Successful Succession on a Multigenerational Montana Ranch

by Macey Mueller, for the Red Angus Magazine

This past October, for the first time in more than 130 years, Henry Gordon’s family found themselves hauling their livestock off summer grass rather than trailing them the 60 miles from the Canadian border back to their homeplace near Chinook, Montana. The parcels of land Gordon’s grandfather and father had purchased along the trail to rest livestock and “not infringe on the neighbors” were brown, and even with decades of improvements to the water sources, the reservoirs were dry.

“We typically average 12 to 15 inches of rainfall up there, but the last two years it’s been down to almost none,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t seem to take much moisture to get the grass growing and sustainable in that short-grass country, but we barely had enough to make it this summer.”

Like many ranchers, Gordon is no stranger to overcoming difficult times. When a similar drought struck in the 1980s, he and his family used the opportunity to build pits at the bottom of their reservoirs to increase capacity. Going further back, when labor became scarce in the 1970s, the family transitioned their ranch from sheep to cattle to remain viable.

More recently, Gordon has faced a different type of adversity. After suffering a series of debilitating accidents in the past decade requiring hospitalizations and intensive rehab, he made the decision to pass the reins of Gordon Cattle Co. to his oldest daughter, Trisha Gruszie, who has been on the ranch full time since 1997.

“After college, Trisha wanted to return to the ranch because she loves the work and she knows it’s the best place to raise a family,” Gordon said. “You have to be a very special person to be a rancher, and I’m really proud of the way she has grown into the role and continued our family’s ranching heritage.”

In her transition to taking over the ranch, Gruszie has realized how fortunate she is to still be working side by side with her father.

“I hate to say it, but my dad getting hurt and me being forced to prove to him that I could handle the responsibility – and him being forced to accept that he couldn’t be in on all the action – was probably the best thing that happened to our ranch and our relationship,” she said. “I see so many places where they lose that main person quickly and don’t have the ability to bounce ideas or pass down that knowledge.”

Successful Succession on a Multigenerational Montana Ranch

While Gordon Cattle Co. was formally incorporated in 1972 by Gordon and his parents, Kenneth and Loretta, the family enjoys a long legacy of ranching on the northern foothills of the Bear Paw Mountains dating back to 1889.

The original cattle herd consisted of Herefords and eventually included Shorthorns to help with pigmentation and milking ability. By the early 1990s, Gordon began to see some staleness in his fed cattle and decided to add Red Angus genetics to freshen carcass quality.

It wasn’t long before both Gordon and Gruszie fell in love with the breed, especially their docile disposition, and have continued to buy Red Angus bulls and transition their 1,300-head herd for nearly the past 30 years.

Gordon Cattle Co. markets most of their steers through Northern Livestock Video Auction and recently enrolled their calves in the Red Angus Feeder Calf Certification Program to provide age, source and genetic verification through IMI Global.

“I really do believe the Red Angus Association is working for us producers, and FCCP is a good example of a value-added opportunity they’ve developed,” Gruszie said. “I watch lots on a Northern sale come across the screen with the FCCP emblem, and I really believe it makes a difference to many buyers.

Three generations of the Gordon-Gruszie family have earned the American FFA Degree, including Trisha (Gordon) Gruszie, Alyssa Gruszie and Henry Gordon, and the organization has played a pivotal role in each of their lives.

“It’s just proof that we are trying to produce something that has specifications, that we have followed a certain program and that we’re going the extra mile.”

The ranch has traditionally retained their own females, but Gruszie has plans to start selling the heifers bred in the third cycle, giving her a chance to tighten her calving window and develop an additional income stream for the operation.

Successful Succession on a Multigenerational Montana Ranch

“We start calving heifers March 15, which makes our third cycle heifers ideal for many of the producers in this area who start later than us,” she said.

“I’m hoping I can get a little more unified herd and maybe build a reputation that makes those heifers sought after like we’ve seen with our steers over the years.”

Calving those heifers each March and April had been a longtime passion for Gruszie, who especially enjoys the solitude of the night shift.

“The phone doesn’t ring, nobody’s awake and I can set up my sewing machine to quilt in between checks,” she said.

More recently, Gruszie has conceded her nightly duties to two vital Gordon Cattle Co. employees – brothers Carmelo and Adrian – who are seasonal workers from northeastern Mexico. Carmelo’s son, Tony, rounds out the crew after calving season.

“Between dad’s accidents and the hardships we’ve faced from Mother Nature, we could not have made it through without those three,” she said.

“They have really grown to be part of our family, and they have developed into pretty handy cowboys along the way.”

Additionally, Gruszie, and her husband, Allen, have worked to instill a pride of ownership and heritage in their children. Three of their four kids are active on the ranch and helped initiate the family’s venture into registered Red Angus cattle.

“The kids sold their sheep flock to buy their first registered Red Angus heifers at the Northern International Livestock Expo in Billings,” she said. “Between the three of them, they have 28 registered cows and have sold a couple of bulls, including the six Gordon Cattle Co. bought last year when, at last minute, we didn’t have enough going into breeding season.”

Successful Succession on a Multigenerational Montana Ranch

Gordon Cattle Co. also recently added a few registered animals to their books. Gruszie said owning seedstock allows her to access the breed’s REDSPro online resource where she can indicate the reasons animals are culled from the herd and help identify undesirable traits in specific bloodlines.

“In the past, it’s been frustrating to have problematic bulls that we have to get rid of but not be able to document those reasons anywhere,” she said. “With access to REDSPro, I can now go in and give those bulls a code for why they’re no longer with me and really help better the breed.”

The family has also been active in the Junior Red Angus program, and Gruszie was recently selected to participate in the Red Angus Learn from the Best program, which is designed to equip and empower the breed’s newer seedstock operators.

With a new generation on board and several opportunities on the horizon, Gruszie admits it’s an exciting time at Gordon Cattle Co., but her enthusiasm is quickly tempered by the challenges presented by the ongoing drought.

“I’m scared to death right now of what the future holds,” she said. “Dad says we always seem to make it through, but I haven’t ever seen dire conditions quite like this.

“Dad has also always told me that in order to succeed, you’ve got to have a banker, a lawyer and an accountant on your team, but going forward, I think we need to add Mother Nature into that mix. Unfortunately, she’s the most unpredictable.” //

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