OCONTO – Oconto armed services veteran Makayla Smith has wrangled $1000 from Tractor Supply Company for her most important assignment yet: the launch and growth of the Rolling S Ranch.
The grant is part of a nationwide initiative that saw Tractor Supply donating awards ranging from $1000 to $5000 to 60 farmer veterans in the early stages of their operations, totaling $100,000.
The Rolling S operation, which specializes in custom calving and grazing contracts, has been in Smith’s hands for just over a year, but she says that year wouldn’t have been possible without support from those around her.
“We do everything together. It’s a really neat experience to be able to work with people who are really passionate about what we’re doing and where we’re going. It’s been really awesome.”
Smith’s primary job is to keep the ranch’s numbers in order, but with a total crew of 4 people at Rolling S, she says that more than frequently she’s been roped into “other duties as assigned.”
“I helped during the calving season just the same, took shifts checking cows; we really do everything together.”
In addition to the several jobs Smith has undertaken at Rolling S, she and each of the ranch’s personnel also work full-time jobs outside the operation.
Smith, also an accountant at Broken Bow’s Becton-Dickinson, discovered the grant opportunity with Tractor Supply Company through a group called the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which unites agriculture producer armed services veterans with financial and networking help.
Part of the reason Smith decided to take on the ranching life is a hunger for learning and development; she says that the $1000 is a tremendous help, but pales in comparison to the big picture that involvement with the Farmer Veteran Coalition can provide.
“The Farmer Veteran Coalition has so many resources that I was just tickled to discover the organization. Monetary help is great, but knowledge is power, and they provide a lot of learning opportunities and information and all sorts of other help.”
That help also includes in-person meeting opportunities with ag producer veterans, a perk of the coalition that particularly excites Smith.
The newly-branded rancher says that, surprisingly, so much of what she’s learned over her 2 Middle Eastern tours of duty is fundamental to the sustained growth and stability of the Rolling S operation.
“Obviously a big thing in the military is teamwork, ‘mission first.’ Three feet of snow on the ground, it does not matter: we have to go out and make sure the animals are fed, and we have to do it as safely as possible. Those are things drilled into our heads in the military: you have a mission, and it doesn’t matter what the barrier is, you have to get it done.”
As far as how Smith will implement the $1000, she says there are a number of small fixes that need to be made all around the Rolling S Ranch, from equipment stitches, to pipe patches, to unexpectedly patching something a bit more high-tech.
“Being on the accounting side, I thought I could handle the tracking and record keeping of animals on Excel. I would consider myself very well-versed in Excel, but I have learned the hard way that there are better systems out there and that they’re expensive, but they’re worth it.”
A hydrant and tractor need repairs, as does a cattle tank or two. However, with a grand in hand, Makayla Smith, and her ranch, will keep rolling into this year’s grazing season, and beyond.
