Woody Barth lives and farms near Solen, N.D., located midway between Billings, MT and Minneapolis, MN.  When he needs to run into town, he can head north and be in Bismarck in about an hour.  At home, he runs a cow/calf operation and grows some no-till corn, too.

“I got started in this business in 1981 with my father when we started with a small feedlot.  He’s gone now, but the feedlot is still there.  We could make it viable again if we wanted to do it.  Today, we raise calves – sell some of them in the fall and background a few through the winter.

“We’ve got about 200 mama cows on 1,700 acres.  We raise an Angus/Simmental cross which does well in this climate.  They get to the size want – 1,250-1,350 pounds – and they’re very efficient at converting grass to meat.

“This is still a family farm,” he said. “I work it with my brother, my wife, Carmell, and my daughter, Rachel.  She’s 14 and enjoys working around here.  I’m not sure if she’ll still like it when she’s older but it’s fun having her help out now.

“We feed some of the corn to our herd,” he said. “And sell some of it to the ethanol businesses in the area.”

No-till is S.O.P. in this very dry climate.  Barth said about 90 percent of the acreage in his area is no-till and many of his neighbors practiced it for crops like corn, sunflowers and wheat.  “We need to conserve all the soil moisture we can,” he said. “It cuts down on labor and other expenses.”

Barth is a fan of modern farming practices.  He uses a GPS system to help him with his row crops, for instance. “We’ll need to become more and more efficient to continue feeding as many people as we do.  We’ll probably have less labor, less land and more regulations in the future.  Advances in agriculture will be necessary to running a profitable business.”

When a lot of news about the future or agriculture is bad, Barth is an avid optimist. I asked him the exodus of young people from rural areas.  He made a point that higher grain prices and a better chance to make a profit were actually bringing more young people back to the farm.  “If we can show them that farming can pay a good wage – competitive with other industries – they’ll come back.  We need to show them that, whether they’re risking their own money or using borrowed money, they can realize a decent return on their investment.”

It was his work with the 40,000 member North Dakota Farmers Union that led to his appointment to CBB.  Currently serving as their Vice President, he was drafted for the position last fall by NDFU’s President and Board of Directors and officially sworn in during the Denver meeting in February.  “When they asked, I said yes and I am excited to be able to help create more demand for beef.” 

Talking about his recent appointment to CBB where he serves on the issues management committee, he said, “Right now, we’re facing a reduced herd size and an expanding export market and we want to create more demand in the U.S. for good, American beef.  That’s quite a balancing act but we’ll be working hard on developing consumer information, market tips and new retail products.”