At Home on the Range

At Home on the Range

By Leonard Shapiro

It’s a long way from tiny Unison, Virginia to a sprawling cattle ranch in the northwest corner of Nebraska. And it’s also a long way from that ranch to anywhere, including a 65-mile drive just to get to the nearest town.

Still, Andrew Looney, a 21-yearold native of the Middleburg area, is truly at home on the range far from his own Virginia roots. He started this summer as an intern in cowboy boots on the 50,000-acre Rocking J Ranch, owned by one of the nation’s premier cattlemen, Jerry Adamson.

After two months of working with cows, bulls, calves and the horse he rides, Looney was offered a full-time job. He described it as the opportunity of a lifetime and exactly what he’s always dreamed of doing, all the way back to his days at Middleburg’s Hill School.

The son of Greg and Mary Looney, Andrew grew up riding horses, including time in the hunt field. He’s worked with cows at Whitestone Farm in Aldie while he was attending Middleburg

Andrew Looney (in pink shirt) is now Academy and during summer breaks a full time cowboy. from Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he was in the agriculture business program.

Andrew Looney, a Middleburg native and Hill School graduate, during a recent trip home.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Andrew Looney (in pink shirt) is now a full time cowboy.

Bob Vantrease, a family friend who lives in Upperville, is a retired cattleman who has known Adamson for years and helped arrange Andrew’s internship at Rocking J. Andrew started on June 1, and worked mostly under the watchful eye of Jerry’s son, Todd, who eventually offered him the job.

“It was supposed to be for the summer, to see if I liked it out there,” Andrew said. “After about a month, I was talking with Todd about school. Todd said if I could finish my degree on line and I’d like to stay, we could work it out.”

Andrew must complete 24 credits to graduate, and he should be able to finish by next summer.

Vantrease said he’s delighted Andrew quickly adapted to this new way of life.

“He’s a great kid,” Vantrease said. “I’ve known the Adamsons for more than 50 years, and he’s in great hands. He’s going to the largest cattle county in the U.S. They’ve got 165,000 cows and only 6,500 people. They love him. And he’s having the time of his life.”

Andrew is living in a bunkhouse, making good friends, and chows down with a young couple also working on the ranch. Rocking J also provided him a highlyskilled horse to make herding cows from the saddle a piece of (beef) cake.

Andrew also was all in for one of the ranch’s most important tasks— branding and vaccinating calves required by Nebraska law. One day this past summer, starting at 6 a.m., 900 calves were branded.

Todd Adamson, a fourth generation rancher, is his immediate supervisor and “He almost makes it like a science classroom every day,” Andrew said. “He enjoys making the cattle better. He wants to keep the cows relaxed and calm.”

Andrew and a young Rocking J pal already have started talking about someday starting their own cattle business. That’s a long way down the road, much farther than the 65 miles he has to drive to Valentine, Nebraska, the closest town.

“When I first came out here, I was a little nervous,” Andrew said. “I didn’t know anybody. But these are just some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and that makes it easy to move across the country. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”