There may be life off the ranch, but any Fremont County farmer or rancher will tell you – The #aglife is “the good life!” #Aglife is a County 10 series, brought to you by Wyoming Community Bank, that pulls the curtain back on farm and ranch life in Fremont County.
Written by Randy Tucker
It takes faith to be a farmer. Matthew 17:20 says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.”
For Lance and Cori Hamilton, that type of faith is a daily way of life. The couple and their four children, Samantha (18), Braxton (13), Braydon (11), and Branson (6), split their time in Hudson and Riverton, either attending school (Samantha and Braxton), homeschooling (Braydon and Branson) with Cori, or working on the family farms located in both towns.
“We spend a lot of time driving back and forth,” Lance said.
Neighbors and friends often say that Lance Hamilton is the hardest-working man they know. His dedication to his family and to making a go of it in the uncertain world of agriculture is easy to see.
Lance graduated from Lander Valley High School in 2005. He went on to Wyo Tech in Laramie, learning to become a diesel mechanic.
He is from one of the well-established ag families in Fremont County. His parents, Dale and Amy Hamilton, have a ranching operation on the east end of Hudson. That’s where Lance and his two brothers, Jerrad and Brady, grew up. All three sons are involved in agriculture.
After graduating from Wyo Tech, Lance began working at Lathrope Equipment in Riverton and later at Stotz Equipment after it purchased Lathrope as a mechanic.
Cori grew up near Ft. Collins, Colorado, in the little unincorporated mountain community of Bellvue. She graduated from Poudre Valley High School in 2006.
Cori enrolled in the Equine Science Program at Central Wyoming College in the fall of 2006. She attended CWC for a year, then took a job in the parts department at Stotz Equipment. That’s where the couple met. They were married in 2011.
“We bought a house, or we attempted to buy a house in Riverton,” Lance said.
That didn’t work out, but they had a better offer from Lance’s parents.
“My parents gave us land to build a house on,” Lance said.
In 2017, they took a leap of faith and began farming 70 acres east of Dale and Amy’s house in Hudson.
In 2018, venerable Riverton farmer Richard Haun decided to sell his very productive farm. Richard sold the property in three sections. Lance and Cori purchased 148 acres from Richard, including three well-designed feedlots set on the edge of the bluffs on the north end of the property.
A few years later, they purchased another 200 acres from Bill Jennings that borders U.S. Highway 26 and extends west, joining the property they purchased from Richard. Adding to these three plots, they lease an additional 120 acres in Hudson.
They raise corn for silage and alfalfa to feed cattle.
Lance has a deep, well-drained silage pit he fills with chopped corn each fall. He mixes large scoops of silage with hay, grinds it, and feeds cattle for ranchers near Elk Mountain in Carbon County and to Fremont County growers in Lyons Valley.
In a family connection, he has a constant herd of 300 market cattle he finishes for his brother Jared at Frank’s Butcher Shop in Hudson.
“We were sending 20 to 24 head out a week, but the cattle market went wild and now we ship out about eight a week,” Lance said.
Life on the farm. h/t Cori Hamilton
They finish the cattle for up to 140 days before they’re taken to Hudson for processing.
“Cattle prices have tripled in the last few years,” Lance said. “There’s nothing wrong with cattle people making a little money.”
Cattle prices are at record highs, and hay was at a lower price the last two years, creating an ideal situation for established cattle growers. The question with the oncoming drought is what the lack of rain, snow, and subsequent irrigation water will do to hay prices this fall. Lower production always means higher prices.
The Hamiltons feed hard corn as well. They purchase it from Richard Pingetzer, who has fields near Bass Lake.
Last winter, they fed 1,700 to 1,800 replacement heifers on their three separate feedlots.
Faith is central to their lives.
“We try to live as followers of Jesus,” Lance said. “Good neighbors, friends, and family are important, but if it isn’t the will of the Lord, it just won’t make it.”
Braxton and Braydon are part of the Praise Team at Hudson Community Church. Braydon plays the guitar and Braxton the drums.
Lance and Cori are exceptions to an uphill battle when it comes to young people trying to make a living in agriculture.
Unless someone inherits an operation from their parents or grandparents, the inputs are so high that it is nearly impossible to break into agriculture.
Equipment is expensive. Tractors, combines, and swathers start at $100 to $250,000, with balers and center pivot irrigation systems not far behind.
Add the instability of markets, and it’s a gamble from the outset. Buying land that increases in value each year and combining those inputs into a profitable enterprise is a balancing act worthy of the Ringling Brothers Circus.
Lance and Cori take it in stride.
Cori teaches at Western Heritage and brings Braydon and Branson with her, homeschooling them there while they receive additional instruction. Braydon will be a full-time student at Western Heritage next fall.
“We had a generous landowner in Hudson,” Lance said. “He owner-financed the property for us.”
“Richard started with a lease-to-own,” Cori said. “Billy Jennings gave us a five-year lease with a purchase at the end.”
Even with these incentives, it’s a challenge to make ends meet as a young farmer.
“I don’t think it would be possible if we had to get a loan from the bank,” Lance said. “It’s tight; hopefully, this year it doesn’t get tighter.”
The children are following in their parents’ footsteps.
Samantha has grown her own cattle herd from one cow to eight now. She is active in the Riverton FFA and in 4H.
Next fall, she will be a member of the Central Wyoming College Livestock Judging Team. Samantha plans to major in equine and animal science and will be in the CWC farrier program.
For the younger boys, the farm is a playground. They splash in mud puddles, clear wrap off round bales so Lance can load and grind them, and enjoy life on the farm in a way that goes back several generations.
Braydon and Branson were spinning on the tires of a parked disk like it was a merry-go-round and clanking away in the metal scrap pile.
They both love riding the 4×4 and already know how to drive most of the equipment.
“Samantha is our tractor driver,” Cori said. “She does a lot of work on the farm.”
Hay is getting short as winter turns to spring. Lance’s brother Brady purchased a stationary hay pellet mill from Lloyd Dechert a few years ago.
Brady’s operation is at the intersection of Burma Road and the Missouri Valley Highway.
“Brady has found some hay for us,” Lance said.
Brady is also a skilled mechanic who used to work at Brown Company.
Between them, there isn’t much that Brady and Lance can’t repair.
The Hamilton family is extending beyond the confines of the little town of Hudson with each successive generation.
Lance and Cori’s business plan is a solid one. They aren’t directly affected by the rising cattle prices, but can still turn their approximately 450 acres of cropland into a value-added commodity by custom feeding beef cattle.
They had a pen full of bulls, another of cattle destined for Frank’s Butcher Shop, and the main pen filled with Angus steers.
The boys played with their faithful dog, Huckleberry Finn, most often called just Finn by the youngsters.
In an uncertain world, you can count on the faith, love, and connections of family.
The Hamiltons do it every day.