Grit with Grace

The Identity Trap: What You Do is Not Who You Are

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:56:51 GMT

I will never forget how helpless I felt on Jan. 24 when I watched my son stumble across the wrestling mat. He took two major blows to the head during a match – a sound I could hear from the top of the gym bleachers. As he struggled to orient himself, I felt like I was going to throw up.

In a matter of seconds, he was on his back convulsing with trainers at his side trying to take off his shoulder brace so he could breathe. Sweat poured off his body in a way no workout ever could have done.

I held my hand over my mouth and wailed, watching nearly 13 years of hard work, sacrifice and commitment get carried off the mat on a stretcher. I knew in my heart that this was not a “shake it off” moment as they raced him to the emergency room by ambulance.

By God’s grace, the X-ray of his neck was clear. He never lost consciousness. He answered his questions correctly. Minus the uncomfortable neck brace, within an hour, our son seemed a little drowsy, but normal. We were able to leave Loyola Hospital in Chicago later that day and made it home through the snow that night. With time and rest, he was expected to make a full recovery, but it just wasn’t enough time for his brain to heal to allow him to wrestle in his senior year state series starting a couple of days later.

As a parent, this was a pretty excruciating moment because for thousands of days, I watched this kid commit his whole heart to this sport – a three-time state qualifier who overcame a hip avulsion fracture suffered during his sophomore year during the state tournament, a car accident at the end of his junior season and a torn labrum in his shoulder just weeks after his senior season began. It seemed like all of that was enough. And yet the disappointment was not over.

If I can be honest, I’m angry. Not at anyone in particular, but I’m just angry at the way it played out for him. There is nothing worse than watching your kid hurt and not be able to fix it.

The following weekend of regionals was hard to sit through, though we absolutely wanted the best for his teammates. At church the next day, some friends we hadn’t seen in a while came up and talked to our son. I overheard him say, “Wrestling is something I do, it’s not who I am.”

Parallel Paths: From the Mat to the Ranch

Fast forward a few days to the Top Producer Summit where I listened to a powerful panel. Leaders of top companies in agriculture weighed in on a variety of thought-provoking topics, but one message stood out to me.

“All too often, we confuse what we do with who we are,” said Lamar Steiger with The 808 Ranch. “As farmers and ranchers, we are our job. It’s our identity. That was my problem as a young man.”

Steiger grew up on a dairy. High interest rates in the late 1970s made farming particularly challenging. When he was in his 20s, their family lost the dairy. After working so hard to make that operation work, Steiger took this as a deep personal failure.

“There was nothing I could do to save the dairy because outside forces were at hand. But it’s so hard for farmers and ranchers to separate that,” he said. “Looking back, I had depression for quite a while after that, but we didn’t talk about that then.”

When he was in his mid-30s, Steiger attempted suicide.

“I had to be removed totally from my working life and start completely over,” he shared. “I learned the hard way how to separate my identity from my role.”

Steiger said it wasn’t pretty, but he is grateful for how this time of his life changed him.

“When you come to the end of yourself, you look for something bigger and better. That’s worked out really good for me,” he said. “Being a rancher is cool to me, but it’s not who I am. I’m Lamar. I try my best and I fail. We have great successes and then we have some things that just don’t work out. But it’s not all my responsibility.”

There’s something so humbling about another person vulnerably sharing their story. We can learn so much from each other. All it takes is a willingness to share your story. Left unshared, our stories may only change us. But by sharing, we can help each other find our way through the very real burdens of life.

A Truth Worth Holding Onto

It’s easy to confuse your identity with what you do because it becomes such a big part of our lives. As another Shike kid closes one chapter and gets ready to start the next, I find myself confusing who I am with my role as a mom. I’m not sure what life looks like without Saturday wrestling tournaments and late nights posting photos of our wrestlers.

As I sat there at Top Producer Summit, I kept hearing my son’s voice in my head saying, “Wrestling is something I do, it’s not who I am.”

He’s only 17 and has a lot of life to live, but I’m grateful he recognizes this truth. I know there will be times when he will be tempted to measure his worth by his performance. But I believe when we get honest and share these stories, we can help one another avoid the mistake of confusing what we do with who we are.

Touching Tractor Tribute: Farmers Bid Farewell to Steve Hamm, a Loyal Lifeline in the Field

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 22:03:22 GMT

A love for tractors and an admiration for John Deere green. That’s how you’d describe Steve Hamm, a John Deere mobile technician for 30 years. A father and grandpa, he was loved by many, as many in the community will tell you he was truly dedicated to his craft.

“Steve was a pioneer for that kind of knowledge. We really depended on him,” says Chris Roberson, general manager of Ag-Power, the John Deere dealership in Richmond, Mo., where Steve worked.

“He was a man of integrity,” says Dennis Estes, who worked with Steve at Ag-Power, but was also Steve’s friend and the pastor at his church. “He had a passion for what he did, and he was a person who served a lot of people.”

As a technician, Steve’s career revolved around service, but even then, Steve went above and beyond time and again.

“He lived to serve,” Roberson says. “He put everyone else above him or before him, and he was on call all the time. Whether it involved work or even personal family matters. He was always able to be reached and counted on.”

“You look at the communities that Steve served, people from small towns and everywhere else who called Steve, if it was 10 at night, Steve took the call,” says Estes.

Friends of Steve Hamm say he adored his family.

(Photo provided by the Hamm Family )

Estes says for area farmers, Steve was a loyal lifeline in the field, providing a service no matter the time and no matter how challenging the issue was that needed fixed.

“This equipment is so complicated these days. And Steve pursued the passion of always learning,” says Estes. “If there was anything he couldn’t fix, he found out how to fix it, and he wouldn’t quit. He had the passion that made him pursue that until he got it. And I think that’s what really sets him apart.”

Roberson says on paper, Steve was a master technician, which is the highest honor you can receive as a John Deere technician. But he was more than that. Steve had a wealth of knowledge he passed on to others.

A man who dedicated three decades of his life to helping others was remembered in a remarkable way this past week. On a crisp, sunny Tuesday morning, those same farmers who Steve served for all those years found a way to show just how grateful they were.

“I’ve never seen a tribute for somebody that was more compelling probably than that tribute,” Estes says.

An aerial view of the touching tractor tribute for Steve Hamm in Richmond, Mo.

(Matt Mormann )

Tractor after tractor, combines with their augers out, all lined the road next to the cemetery where Steve would be laid to rest.

“I couldn’t help but think as we were doing the graveside service the effort made by so many people to be there,” Estes says. “As I looked up on the hill at all of the farmers, it was almost as if it was a mist because you could see the moisture in the eyes of so many of these people, many hardened individuals. Farmers who are used to being out in nature and fighting it, whether flood or drought or whatever it is, and through that toughness, they still had those kind of feelings for Steve.”

Steve Hamm was laid to rest on Tuesday, and farmers were there to pay tribute and witness his final ride.

(Tyne Morgan )

Farmers who never had the chance to say thank you or goodbye, stepped up to the call this week with a touching tractor tribute.

“He deserved every bit of that tribute. He didn’t ever ask for it. I hope he’s smiling down on us,” Estes says.

The touching tractor tribute was a nod to something Steve loved so much, as he took his final ride.

AgDay Markets Now: Kent Beadle Explains the Selloff in Grains Monday

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 22:37:21 GMT

Grain markets were sharply lower on Monday on fund selling and improved weather in the extended forecasts for the Eastern Corn Belt.

Kent Beadle, Paradigm Futures, says, “About next Sunday the forecasts finally show highs below 90 degrees and with the milder temperatures they are looking at some chances of rainfall in places like Illinois and Indiana where things have really started to get dry. And so, traders are looking ahead they’re not necessarily feeling the heat we’re going to get this week is necessarily detrimental to the long-term yields. I am hearing from farmers in that area that plants are curling up,” he says.

Beadle is also getting some bad reports in the Western Corn Belt due to excess rainfall. Southern Minnesota, Southeast South Dakota, Northeast Nebraska had two to four inches of rain this weekend and there was also three to five inches in a broader area of the region.

Unfortunately, he says the market is not concerned about it.

Funds are re-establishing their short position in corn and soybeans and Monday’s selling was also tied to technical damage, which was done in all the markets according to Beadle. “We are below the major moving average in soybeans and have been for a few weeks. During last week’s rally in corn July closed above the 45, 50 day and 100 day moving averages on Thursday and then closed back below those levels on Friday,” he says.

Soybeans are now closing in on old long-term lows and July corn has good support at $4.36 to $4.38.

This is happening despite good demand signals, with stronger corn and soybean cash basis levels and tightening spreads. Beadle says export inspections were also strong on Monday and the NOPA crush for May was a record.

Wheat futures continue to collapse on better-than-expected yields as the HRW wheat harvest progresses and with speculators liquidating in the European wheat market.

How Social Media Sensation NY Farm Girls Defied Odds to Expose the Truth About Farming

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:28:05 GMT

The NY Farm Girls have become a social media sensation. With nearly 645,000 followers on TikTok , along with more than 171,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook , the NY Farm Girls are taking all of social media by storm.

“Social media can reach millions of people by the touch of a button,” says Claudia Leubner. “It’s been really cool we’re able to reach this many eyes in the world to try to share dairy farmers are not evil people.”

NY Farm Girls consists of three sisters: Evelyn and Claudia Leubner, who are both in their early 20s, and their sister Jojo Leubner, who’s still in high school. In addition to the social media piece of the business, the girls are seeing significant growth on YouTube with 87,000 subscribers. Their goal is to simply share life on the farm.

“We are a fourth-generation dairy farm. It’s a partnership between my dad, his sister, his brother and our two cousins, and we’re over 100 years old now, says Evelyn.

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With a mix of dairy cattle, row crops, hay and an agritourism pumpkin farm, life on this New York farm is in constant motion. The busy schedule creates long hours of work, but it’s also allowed each of the girls to uncover their niche.

“I’ve always loved working with animals,” says Evelyn. “I actually went to SUNY Cobleskill for animal science, because of my love for animals, and I honestly thought I would never come back to the farm.”

While Evelyn didn’t plan on returning home, she lived in Georgia after college. That’s until she realized home is exactly where she wanted to be.

“I’m pretty much doing her checks, vaccinations help with the preg checks on Mondays,” says Evelyn. “Pretty much everything cows and some calves stuff, I’m your girl.”

Being born into the Leubner family means you’re also born into life on the farm. Each of the girls started on calf feeding duty since elementary school. From an early age, those farm chores also gave them a taste for what they did and did not want to do.

“After I fed calves for that long, I realized it’s not really something that I was too passionate about,” says Claudia.

Instead, Claudia found a better fit on the row crop side of the family business. After attending the University of Nebraska, Claudia came back with an even deeper love for grains.

‘I’m helping with planting season harvest season, everything in between. It’s been really fun to start to learn about our crop operation” she adds.

And Jojo? Well, as a high schooler, she still works on the farm part-time.

“She goes to school during the day, comes home and does chores every night,” says Evelyn. “She doesn’t really know what she wants to do yet, with her future, but she doesn’t have to yet.”

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While the sisters work together on the farm, it’s their collaboration on social media that’s helping plant new seeds of opportunity for their business.

“When you come up to upstate New York, you’re going to see a lot of lakes and hills,” says Evelyn. “All of our fields are full of rocks, but it’s just really beautiful up here. We’re definitely a lot more than New York City.”

Do you want to read more stories of inspiration? Find the entire list of “Grit with Grace” stories that showcase the heart of rural America.

The three sisters are working daily to showcase New York agriculture, with a focus on dairy. Each of the girls will be the first to tell you that they couldn’t do it alone, and social media has actually drawn them even closer.

“Having this relationship together and doing things like this, and we’ve always just become much bigger, stronger bonds together,” says Claudia.

“And we’re really good at holding each other accountable. Like if Claudia is slacking on something or I’m slacking on something, we let each other know and we don’t get offended anymore,” says Evelyn, with a smile.

“Not anymore,” Claudia jokes back.

The bond the NY Farm Girls trio has built came despite the harsh reality of social media.

“Sometimes it’s not even the extremists. It’s also other farmers or people you know in real life that are the ones that are sending negative comments to you,” Claudia says. “You kind of just have to brush it off, because we have an end goal in mind,”

“You kind of have to learn to ignore it,” adds Evelyn. “In the beginning when we started, we really took the comments to heart and impacted our mental health and kind of almost made us not want to do social media anymore.”

Even as they battled the comments and negativity that comes with social media, the sisters refused to quit, as their motivation was seeing constant social media posts plagued with misinformation.

“It’s a huge passion of ours to teach consumers about agriculture, because they’re the ones buying our products; we want them to trust us,” says Claudia.

“All those touchy subjects people don’t really want to talk about, we dive into all of that,” Evelyn adds.

Reaching the “Moveable Middle”

With a variety of skills and personalities, the girls no longer focus reaching those who are anti-dairy. Instead, they target what they call the “moveable middle.”

“We know these people don’t know where their food is coming from. They think it’s coming from the grocery store,” says Claudia. “So we want to be able to target them and share exactly where their milk is coming from that they’re buying.”

What they’re doing is working.

“I just did a post the other day on Facebook about how there’s no antibiotics in milk, ever. And it reached almost 500,000 people because of how many people shared that post,” says Evelyn.

Her post was part of an ongoing effort during the entire month of June, which is also known as June Dairy Month. To play off the dairy theme, the girls decided to do a series of videos busting dairy myths.

“When you hop online and you see the negative connotations with artificial insemination or antibiotics, you’re obviously going to believe that because at the surface level, it might seem bad to you. But once you go to the source and see how it’s actually done, you can feel a lot better about where your food is coming,” says Claudia.

While the NY Farm Girls brand has grown since they started on social media, the motivation hasn’t wavered.

“We just want to reach as many people as we can and teach them about agriculture,” says Evelyn. “It just really comes down to that.”

Meet NY Farm Girls’ Dad

Each one of the NY Farm Girls is very visible on social media, but a less familiar face on the farm is one that has been a constant stream of support behind the scenes.

“My dad is a great teacher and very patient. You need a lot of patience with me,” jokes Claudia. “He’s always been very supportive of what we want to do on the farm, in our business and everything.”

Maybe the reason their dad has been such a great teacher over the years is because farming is what Tim Leubner knew he was meant to do.

“I never left. I just loved it ever since I was a little kid,” says Tim. “I couldn’t wait to get out of school and go farm.”

While Tim was hesitant when the girls first launched into social media, his tone has evolved over the years. He has seen the power of social media, and the benefits of showing real life on the farm. But in the beginning, that hesitation was rooted in concern. As for a father, his biggest worry is always the safety of his three girls.

In years past, they were getting threats constantly [on social media],” says Tim. “It was like that for about a year or so, and there people were really going after them. That was kind of scary.”

From animal activists to other social media users, the threats have calmed down and the situation has improved.

Tim’s concerns have also subsided and now his addiction to the farm could be turning into a new addiction for social media.

“I constantly am making little videos here and there, and then I’ll send it to Claudia or Evelyn, and they’ll make a video. We’ll come up with different ideas that might work, and I have mostly good ideas,” Tim shares, with a smile.

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How NY Farm Girls Brand Continues to Grow

NY Farm Girls is a business that continues to grow. The girls even launched their own clothing line recently, adding another chapter to the story of the brand.

As Tim watched the NY Farm Girls business grow, he’s proud of the fact his daughters are strong and independent. The girls’ drive and determination didn’t happen by chance, they’re traits that are a product of how Evelyn, Claudia and Jojo were raised.

“Don’t ever tell like a kid they can’t do something,” says Tim. “Always tell them it’s possible and just give them confidence and let them go.”

In their 20s and late teens, the determination and confidence is paying off as the NY Farm Girls continue to gain followers and fans. The side business is also helping these fourth-generation farmers secure a future for their dairy farm.

“We had no idea it would take off like this,” says Evelyn. “We started it just to share pictures of cows and calves and maybe teach a little bit about farming. And it took us a while to grow.”

“We obviously didn’t think that it was going to get this big,” adds Claudia. “We are so thankful we’re able to reach the amount of people we do, because at the end of the day, it’s not really about your follower count or how many likes you get. It’s that you are getting that information out there.”

Closing in on 1 million followers and fans across all sites is no easy feat, it’s the product of hard work that’s required constant grit and grace.

Long Road: Kansas Family Rebuilds and Revives Dairy After 2019 Tornado Wiped Out Family Farm

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:44:58 GMT

It’s a day Rob and Lisa Leach will never forget.

“May 28th, 6:43pm,” says Rob, remembering the day their lives took a dramatic turn. “That’s when it hit us.”

May 28, 2019 is the day the Leach’s entire farm was wiped out by an EF4 tornado .

“It was noisy, but it was just like nonstop wind,” Rob told Farm Journal just days after the tornado hit in 2019. “It was just the most incredible wind you ever can imagine.”

The Aftermath

The twister that hit their Linwood, Kan. farm was a monster at a mile wide, carrying 170 mile per hour winds.

“We’ve got a lot outbuildings, we have our shop, freestall barn, calf barn holding pins, grain bins, garages, silos: it’s all gone,” Rob said in May 2019.

Two days after the tornado ripped through their farm, Farm Journal’s video crew was on the scene and captured the aftermath. Metal in trees, the milking parlor and barns flattened. The structures were gone, but what was even more painful was the fact the Leach family lost part of their herd.

“When we came up the hill, out of our basement, we expected the worst , and we immediately found what we had cattle meeting us, we had cattle in our yard, cattle walking all over the place and also dead cows,” said Rob.

The winds were so powerful, some cows were carried more than half a mile away.

“The one that was the farthest away, we didn’t find for 24 hours, and she was the most valuable cow on the farm,” said Rob. “She was down in a ditch and couldn’t get up.”

Will We Ever Dairy Again?

Taylor Leach, Rob and Lisa’s daughter who is also part of the Farm Journal family, reflected on the tornado recently. But when we talked to her just days after the tornado hit, she was still in disbelief.

“Trash everywhere, nails everywhere, wires everywhere,” she told us. “If we ever have cattle here again, I don’t even know how we’re going to be able to clean up all of the wire and nails out in the pasture,” said Taylor.

The raw reaction was fresh, as the Leach family had scrambled to immediately get the surviving cows to help.

“We could only get 20 out of here the first night,” says Rob, who says roads were blocked by down trees. “Those are the ones that were hurt the worst.”

The next morning, Rob says what was left of their 125 head herd, were also hauled out. Volunteers, some who had never touched a cow, helped lead the cows, halter free, to the road.

“We have so many friends,” says Lisa. “I mean, they’re very good friends, that took them to roughly 14,15 farms at one time.”

As ones with minor injuries went to farms, the animals were scattered throughout the area and sent to anyone who had space. The furthest location was a farm in Colorado. The cows wounded the most, were rescued and taken in by a local farm.

“Vets that worked all night long on cows that were cut up,” says Rob.

“And they never charged us,” remembers Lisa.

“No, we never got any bills for any medical work. And they said, ‘well, we’ll just have to charge you for drugs.’ And then some drug company donated drugs, so we didn’t have to pay for that. So, we were very fortunate,” adds Rob.

We Will Rebuild

From a tattered farm two years ago, with pieces scattered for miles, the scene looks much different today.

“We’ve brought home about 60 cows or so,” says Lisa.

“So, we’ve got at least that many still farmed out,” adds Rob.

As rebuilding is still taking place in Linwood, major headway has also happened thanks to countless volunteers.

“There were literally hundreds of people, volunteers, that came,” says Lisa. “I would say we averaged 100 people a day for over three weeks.”

An army of volunteers who came, many without even being asked, all who helped pick up the pieces left by the 2019 tornado.

“We had several massive cleanups that summer that we cleared as much debris out of the fields as we could,” says Lisa.

“I think we walked about 200 to 300 acres, just shoulder to shoulder, walking in the fields and picking up debris,” Rob says.

It’s those efforts that slowly cleaned up shredded structures and debris once scattered across their farm. But it wasn’t something that happened quickly. Every nail. Every piece of metal. All of it had to be picked up.

“We sold 350,000 pounds of scrap metal in this in the summer of 2020,” says Rob.

They say the effort to mend the damage and pick up all the pieces not lasted for more than a year.

“We drained seven ponds, because they were just completely filled with steel, barn, tin, lumber,” says Rob.

But from the rubble, rose new life and a new look for the Leach family.

“We started with a commodity barn. It was kind of the catch all,” says Rob.

One structure replaced at a time, with foundation poured for the next, in an effort to replace 11 barns battered by the storm.

“COVID-19 didn’t help our cause at all,” explains Rob. “After COVID-19, it was kind of a strange phenomenon. People were building stuff all over the place, the price of materials went through the roof and you couldn’t get a crew to do anything.”

Much of this work was done with their own hands, with three new blue barns planted on the same dirt their old barns were on.

The Effort to Milk Again

The final barn was built on December 21, 2020, and one that Rob, along with 17 friends and family, constructed themselves. It marked the final piece in a two-year orchestrated effort to finally start milking again.

“We’ve been approved by the co-op to start milking again,” says Lisa. “We’ve got a trucker lined up that’s going to haul the milk for us. And we we’ve got six cows that we’re milking right now.”

All the work, the hours, the constant efforts to rebuild; it was all to accomplish one thing: be able to milk again. And that day finally came for Lisa in June, a moment she captured on camera as the first milk truck drove away.

A New Era

As the milk truck left, it signaled a new era for the Leach family. Rob and Lisa now travel the same path from the house to the barn they took before the tornado hit, to milk the cows today.

“This is our passion,” says Rob. “This is what we do for fun. This is all we’ve ever done for fun. We like to show cows, that’s kind of our thing.”

“I wasn’t ready to quit,” says Lisa.

As Lisa says calling it quits never crossed their minds, she also didn’t want to give up on our cows.

“Honestly, we had some of the best cows we had ever had,” says Rob.

“We had some really good cows, and that’s probably the only reason we came back,” adds Lisa.

And a comeback it was. The same year the tornado hit, the Leach’s youngest daughter, Sophie, took home Grand Champion at the Kansas State Fair with their Holstein named Lin-Crest Bradnick Tess, a cow that still bared the scar after surviving the tornado that left a gash in her neck just months before.

The family also won the “Jersey Jug” at Louisville with their Jersey Juju, another survivor, and one shown by the woman who rescued Juju and 20 other cows the night the tornado hit.

“We’ve had some good days in the show ring since the tornado,” says Rob.

“Some phenomenal days,” says Lisa.

“So, we were very lucky,” adds Rob.

Stronger than the Storm

As the Leach family cherishes what they’ve accomplished in two short years, they say their family farm was restored for their three girls.

“I mean, they love it, too,” says Rob. “We’re doing it for them. This is their passion.”

And as a family, they continue to defeat any doubts, while beating the odds.

“I think the only doubt was, whether or not we could milk again,” says Lisa.

“We just weren’t sure, you know, if we were going to be able to rebuild,” says Rob.

“Every now and then, you really need to go back and look at the pictures just to remind yourself how far you’ve come,” adds Lisa. “And how many people have helped you get there.”

A lifetime of passion, with the people who knew it wasn’t Rob and Lisa’s time to call it quits.

“Getting all these buildings built back, when it took us a lifetime to build what we had,” says Rob. “So to get back here within two years, is amazing.”

As even two years later, the leaches continue to prove they’re truly stronger than the storm.

Farmers and ranchers continue to show grit with grace while battling various challenges farm and ranch families face. Read more “Grit with Grace” stories here .

The Strength of a Mom: How One Young Woman Battled Cancer Through COVID-19 Pandemic

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:34:01 GMT

A serene setting on this Missouri farm is where Kristen Clenney is living her dream.

“I was about 8 years old, and I declared, ‘Dad, I want to be a vet,’” she remembers.

Her dad, Tom Wright, says Kristen was even younger than that when he knew animals were her calling.

“Oh, it was probably when she was 3,” he says. “She always helped me in the turkeys. She was the one daughter who the animals didn’t bother her. She always liked the animals.”

Now a veterinarian in the neighboring town of Eldon, Mo., her career desires have been steadfast.

“I never changed my course at all; everything I did throughout high school and college directed me towards my goal of becoming a vet,” she adds.

A graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, she thought a large animal practice was her calling. But that changed when Kristen and her husband John had a chance to move back to her family’s farm.

“And as we move back home, we had just started our family. We had a son, and definitely my role on the farm changed, as well as my career, where I was a smaller animal veterinarian and having more controlled hours worked a lot better for our family,” she says.

Family first, Kristen is now a mom who just went through the fight of her life.

“In January 2020, I randomly felt a lump in my neck that I knew was something odd,” says Kristen. “As soon as I felt it, I knew it wasn’t right.”

The next few weeks, were a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments, biopsies and ultrasounds.

“Unfortunately I found out that I did have thyroid cancer.”

Coping with the news, Kristen underwent surgery within five days.

“We were under the impression my tumor was small, they caught it early. I’d have one surgery, and that would be the end of it,” she says.

But it wasn’t so simple.

“We got the bad news that although my tumor was small, it was rather mighty so to speak, and it had spread. And I would be needing a second surgery as well as radiation therapy.”

The radiation crippled her ability to be around anyone, or anything, including her husband, son and animals. And she said that battle is when she almost hit a breaking point.

“Initially, they said they were going to take your whole thyroid, and I was on board for that,” she says. “But then the doctor changed his mind and said, ‘We’re going to do half your thyroid, they’ve come out with new recommendations.’ I said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable with this,’ because what I originally felt was a lymph node. So I knew it had spread. I just knew it had.”

The one surgery turned into two. Radiation to try to get it all happened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To hear that news, it kind of knocked the wind out of my sails,” she says. “And I thought, ‘Why didn’t I fight harder?’”

“I think she’s always seen animals heal, and that was one of Kristen’s problems,” says Kristen’s dad. “She understood the medical part of it. Animals and humans aren’t a lot different. She knew what was happening.”

The medical battle came with a mountain of obstacles, as Kristen—the one who’s usually doing the healing—couldn’t do the healing herself.

“That was the first time John broke down through it all, because he knew he was losing his job due to the pandemic and he felt he was letting me down. Our whole world just felt like it was crashing around us,” she says.

At a time when the country was shutting down, Kristen was shutting down too.

“There were days I wanted to give up,” says Kristen.

The battle to keep fighting was one that took place both mentally and physically.

“I found out I was reacting really badly to my medication and my kidneys were shutting down, and that’s why I felt so terrible,” says Kristen.

She was too weak to even do simple things on the farm, at the vet clinic and at home.

“I read something midway through my journey when I really struggling. It said, ‘It takes the same energy to be strong or to be miserable. It’s your choice.’ After reading that, I made a conscious decision that every day I was going to choose to be strong. Because I needed to be strong, not only for myself, but for my husband, for my son for my family.”

She’s a wife and mom and now a cancer survivor.

“I feel very fortunate. Not everybody gets to see that after their journey,” she says.

And it was a yearlong journey that took grit and grace.

“I know that through the love of my family and my faith, I can get through anything,” she says. “And really, it is not giving up. it was a complete mindset.”

A scar on her neck that could symbolize pain is now something Kristen wears with pride.

“When I look at that scar, I remember all I’ve overcome,” she says. “I remember to be grateful for each day because life changes immediately sometimes and to just continue to be strong no matter what life throws at you. Just keep going.”

Healing Power of a Pig: How a Show Pig Helped Georgia Family Battle Cancer in the Midst of the Pandemic

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:33:21 GMT

A dream 20 years in the making is now a reality for the Curtis family.

“It used to just be him with a few sows, then as I came on board, we’ve increased our hospitality and marketing and all of that, too,” says Emily Curtis, owner of Curtis Show Pigs.

Emily and her husband Michael breed and sell show pigs at their family farm in Thompson, Mo. Their two daughters also joined in on the fun this year, stepping into the show ring for the first time and carrying on the family tradition.

“We just have a lot of fun with it at this point,” says Michael Curtis, who started the operation before he even graduated high school.

While the Curtis’ will be the first to tell you their operation is small, which is by design, they are modest when describing their reach. The Curtis family farrows twice a year, drawing quite the crowd each time, typically selling out of show pig stock.

“We farrow in the summer, as well, and have just developed a relationship with some Georgia ag teachers,” says Michael. “We send a lot down there in the fall, that will then show in February, or March down there.”

Devastating Fire

Catering to a loyal list of clients has become the Curtis family’s specialty.

“We have past connections to a FFA group in northern Georgia and the ag teacher reached out to me, we delivered some pigs down just like we always do. And a week later, I got a text message from the mom of this girl, saying their trailer had burned and the pig we sent them was lost in the fire. She wanted to replace the pig,” remembers Michael. “So, they contacted us wanting to purchase another one.”

“I think the first phone call was that their whole trailer had burned, and the pig had been inside and died,” adds Emily. “And tragedies like that happen with barn fires, and just tragedies with the animals, and usually we don’t have pigs left. Thankfully since it had just happened, we still had pigs.”

A Gift of Generosity

With pigs still in their pens, the Curtis’ knew exactly what they needed to do.

“I mean, it was no brainer: send her a new pig,” says Emily. “Her mom wanted to pay for it, but we said of course not. It means so much to these kids to show, and your heart breaks for the kid going through that. Giving them the pig is least you can do, and any other breeder would have done the exact same thing.”

The Curtis’ were gifting this family another pig out of generosity. While that act of kindness was a remarkable gesture for a family the Curtis’ barely knew, but the story didn’t stop there.

“I reached out a couple months later to check on the pig and see how it had done, since they should have had a few shows by then. I just sent a little text message just hoping for update on the pig. Instead, we got an update on the family situation that her dad had been diagnosed with cancer,” says Michael.

Challenging Cancer

The cancer diagnosis that came for one Georgia family was the exact day they were gifted the show pig from the Curtis’ in Missouri.

“We were blindsided by COVID-19, and then with leukemia,” says Naomi King, the mom of 16-year-old Miriam King, who lost her first pig in a trailer file, and then planned to show the new pig given to her by the Curtis’. “I was like, ‘oh my gosh,’ because we went and picked up her pig that morning. And then that afternoon, I took my husband to our local oncologist here in Blairsville. I didn’t even know what an oncologist was.”

“I was actually at the pig barn at the time,” says Miriam. “My mom called me on the phone and said, ‘Dad has cancer.’”

With those words, came a flood of emotions as reality started to set in.

“As soon as the pig trailer caught on fire, and then we got a new pig, named Jimmy Dean, to show, I just felt like God did not want us to show this year,” says Naomi. “I was like, ‘shoot, we have the pig already, what are we going to do? We’re going to bring him with us.”

So, that’s what they did. Jimmy Dean, as they called him, was what helped Miriam have at least some piece of normalcy while her dad was undergoing cancer treatment in Atlanta. All of this also happening in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic causing the world to shut down.

“I walked down the streets in my grandmother’s little neighborhood every day with the pig,” says Miriam. “All while the neighbors were looking at the pig.”

Desire for Normalcy

The Kings brought a piece of home with them, as well as a steady routine to keep her mind off the reality of her dad’s diagnosis.

“In the middle of COVID-19 and leukemia, Jimmy Dean brought us normalcy,” says Naomi. “It made life normal. That’s [walking the pig] just what we do. This is what we did every year previous. With COVID-19, everybody wanted normal. And with another family crisis going on, we wanted normal.”

The desire to bring normalcy as chaos was actually unfolding for the Kings, came for a girl who found FFA and showing pigs was her passion.

“The pigs have been really great because she was homeschooled and kind of shy and quiet,” says Naomi. “And when she decided that she wanted to go to public school in ninth grade, it was a big adjustment for her. FFA was just in her niche. She just got right into it.”

Deep Dedication

As the Kings were battling the fight against cancer as a family, the Curtis family in Missouri was also learning about the miles Miriam went to still care for her show pig.

“That just hit me so hard, I said, ‘that’s some dedication,’” says Emily. And it showed me how much they were supporting each other as a family, and that the parents were supporting her still having this project that she was dedicated to caring for an animal.”

That deep dedication turned into inspiration for the Curtis’ annual t-shirt.

“That became our theme,” says Emily. “But it’s so much more than about a t shirt. It’s just the inspiration that she gave me. And then I knew that it would inspire so many other people. I’m just amazed by them.”

Healing Power

For the Kings, Chris’ journey is just getting started.

“I’m just going now to keep the doctor proved wrong,” says Chris.

“We knew God could do this,” says Naomi. “When knew God could cure him no matter what chemo or what these doctors wanted to do. God can. He can. And he did.”

“I have a 100% clean bill of health,” says Chris.

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic caused so much pain for many, the Kings have been an inspiration.

“Naomi said that Chris is cancer free and in remission, and they got that news on the same day that Jimmy Dean went to slaughter,” says Emily. “So, that pig got Miriam through the exact number of days that her dad was fighting cancer, and just the symbolism of that, and how much these animals mean to all of us, it’s a story meant to be told.”

Lessons about life – and reminders about the strength of family and faith - extended beyond the show ring for the Kings. As Jimmy Dean is proof that a show pig is more than just a project.

“You have to keep pushing through, whether it be COVID-19 or leukemia, every family’s going through something right now. Don’t quit,” says Naomi. “Keep striving. Every day is a new day. God’s mercies are new every morning.”

The Kings say they’ll continue showing pigs, as their teenage daughter learned more about life and dedication during 2020 than some do in an entire decade.

Read more about the King’s family story on Farm Journal’s PORK Business .

The Power of Love and Faith: How a Journey to Help Foster Kids Heal On the Farm Led One to Their Forever Home

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:30:45 GMT

Tyler and Amanda Radke’s story started in college.

“We met on the South Dakota State University (SDSU) Meat Judging team , judging ribeyes, so it only makes sense we kind of took ownership of that side of the beef industry, too,” says Amanda Radke, a mom and a fifth generation rancher from Mitchell, South Dakota.

Bonding over beef and cattle from the start, it’s only fitting that the cattle business is still their calling today.

“We sell bulls private treaty to area ranchers,” says Tyler Radke, of Nolz Limousin and Radke Cattle Company . “We sell about 35 to 40 limousine bulls, and we have a fall female sale, as well, with select show heifers and a couple of steers. We sell those private treaty, as well, to people that come and look and local families as well.

The Radkes also own and operate Radke Cattle Company. Life on the ranch is busy, but Amanda stays busy even off the ranch. Not only do they run a direct-to-consumer beef business, but Amanda is a motivational speaker , children’s book author and a boutique owner.

Listen as Radke shares her story with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory:

Struggles with Infertility

Growing businesses seems to come naturally for the Radkes, but where they struggled was trying to start a family.

“When we first got married, we actually went through a really hard time of infertility and not being able to start a family,” says Amanda. “I really struggled with just feeling like a failure.”

Struggling through the emotions of trying to have a child, the Radkes are now blessed with three.

“Scarlett was born June 3, 2014, Thorne was born June 4, 2016 and Croix was born May 22, 2018,” she says. “So, we had three kids born two years apart, exactly, and life was pretty busy.”

Tyler’s Calling

Tyler and Amanda’s hearts were opened to the idea of adoption as they initially waded through the uncertainty of whether they would be able to have children of their own. One day, after their third child was born, Tyler felt a calling.

“Apparently, I didn’t think we had enough going on,” says Tyler. “I honestly don’t know what I saw that made me think of it.”

“He just said, ‘We need to do foster care.’ And my reaction was very negative, because we were maxed out,” Amanda recalls.

Amanda was on the road constantly giving speeches and doing other travel for her job, all while juggling life with three kids and the family’s growing businesses.

“And so I instantly said, ‘No, you’re crazy. I’m drowning right now,’” remembers Amanda.

A Change of Heart

That day, Amanda headed to the airport for a work trip, and on the plane, her heart was changed.

“But again, God had a different plan, because I got on a plane, and the movie on the plane that day was ‘ Instant Family ’, which is a movie about foster care. And so I’m sitting on the plane bawling like a baby.”

She left on the work trip thinking Tyler’s idea was crazy, but that moment instantly changed her mind.

“He’s the steady, even keeled member of our relationship. I mean, he keeps the family going, and I have crazy, wild ideas that go take us off on other journeys and adventures,” Amanda says with a smile. “So for him to have that thought, I truly don’t think it even would have happened had it not been for god giving him that nudge to say, ‘Get this ball rolling.’”

So, that’s exactly what Tyler and Amanda did.

“We call the office and we just want information on how do we get involved and they said, ‘You’re in luck, the Mitchell training started last week, you guys can jump in,’” says Amanda.

The Start of their Journey to Foster

That happened in April, and by August, Amanda was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend when an unexpected call came.

“It was the state, and they had two kids and they needed them emergency placement for that weekend, “ she says. “And I said, ‘I don’t even have our license.’ And they said, ‘Yes, we just threw it in the mail.’”

When Tyler and Amanda told their friends and families their wild idea and decision to foster, they admit not everyone was as receptive to the idea, especially her parents.

“They were scared,” says Amanda. “They were worried about our own kids and the effect that have on them. And just they knew we were a young couple, working full-time jobs, trying to build this farm, we’re trying to be in the seed stock business. We were very maxed out as far as time goes. So, I think in their minds, they’re like, ‘You don’t have time to do this.’”

She says the conversations that followed weren’t easy, as their strong system of support questioned the decision they had just made.

“At one point, I told my dad, ‘Take it up with Jesus, because this isn’t even us. We don’t even know what we’re doing either. So, we can’t even really fully explain it.’ But all it took was that meeting those first two kids, and they got it,” says Amanda.

She says in the last two years with the pandemic, they’ve welcomed a dozen children into their home to foster.

“I just truly believe that there can be a lot of healing done on the farm,” says Amanda.

From healing to growth, she’s even witnessed growth with their three children.

“They became like little agvocates, because they’re teaching these kids about the farm,” says Amanda. “And we just kind of step back and let them do their thing. So, they’re giving them the tour, and they’re teaching them how to pick grass and feed calves through the fence.”

Another Call–This Time, About a 7-Month-Old Baby

Fostering has been far from easy for the family, but as the Radkes can attest, life often reveals other plans. That was the case in 2020. As the world shut down and so did Amanda’s work travel, she was questioning what was next.

“And a week later, we got a call for a seven-month-old baby. And I was like, ‘Oh, now I see why my schedule is cleared, because we have a whole different adventure to go on,” she remembers.

That baby became part of the family during that time.

“We had that baby all of 2020 and got to do all of her milestones with her and love on her,” says Amanda. “And on her first birthday, we found out she was leaving. My heart broke into a million pieces because that was my baby.”

The Radkes knew they’d only have her temporarily, but they were attached and the entire family was crushed.

The Final Call for a Forever Home

Tyler and Amanda had to hold it together for their three children. So, that’s what they did, and life continued to go on, just as it did before. But a few weeks later, another call came.

“And that’s where Alex came in,” says Tyler. “He had been in some foster homes before, coming and going, and now he was available for adoption. Wherever he went was basically going to be his next home.”

They sent Amanda a picture of Alex. He had blond hair and blue eyes, just like their other three kids.

“And I about fell over because I said, ‘He looks like our son.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I know. That’s why I called you.’ And I said, ‘Okay, I need to talk to Tyler.’”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amanda Radke | Author, Speaker, Rancher (@amandaradke)

At that time, it was a very harsh calving season. Tyler was also busy with cattle shows and sales, so their businesses were extremely busy. The decision to adopt wasn’t taken lightly.

“We’d learned from the dozen kids that the dynamics changed significantly, if it’s a-seven-month-old, or we’ve had an 11-year-old, and it changes the family dynamic,” says Amanda.

The risks. The what ifs. The unknowns. The entire family had already experienced it with a dozen children, but temporarily. Yet, they agreed to meet Alex, and ultimately, become his forever home.

“Four days later, he had packed up his bags and moved to our house for good,” says Amanda.

Alex’s Adoption Day

Adoption day came October 5, 2021. The wild adventure and continuous chaos at the farm is where Alex seems to fit right in.

“Within that first year, he knew all the equipment in the field, he could rattle it off and had tons of farm knowledge. It was just crazy how he soaked it up like a sponge,” she says.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amanda Radke | Author, Speaker, Rancher (@amandaradke)

Alex is a four-year old who has braved more in his little life than many will have to do in their entire lifetime.

“We always called him our superhero cowboy because when he came, he loved superheroes, but one night, very early on, I tucked him into bed, and he said, ‘Mama, can I be a cowboy?” And I said, ‘Cowboy? You already are buddy,’ and not because he lives on a farm now and we have cows, but because of how brave he is to change homes and to trust us,” says Amanda.

The trust has grown not only with Tyler and Amanda, but also their other three children. Scarlett, their oldest, stepped into the role of mama bear to not just Alex, but to all the kids the family has fostered the past few years.

“I taught them to be safe on the farm, not to go under the tractor. Don’t go into the pen, especially if there’s a crabby mama,” says Scarlett.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amanda Radke | Author, Speaker, Rancher (@amandaradke)

And as they only girl, Scarlett can hold her own, especially when the boys become rowdy.

“I tell them I’m going to wrangle them up with my pink rope,” she says with a big smile.

Creating a Farm Sanctuary to Help Kids Heal

From fostering to now adoption, the Radke’s heart of service and selflessness have helped create a farm sanctuary that has helped children heal.

“Their lives have been pretty tumultuous, really,” says Tyler.

“I think giving them that space has helped,” adds Amanda.

“Well, depending on what you’re doing for that day, but for the most part, space,” adds Tyler as he smiles.

Tyler says he may never know what sparked his crazy idea to foster that day a few years back, but he just knew how lucky his kids were to grow up on a farm.

“I just wanted to share that with other kids that maybe had tougher luck than ours did, because they deserve the same,” Tyler says.

Fostering Because the Kids Are Worth Fighting For

Amanda says they’ve seen firsthand how the need for more foster parents across the U.S. is tremendous.

“There are more than 400,000 kids in the U.S. foster system today that are waiting for a forever mom and dad. And then there’s even more of them that are going to be temporarily in foster care before they can be reunified [with their family],” she says. “And so if there’s even a calling remotely on your heart to step into this really hard space, don’t ignore it, because the kids are worth fighting for.”

The Radkes have three goals: provide peace with a place to heal, experience a family full of love and introduce them to a household strong in faith. A recipe that’s filled with grit and grace.

“We always tell people, there’s always room for one more at the dinner table,” she says. “It’s been hard, but at the same time, we’ve been able to just roll with the punches and take on a little bit extra. When you think you’re maxed out, there’s always a little extra space to help someone.”

Amanda says even if you don’t want to start the process to become a foster parent , there are other ways you can support foster families who are in need of supplies and other donations as they continue their foster journey.

Grit with Grace

You can watch more touching and inspiring stories from across rural America in Grit with Grace.

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The Power of Love and Faith: How a Journey to Help Foster Kids Heal On the Farm Led One to Their Forever Home

Tyler’s Calling

A Change of Heart

The Start of their Journey to Foster

Another Call–This Time, About a 7-Month-Old Baby

The Final Call for a Forever Home

Alex’s Adoption Day

Creating a Farm Sanctuary to Help Kids Heal

Fostering Because the Kids Are Worth Fighting For

Grit with Grace