Today let’s learn about a cross-section of agriculture. Let’s talk to a cattle feeder, a timber producer, a crop farmer, a stocker cattle grower, and a beef seedstock producer.
To cover all of these, we could bring together a panel of people from across the state. Or, we could meet a single innovative family which has diversified into multiple segments of the agriculture industry.
Dirck and Natalie Hoagland of J&N Ranch are owners of the family operation that includes multiple components of agriculture. It began in 1866 when Dirck’s ancestors homesteaded near the rural community of Tecumseh. The population of Tecumseh and the nearby areas is 696 people. Now, that’s rural.
“We still own part of that original farm ground,” Dirck Hoagland said. Known as the Decker Farm, it is mostly native prairie that is now leased to local producers.
Hoagland’s parents, Joe and Norma Hoagland, started raising registered cattle in 1978. In 1985, they bought a ranch along the Missouri River near Leavenworth and moved their cowherd to that site. Using their initials, the place was named J&N Ranch. Later, the Hoaglands acquired the Gunbarrel Ranch in Wabaunsee County and the F. Morgan Feedyard near Leavenworth.
