summer. That reduces the cost, because just a sufficient canning line is half a million dollars. No small microbrewery really has that available. But if we had a central hub or somebody with the equipment to do it, they could host probably a dozen or more small microbreweries. It’s evolving because Wyoming is such a young state as far as microbreweries go. There’s a lot of established operations in other states. Denver is a good example. They do small and medium
microbrews. That’s where they’re doing really well in the Denver area. Denver has a really absurd number of microbreweries, but they’re really successful. Part of that is because people want more microbrewery beer. If I were to correlate an age for Wyoming’s development, as far as microbreweries go, we’re not even a teenager yet. 82801: How does microbrewery culture tie in with economic diversification? Cooley: Black Tooth has a lot of employees, and they’re capturing a lot of revenue from tourists and people who live outside of Sheridan but come here to go to Walmart or have dinner. We’ve got four full-time employees and seven part-time bartenders. We’re still able to capture a lot of revenue from people who travel through. We’ve got people who pass through once or twice a year, and they’ll get a dozen growlers filled with our chili beer. So, it’s just kind of cool. We’re doing something that’s not energy-oriented. Besides energy, there’s very few other jobs you can have in Wyoming where you can do OK for a family. That’s another reason to start a microbrewery. You have to work really hard and be independent to be OK, but I think the pendulum is starting to shift more in a
positive direction. Hopefully the direction where, over time, you’ll be more able to do more stuff and make it out there. This may take another 25 years. That’s part of the thought for why local is better. Every dollar that is spent here continues to circulate around the Sheridan area. I just looked at a picture of our County Commissioners, and it follows a stereotype: old white guys. One day I hope to be an old white guy, but I hope to carry a different attitude, a
different openness. We’ve lived in a couple of other areas where there’s already established cultures, and where we wanted to be, but we didn’t have the family roots. We didn’t have the friends. We didn’t have the mountains we grew up with and were used to. The other thought was well, “Screw that. Let’s come back to Sheridan and let’s see if we can be a minor part, along with a bunch of other people, to make Sheridan more open, because it’s such a beautiful
“... my thing is making beer.” ~ Cooley Butler, Luminous Brewhouse
place with so many possibilities.” But historically, people graduate, they move out, and they go make money elsewhere. Then they come back about the time that they retire. Unfortunately, there’s a decade — or three — delay in-between. A lot of people are starting to return earlier. There’s a lot of optimism. Two decades ago, it probably wouldn’t even have been feasible. I think that’s what Sheridan needs: A younger attitude, a more open-minded attitude, a more optimistic attitude. I’m 36 and I’m starting to be a curmudgeon already compared to what I used to think. As a brewery, we’re doing our best in our own way to help change Sheridan and develop a microbrewery culture. Along with that is the idea that local is better. It’s about good people and a good community doing good stuff. That’s kind of what I want to work toward having Sheridan be. I guess my thing is making beer. By: Kevin M. Knapp for 82801
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Ghost Tales heridan Inn employee Della Herbst says there isn’t a single employee of the Sheridan Inn who hasn’t had an interaction with Miss Kate. Kate’s the sweet old woman who helps take care of the inn. She loves roses, smokes cigars, and enjoys few scents more than “Evening in Paris” perfume. She also died in 1968. Jim Wilson, who helps to manage the inn, said he still doesn’t know whether there are ghosts or not, but he’s seen many pieces of convincing evidence. “Too many things happened that I saw around other people that makes you wonder, ‘maybe she’s around,’” Wilson said. For Wilson, Kate’s presence has worked its way into his daily routine. Whenever Wilson enters the building at night, he says “Hi Kate, how are you?” When he leaves, he says “Have a good evening, Kate.” Just like any other relationship, Kate and Wilson aren’t always on the best terms. “We went through this building and put in a fantastic fire alarm system,” Wilson said. “There must be 200 alarms in this building that would detect smoke. And every time at certain evening hours on certain days—not every day—the fire alarm would go off.”
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The only alarm that ever went off accidentally hung outside of Kate’s room. The fire department would arrive only to find an empty room, cooled by the moonlight. The incident happened several times, costing Wilson $100 per every fire department visit. Eventually, Wilson couldn’t take it anymore. He went to Kate’s room and voiced his complaint. “I said, ‘C’mon, Kate! Get a life!’” Wilson said. Kate’s fire alarm never went off after that. Many of Kate’s actions are subtle: moving silverware, turning on lights, plugging in a Christmas train— but she’s not afraid to make her presence known. Linda Fauth, an employee at the inn, says she once saw a picture frame defy gravity at the inn— perhaps due to Kate. “On the wall next to the stair were five pictures hanging,” Fauth said. “Well, the one in the middle started swinging back and forth, and did not fall down the wall, which natural gravity does. It came out from the wall and crashed on the floor.” Kate isn’t bashful around newcomers, either. A man who worked at the inn started his employment by proclaiming that ghosts weren’t real and that stories about Kate were just a load of nonsense. Within a few weeks, he approached
Herbst with something to say. “He says, ‘Miss Kate taps me on the shoulder every morning when she comes in and whispers ‘good morning.’’” Herbst said, retelling the employee’s story. “And he says, ‘When I turn around, there’s nobody there.’” “I think she likes me,” the employee concluded. Kate is known by the employees for her sweet nature. Fauth arrived in Sheridan in 1967, which gave Fauth a year to know Kate before she died. “I remember her as a sweet older woman, and you don’t get to be a sweet older woman without being a very sweet young person,” Fauth said. She helped take care of the inn during her life and continues to care for it today, arranging silverware so it looks just right. Because of her sweet and helpful personality, some of the Sheridan Inn staff don’t like calling Kate a “ghost.” “The third graders, when I take them on tour, they would want to know ‘ghost stories’ about Miss Kate,” Fauth said. “And I would say, ‘Ghosts are for the movies. Miss Kate was a spirit, and she’s a wonderful spirit, and she looks out after the inn today.” By: TJ Parks for 82801
The Coal Camps of Sheridan County espite the popular image of Sheridan, Wyoming as a "cowboy" town, coal mining was crucial to its early development. Beginning in the early 1890s with the arrival of the Burlington Railroad in Sheridan, a series of coal mines were developed along Tongue River north of the town. Coal camps — small towns where the miners lived with their families — sprang up nearby. From 1890 to 1920 population skyrocketed in Sheridan County as a direct result of the newly opened state-of-the-art coal mines along the Tongue River. The mining also attracted investors from all over the United States, brought diverse cultural groups to the region, and spawned many parallel infrastructure improvements as support systems for the mines. Most of the miners were immigrants from central and eastern Europe. Today few buildings or other artifacts remain at the former coal camps, but
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the cultural impact of the mining families remains important to Sheridan today.
WAGON MINES Sheridan’s early settlers in the 1880s found many coal outcrops immediately north of the town. People lucky enough to own these properties often mined them in a primitive way. These enterprises were known as “wagon mines,” to distinguish them from the “railroad mines” that would come later. Locals purchased the coal directly from the landowners and either transported it themselves or paid for delivery. Coal found in “exposed seams [is used] for local farm, ranch and village use,” the Sheridan Post reported May 19, 1887, but “even then it barely proves competitive to the extensive reserves of firewood available nearby.” This would soon change with access to a larger market. Even with the rise of the railroad mines, it
seems there was plenty of business to go around. As demand created new mines, the wagon mines also prospered. Known wagon mines included Riverside, Schreibeis, Old Acme Mine, Custer Coal Company, Hart Mine, Star Mine owned by George Kuzara—many of whose descendants live in Sheridan County today—and the Welch Mine. Many wagon mines operated throughout the boom years of coal in Sheridan County from the arrival of the railroad in 1892 until after the First World War. The Welch Mine was particularly prosperous. In fact, after the last of the larger mines shut down in 1953, it became the main supplier for the generators at Montana-Dakota Utilities’ coal-fired power plant, built in 1910.
POPULATION EXPLOSION In 1880, two years before the town of Sheridan was founded, there were around 100 people living along
Above Photo - Carneyville, Wyo., 1904. The coal camp was later renamed Kleenburn. Kuzara collection, Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library. JUNE / JULY 2018
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Goose Creek and its two main branches, on Soldier Creek and on Tongue River. In a 1911 pamphlet put out by the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce, the Sheridan of 1890 was described as a “struggling village of but 281 people.” The arrival of the railroad in 1892 and the subsequent construction of the coal camps attracted thousands of workers and their families to a tight cluster of communities along the Tongue River. In 1900, Sheridan’s population was reported as 1,559. By 1910, the population had more than quintupled, to be listed as 8,408. Modern research shows that 10,000 people lived in the mining communities in 1908, more than twice as many as in Sheridan and more than doubling the population of Sheridan County. The 1911 Chamber of Commerce pamphlet bragged that, at that time, Sheridan County had “the highest density of population of any county in the state.”
THE COAL CAMPS A pragmatic confluence of resources and geography brought the Burlington and Missouri Railroad (better known as the Burlington) to Sheridan on Nov. 22, 1892. The railroad was building from South Dakota across northeastern Wyoming toward Montana and the Northwest. The coal deposits in the Sheridan area were supposedly the most extensive ever encountered in the West—though coal deposits were plentiful, too, along the route of the Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming. And like the U.P., the Burlington followed the route it did in part because the route offered abundant sources of coal. The Wyoming Coal Mine Inspector stated in 1909 that Sheridan County “contains more tons of coal than any coal field in the United States west of the Mississippi River.” Wyoming was divided into two coal districts. District 1 was in the south along the Union Pacific Railroad. District 2 was located in the north along the Burlington and Missouri Railroad and included Sheridan County. While there may have been more coal in the Sheridan coalfields, those in District 1 essentially had a monopoly on coal markets. Any demand they were unable to meet was a result of technical limitations of a system running at full capacity. This excess demand was passed on to District 2.
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Top - A freshly built camp for Dietz mines # 5 and 8, circa 1910. Middle - Close up of Carneyville tipple. Bottom - Early Monarch. Photos courtesy of Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library.
The output of District 1 was phenomenal. In 1909 the mine inspector reported an “increase in production of over a million tons as compared with 1908”. The 1909 output for Carbon, Uinta and Sweetwater counties was reported to be almost 5 million tons. By 1910, mine closures and various disasters in District 1 led to an increase in unmet demand that District 2 was able to meet. In that year, District 1 was still able to produce 5,485,533 tons while District 2 produced 1,959,919 tons, which, the state mine inspector reported, “…does not by any means represent the capacity of the district, as one fourth more coal could be produced from the mines in operation at the present time if the market demanded it.” By 1920 District 1 was producing around 6.5 million tons and District 2 was up in production to nearly 3 million tons per year. The railroad thus became a customer for Sheridan County coal, as well as a means of delivering it to the national market. The Burlington re-engineered the furnace grates on its locomotives to accommodate the local coal’s small, sub-bituminous particles. Thanks to local, railroad and national markets, demand increased for Sheridan County coal and along with it the demand for new labor. The most efficient way for a mining operation to utilize labor was to build a “company town” in order to house, and attend to the daily needs of, the miners and their families on site. The first example of this practice in Sheridan County began on March 3, 1893, when Sheridan investors C.H. Grinnell (a businessman, cattle-baron, and contractor who helped to dig the canal for Little Goose Creek in downtown Sheridan, erected many of the town’s substantial houses and would later become mayor), J.R. Phelan, George T. Beck (a partner with William F. Cody in the founding of Cody, Wyo. and Democratic candidate for governor in 1902), and Anson Higby formed the Sheridan Fuel Company. The company opened a mine and built a coal camp named Higby four miles north of Sheridan. When midwestern capitalist Gould Dietz became the treasurer of the company, the name of the camp was changed to Dietz. Dietz’s superintendent, Stewart Kennedy, whose mining expertise would be relied on with the development of virtually every new mine, expanded operations. At its height, the Dietz community was made up of two permanent camps of miners and their families, and the miners operated eight mines.
In 1905 the Sheridan Press reported that Dietz employed 400 men in the summer months and 800 or so in the winter months, when demand for the fuel was higher. Carneyville, with a population of 250 made up of 50 to 60 miners and their families, was the next largest coal camp at that time. By 1907, there were five major mines in the area, each with a sizeable camp built to house, supply, and entertain miners and their families. At first Dietz was the largest producer for the Sheridan area. The other large camps in Sheridan County were Kooi, Monarch, Acme and Carneyville, later renamed Kleenburn. In 1909 Dietz produced around 255,000tons and had 450 employees. Monarch came in second producing around 240,000 tons and having 375 employees. Later Carneyville and Monarch overtook Dietz in production and by 1922 mining had ceased in Dietz. After that, miners continued to live in Dietz and commuted to other mines, until the camp was finally abandoned in 1937.
THE IMMIGRANTS The Hotchkiss mine, a mile north of the Dietz No. 8 mine set a world record for coal production in 1925. According to Stanley Kuzara (descendent of George Kuzara) “…an average total of 19.5 tons was taken out
of the mine each day for every man working at the mine” between September 1st and December 1st, 1925. Most of the miners were Polish, but a great mix of other nationalities were represented in the coal camps as well. These included American, Italian, Hungarian, Welsh, Scottish, English, Irish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Bohemian, Austrian, German, Serbian, Silesian, Montenegrin, Slovakian, Japanese, French, Greek, Swedish, Russian and Croatian miners and their families. Neighborhoods were often segregated by ethnicity and bore nicknames like “Macaroni Flats” or “Japtown.” In the present day, there are more than ten million people of Polish descent in the U.S., making them the largest representation of Slavic people in America. While Polish people have been coming to the U.S. since it was first colonized, the largest numbers of immigrants from Poland came in three distinct waves. Unlike the first wave of Polish immigrants—Polish elites seeking political asylum—immigrants in the second wave were mostly agrarian and came seeking land. The Poles that came to the Sheridan area to mine coal arrived between 1895 and World War I during the second wave of Polish immigration. These immigrants, who came seeking land, found themselves mostly clustered in industrial cities working low-wage
Miners with an electric engine in the Dietz # 8 mine, no date. Kuzara collection, Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library. JUNE / JULY 2018
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production jobs, as the frontier had nearly closed. It seems logical that the Sheridan area, with its wealth of still open land, might have appealed to immigrants who found themselves in such a position. Magda Gorska, who researched the immigration of Poles to the United States, indicated that the year 1903 is a logical guess for when Poles from the Triplevillage (Trojwies) area of Poland began immigrating to the Sheridan area. She found dozens of genealogical connections between the villages of Istebna, Koniakow, and Jaworzynka and Sheridan County. “Here it happened that this micro-nation emigrated to one of the least populous and most widespread states of the United States to a town with a few thousand citizens, taking their traditions, language, and religion with them.” Polish culture remained cohesive within the mining population of Sheridan County, this did not alleviate inherent prejudice towards immigrants. For instance, fatality and injury reports reflected a bias under which Americans were more likely to be exonerated from wrongdoing when involved in an accident. At the same time, the wording regarding immigrants in accident reports often implied incompetence. And though locals and first-comers often saw immigrants as second-class citizens,
contemporary accounts and anecdotes implied that the mining communities developed a pan-ethnic mining culture that resisted those characterizations. Residents consistently expressed pride in, and loyalty to, their community above all else.
UNIONS AND CONSOLIDATION Booming coal demand during World War I further expanded the development of Sheridan area mines from 1914 to 1918. Workers in Dietz had been among the first in Wyoming to unionize and, once the war ended, the unions saw an opportunity to demand better wages and working conditions. In December 1919, dozens of miners from all of the major camps were arrested by the National Guard for trying to convince men to quit working and for going against the governor’s order that no assemblies were to take place within twenty-five miles of any mine in Wyoming. They were placed in the stockade at Fort Mackenzie —a U.S. Army fort in Sheridan, founded in 1899 and now a Veterans Administration hospital. This uncompromising response from the government essentially put an end to labor organization in the camps.
“Many years will pass; men will come and go, and the Sheridan country will undergo a great development… [this is] one of the big steps in the evolution of a desert into the greatest wealth producing section of the country.”
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In 1920, most of the smaller mines were incorporated as part of the Sheridan Wyoming Coal Company. This trend of consolidation continued when the Peabody Coal Company purchased the larger mines soon afterwards. By the 1930s, mechanization had reduced the need for labor, but increased the cost of underground mining. World War II created a second boom that, coupled with new technologies, led to strip-mining on a massive scale as is still done today. The end of World War II, however, coincided with the development of diesel locomotives and dramatically decreased demand for coal. These factors combined to end the age of the wagon mine and the coal camp in Sheridan County. The coal-camp buildings were sold off, abandoned or disassembled. Monarch, the last large underground coal mine, closed in 1953. Many of the workers’ houses were moved into Sheridan and are still inhabited.
ECONOMIC IMPACT The coal camps were ultramodern by the standards of the time. Local historian Cynde Georgen writes that most had “schools, churches, hotels, stores and other amenities, and nearly all were partially or fully electrified.”
This modernization extended to Sheridan as well. Banks, power plants, irrigation projects, and an electric railway system were just a few of the improvements related to the coal-based economy that directly benefited Sheridan and Sheridan County. Individuals and companies from Omaha, Chicago, and New York bankrolled virtually all of these undertakings. The electric streetcar that made its Sheridan debut in 1911, for example, was completely paid for with outside capital. The railway collected fares from its riders, but its investors asked for no other contribution from the town beyond use of the right of way. With the furthest of the coal camps located some 15 miles from Sheridan, the most profitable aspect of this venture was the interurban line connecting the coal-camps to Sheridan that allowed miners to come into town on paydays, for doctor’s visits, for leisure, and even to send their children to school. The streetcar also allowed merchants to ship goods from town to the coal camps to sell merchandise to the miners and their families. The coal-fired electric power plant completed in 1910 at Acme was one of the most advanced in the West and provided power for the mines, the coal-camps, Fort Mackenzie, Sheridan, and the streetcar system. Upon seeing the completion of the Acme power plant, a Sheridan reporter presciently wrote, “Many years will pass; men will come and go, and the Sheridan country will undergo a great development… [this is] one of the big steps in the evolution of a desert into the greatest wealth producing section of the country.” The 1911 Chamber of Commerce pamphlet may not have been exaggerating when it described Sheridan as “one of the most progressive and promising cities in the west.” Because of geological similarities to Sheridan County, the Powder River Basin, just east of the Tongue River drainage, is the largest coal-producing region in the country today. The coal camps of Sheridan County may be no more, but the majority of the miners moved to Sheridan with their families, unwilling to leave the area that had become home. While the coal camps and their immigrant families created a rich, local diversity of cultures, the Polish culture, in particular, remains a vital part of Sheridan’s identity today. By: Kevin M. Knapp for 82801
This article was first published at www.WyoHistory.org. WyoHistory.org, a state-history website, is a project of the Wyoming State Historical Society.
Top Photo - Main Street in Dietz, Wyo., circa 1907. Middle - Digging coal in room, Dietz No. 2 Bottom - Street-view of Dietz with the hospital on the hill, circa 1907. Left - Acme Power Plant and bridge across the Tongue River- MDU electric generating plant. Photos courtesy of Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library. JUNE / JULY 2018
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From Field to Fork Bridging the Gap with Ag Education ith the average age of the American farmer at 58.3, and a projected global population of 9 billion by 2050, the agriculture industry has… a bit of a problem. But it’s not what you think it is.
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possibility of half of all farmland changing hands in the next 20 years. While you cannot argue the stone-cold fact that farmers are getting older, a different picture emerges when you look at the numbers and the American workforce as a whole.
THE MYTH OF THE AGING FARMER
Farmers may be getting older, but so is the rest of the American workforce.
With as little as 0.5 percent of farmers under the age of 25 there has been some panic around the
Ohio State University Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development
Economics Professor Carl Zulauf published a study, “Putting the Age of US Farmers in Perspective” in 2013. In it, Zulauf compared the average age of U.S. Farmers to that of the average age of the U.S. workforce as a whole, using data from the U.S. Department of Labor from 1980 to 2010 in addition the USDA census data from 1947 to 2007. His analysis shows that U.S. Farmers are on average older than the U.S. workforce, but they are aging at a similar pace, and surprisingly, U.S. Farmers are managing to do it a bit more slowly. JUNE / JULY 2018
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accelerated pace. By 2050, that number will have risen to 70%. This means that annual cereal production will need to rise from 2.1 billion today tonnes today to around 3 billion, with meat production needing to close a gap of over 200 million tonnes. The pressure is mounting on our agricultural resources that are already stretched thin, all the while, sprawling urban settlements are forcing a competition for land and water. Additionally, the industry will need to continue its efforts in maintaining biodiversity, preserving natural habitats and mitigating climate change. Naturally, farmers will need to rely on new technology to be able to produce more product with less land. So where are we really falling short?
AG’S BIGGEST THREAT - CONSUMER MISCONCEPTION Traditionally, farmers have always been older than the average American worker. This can be directly correlated with the capitalintensive nature of the industry. Vastly different than other small businesses such as local eateries and retail shops, getting into the agriculture industry and being competitive takes much more time to accumulate the enormous amount of capital necessary through traditional avenues, such as savings, inheritance and the blood, sweat, and tears of old-fashioned hard work. Despite the initial panic surrounding a greying industry, based on historical data and the industries current state of prosperity Zulauf foresees a potential, albeit small reversal due to influx of younger farmers, children of existing farmers and people from non-farm backgrounds. This happened in the 70’s during that decade long period of prosperity and actually led to a brief decline in the average age of the American Farmer from 51.7 in 1974 to 50.3 in 1978. Zulauf states that the magnitude of this potential upcoming influx will depend on the staying power of current farm prosperity, and take place over an extended period of time, concluding that the United States will not have an issue replacing its aging farmer population.
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DOING MORE WITH LESS With a world population reaching 9.1 billion, a staggering 34% higher than it is today, we will need 60% more food, feed, and fiber products by 2050, with overall demand increasing by 70% to accommodate crops being used for bioindustry and various other industrial purposes. Today, 49% of the population is considered “urban”, with urbanization continuing at an
It is painfully obvious today that consumers no longer have a connection to their food. In 2014, less than two percent of the population are farmers and ranchers, compared to 41% in 1900. Even in rural areas, most Americans are two or more generations removed from the farm, their “memories” of farming in a time warp 50 or so years back, leaving many lamenting the “good old days” and embracing an outdated concept of agriculture as anti-agriculture groups take
advantage and launch well-targeted campaigns to perpetuate misconceptions. This further adds to the distrust of the technologies that improve efficiency in agriculture. The most commonly reported consumer perceptions surround the dangers associated with genetically engineered (GE) crops, as well as environmental, and animal welfare issues.
Genetically Engineered (GE) Crops or GMOs Research has shown that consumers are very resistant to GE crops that involve bioactive compounds and the technology surrounding them, when in reality, genetically engineered crops have a promising future applications in drought tolerance and nutritional enrichment. Due to a shift in herbicide use and an overall reduction in pesticide use, it would surprise many people to know that GE crops can actually benefit the environment.
Environmental Impact It is a very common perception that modern agricultural practices have a much more negative impact on the environment in comparison to the tradition agricultural practices of the mid-1900s. On a per-product basis, nearly all agricultural practices have actually decreased their environmental footprint, most notably, the U.S. beef industry. In 2007, they produced the same amount of product as in 1977 while only using 70% of animals, 81% of feed, 88% of water, and 67% of the land that was previously required, and as a whole, the industry’s carbon footprint was reduced by 16.3%! With a growing population to feed and less land to do so, it is imperative that consumers see these efficiencies in a positive light.
Animal Welfare When it comes to informational sources for animal welfare concerns, information directly from providers from the animal industry are at the bottom of the list, and the least used public sources of information. The top sources include People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United
States. Like any industry, there are bad apples within agriculture that spoil the bunch. In reality, it is critical that livestock producers treat their animals well. An animal that is not comfortable will not produce well. Research has shown that the end product (eggs, meat, milk, etc.) will not be of high quality when the animal is stressed. Producers must treat their animals well to stay in business. To overcome the long-term challenges we face, it is absolutely critical that consumers have more knowledge and confidence in modern agricultural practices. Outside of PR damagecontrol, which unfortunately seems to be the current modus operandi, where do we begin? How do we become proactive and stop being reactive? Hint: sharpen your pencils.
ADDRESSING AGRICULTURAL ILLITERACY The importance for every citizen to have a basic understanding of the economic social, and environmental significance of agriculture cannot be understated. To feed the estimated 9 billion people that will inhabit this planet by 2050 it is imperative we have a successful food system supported by a well-educated public that is safe and affordable. Even when not directly involved in the agriculture industry in terms of producing food and fiber, citizens have an overarching responsibility to be an informed voter when it comes to agricultural policy, employment
and environmental issues. This is particularly vital when these citizens become agriculturally literate policy makers, tasked with the creation of responsible regulation supporting an industry so vital to the global economy.
BACK TO SCHOOL In addition to keeping the youth who already plan to enter the industry interested, it is imperative to spark an interest and educate in those living in more urban and suburban environments. The National Center for Agricultural Literacy is determined to make that a reality with its National Agriculture in the Classroom program and its mission to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 Education, and we have seen their work first hand here through our state program, Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom. Their “Logic Model for Agricultural Literacy� outlines how Agriculture in the Classroom efforts nationwide aid in the progression of an agriculturally literate society, from youth all the way to high level policy makers. Goals for youth (K-20) include practicing and applying STEM skills in the context of agriculture, exploring and pursuing courses and careers related to agriculture and STEM, being able to demonstrate or explain relationships among agriculture, the environment, plants and animals for food, fiber, energy, health society, and economics, and to explain the value of agriculture and how it is important in their daily lives. JUNE / JULY 2018
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Accomplishing these goals could be as simple as ensuring that agriculture is taught as part of the science curriculum, or even adding agriculture to part of a math lesson. Younger children could even get some handson experience by planting herbs in classroom window boxes, caring for them and harvesting them for use in the school cafeteria or drying them and taking them home. Ag education can help students who are struggling with complicated theories and concepts by giving them real world context. Research has shown that using agriculture improves the acquisition of basic science and mathematics process skills of elementary students. A simple example of this is how the science of photosynthesis becomes real to a child when put into the context of agricultural crops.
A PROPOSED MANDATE For many high schoolers in rural areas, ag classes are a pretty standard part of their curriculum, however they are only electives and not required for graduation. There are still plenty of rural students surrounded by vast fields and herds of livestock, with zero knowledge of what is really going on around them. Agriculture is more than just farming. It makes up 12% of the U.S.’s employment, with farming representing just 2% of the sector. The remaining 10% is filled with scientists, nutritionists, truck drivers, and businessmen, with many of these jobs sitting vacant. This makes Ag Ed classes more relevant than ever and people from all backgrounds and in all locations, rural or urban can benefit from being exposed to skilled trade, professional and business opportunities available in the industry that keep us clothed and fed. With a range of courses covering business, science, economics, and technology, Ag Ed programs vary across the country and offer multiple pathways to keep a student’s interest while providing them opportunities to discover potential careers. A young woman in Nampa, Idaho wants to put agriculture back into the forefront of
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education in her state by requiring students to take two semesters of agriculture courses before they graduate high school. A former member of the Nampa FFA and a 2018 graduate of Skyview High School, Anna Peterson took this issue straight to the Idaho legislature. What makes this even more interesting is that Peterson did not grow up on a farm, or have any close relatives that were farmers. Her interest in the industry came about after
working as a milker at a dairy and joining FFA. There, she fell in love with agriculture. The proposed bill is part of her senior project. Peterson was driven to the undertaking after attending the Washington Leadership Conference for FFA and conversations with her FFA advisor. Peterson experience Ag’s big PR problem first hand after her time spent working at a dairy, often receiving comments questioning how she could work in an industry
that “abuses animals” and “puts hormones and antibiotics in milk”. Ag Daily quotes her as saying “When in all reality that is totally false and these assumptions are being made because people aren’t being taught the truth”. Her proposal requires two credits of an “agriscience” or AgroSciences course be taken by all high school students. In addition, she developed a curriculum that emphasizes the jobs that are available in the agriculture industry, as
well as jobs that rely on the agriculture industry with courses in animal and plant sciences, an introduction to food production, agriculture economics and career exploration. The Capital Press makes a point that obstacles to the proposal are pretty standard, even in a state with such strong agricultural ties as Idaho. Concerns about costs on already stretched-thin budgets as well as finding the time to fit the material into school days that are
already too short top the list. Just because it won’t be easy, doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. The process has been arduous for the determined young woman, who began by sending an email explaining her project and asking for input to all 105 legislatures. She has also connected to various agriculture businesses and lobbyists seeking their input and support. On January 30th, 2018, she presented her proposal to House Agricultural Affairs Committee who were excited to see how hard she had worked. Rep. Christy Zito said “I’m so proud of what you’ve done here,” with Rep. Sally Toone supporting the idea, but stating her concerns that it wasn’t realistic for the state to implement at this time. She said “I would love to say every school district in Idaho has an Ag teacher, but that's not true,” She continued “In today's finances of schools, I'm not sure it's realistic to make it a mandate, because there's schools out there that can't do it.” In order for this proposal to become a bill, a lawmaker needs to sponsor it, and she says it is unlikely it will happen in this session. Peterson, who will be double-majoring in agricultural education and agricultural economics at the University of Idaho doesn’t have plans to give up on the bill, and will work on another proposal for 2019. The Capital Press quoted Peterson as saying: “Our growing population is incredible and it needs to be known the importance of the farming industry, how it is done, what technology has done for our food production, as well as how many jobs are available.” This next generation is going to be responsible for feeding the world, and will be stewards to the land. The future of agriculture lies within our kids, and it’s up to us to give them a fighting chance. With driven, remarkable young people with strong voices like Anna Peterson rising to the challenge and advocating for ag education, the future is not as grim as it initially appears. By: Candice E. Schlautmann for 82801 JUNE / JULY 2018
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