Innovative Ranchers in the morning ,,,

First day at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko: about 22 deg. F., but sunny in the morning. We were fortunate and allowed to take part at the annual ranch tour, part of the program. We did it last year and were fascinated how diverse ranching can be. It’s no longer all about big herds of cattle here.

By bus we drove out to the "country side" - beautiful landscape! – to „Starr Valley“, a no-longer-existing town consisting of a couple of spread-out ranches and a Community Hall. One of the families ranching here is the Lotspeich Family, tracing back their roots to Prussian immigrants by name Grock, who settled here in the late 19th century and found a workshop to repair farming equipment and to build new machinery from scratch.

The old workshop was our first stop, old machinery of all kinds. The young owner, Dan, who has two mechanical degrees (and is a former Marine) showed us around and demonstrated the old equipment. Seemed like time stood still in the workshop.



Next stop: the Family Farm, where we went for a hay-wagon-ride to see how diversification can look like in this neck of the woods : About a dozen of cows, a herd of sheep with lamas as their watchdogs, red-tailed hawks, and: greenhouses! In the harsh climate of Northeastern Nevada the family started a business, growing veggies and berries in sturdy, wind-proof greenhouses. Starting small, they are in the meantime providing the whole area with fresh produce, especially on Elko farmers’ market. That’s the domain of Leslie, Dan’s mother, a retired teacher, and she proudly showed us her salads and peas and talked about her methods of gardening (organic, but not certified as such, because of all the regulations - sounds familiar!). Highly interesting!

After the site tour we were invited over to the free-standing Community Hall (seat of the „Starr Valley Progressive Club“, founded in 1913), where lunch was being served, cooked in Dutch Ovens. We got beef stew and biscuits and cobblers and had good conversation with the owners and two performing artists - Amy Hale Auker and her husband Gale Steiger - who were with the group and reciting some poems and singing songs on the bus.