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.
The Von Krosigk and Gardner families have a long history in Fremont County agriculture. That history continues in Dave Gardner’s and Dean Von Krosigk’s grandson Chad Gardner.
Chad traces his family ancestry in Wyoming back to the 1860s when the Union Pacific Railroad opened up the southern stretches of the state to farming and ranching.
Chad’s family roots go back to his grandmother Claudine’s family, the Stolls, originally from the Bridger Valley but Fremont County people dating back to Chief Washakie and the creation of the Eastern Shoshone Reservation.
Chad’s great-great-grandmother was a Shoshone tribal member and his grandmother Claudine is an enrolled member as well.
Jim Stoll, Chad’s great-grandfather, was a well-known farmer and rancher in the Crowheart area. The Stoll’s had four children, Claudine, Patty Jo, John, and Gary. Chad’s grandmother, Claudine was born in 1940.
“Our place was on the old Yellowstone Highway, south of the Crowheart Store,” Claudine said. She and Dave (Chad’s grandfather Dave Gardner) met while both were students at Morton High School. They were married in 1956.
“Our first place was south of Gardner’s Market between Morton and Kinnear,” Claudine said. “Dave grew up at the store. We grew potatoes those first few years.”
The couple had three sons, Greg in 1956, Bret in 1960, and Kelly in 1968.
Bret married Laurie Von Krosigk, the daughter of Dean and Charleen, and started farming at their Missouri Valley farm where Chad and his older sister Missy were raised.
Chad carries on the family tradition in farming on Hoot Owl Road north of Riverton.
He purchased his grandfather Dean’s farm in 2017, and lives on the 80 acres with his fiancé Charene Herrera.
Hugh lost the place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, but his father, Chad’s great-grandfather, Sam Von Krosigk, helped him keep the place.
“Sam stepped in to bail him out, but lost his place,” Chad said. “Sam moved here.”
Chad and Charene, and their two dogs, Eddy and Bridger live on the home place.
Charene has a broadcast studio set up on their sun porch, facing east towards Boysen Reservoir where she broadcasts her daily radio show on 97.5 The Brand.
Its also her base of operations for her “Media Adventure Queen” business.
“I do both radio and podcasting side work through it,” Charene said. “Radio, media, podcasting, consulting.”
The wood burning stove near the entrance to their home is a testament to Charene’s transition from a city girl who grew up in Billings, Montana to a country gal.
“I traded a hog for the stove,” Charene said. “I’m learning how bartering works.”
Chad is a lifelong Fremont County resident.
He graduated from Shoshoni High School in 2001, attended Dakota State University for a year on a football scholarship before transferring to the University of Wyoming where he played defensive tackle for the Cowboys.
He studied history at UW for a while but soon realized there wasn’t much he could do with a history degree aside from teaching, and he didn’t want to become a teacher. He switched to Ag Business and graduated with a BA in the fall of 2005.
In 2006 he returned to Fremont County and tried his hand at farming.
“I leased a 200-acre place at Sand Gulch,” Chad said. “I raised alfalfa and had cattle at the time, registered Angus, in partnership with my parents.” They operated Gardner’s Heart Dot Angus Ranch.
He farmed the place until 2011, continuing to look for other properties.
“I couldn’t find anything, so I helped on the ranch,” Chad said.
He started a trucking business in 2007, Gardner Transport. He has a pair of semi-tractors, a 1996 Peterbilt, and a 2001 Freightliner. With his two semi-trucks, he has four trailers, a stock trailer, a grain hopper, a drop deck, and a live floor. There isn’t much that Chad can’t load on one of his trailers and take on both short, and long hauls.
“My dad and I do most of our mechanic work,” Chad said.
At present their farm has an older, open-faced barn that isn’t conducive to working on trucks and tractors.
“We’re planning on tearing that down and building a new, enclosed shop,” Charene said.
In 2013, Chad left Wyoming for Sydney, Nebraska. He worked as a grain merchandiser for West Plains, handling wheat, corn, and distillers’ grain, which is used to make ethanol. He stayed with West Plains for a year.
“I wanted to come back to the great state of Wyoming,” Chad said. “And return to production agriculture. It is my passion.”
Returning to Fremont County in 2014, he wasn’t able to find anything to purchase.
In 2017, he purchased his farm from his grandparents Dean and Charleen.
He has 55 acres under pivot at his farm, and leases two other places.
He farms 300 acres owned by Tim Davis on the west side of Ocean Lake, and 170 acres on Riverview owned by Eli Bebout.
He raises beets, corn and barley.
“In 2019, I got into beets,” Chad said. “Brett Weber talked me into raising beets. Beets are always hit or miss.”
While Chad’s family history dates back to the opening of homesteading on the former Wind River Indian Reservation in 1906, he is a modern farmer, in tune with new trends, and not afraid to put them into practice.
You might call him a progressive farmer.
“I’m looking into progressive farming, strip-till and no-till,” Chad said. “Both methods are good for soil health.”
Chad and Charene are currently looking to explore progressive farming techniques.
Balancing trucking, farming, and cattle ranching isn’t a dance for the faint-hearted.
“I farmed in the summer, trucked when the opportunity arrived, and raised cattle year-round,” Chad said. “Cattle make you stay home.”
Cattle were an anchor. It’s something a young farmer and businessman didn’t need. Chad got out of the cattle business.
He is active in his community, serving on the LeClair Irrigation Board, and is a 19-year veteran of the Missouri Valley Volunteer Fire Department.
Charene and Chad have set a wedding date for February 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Charene has embraced the agricultural life. She loves the farm and the rural lifestyle.
“The barley we raise here goes to Wisconsin to Briess,” Charene said. “If you’re a microbrewer odds are you’ve bought barley from Briess.”
Chads three operations are a long way apart. The Tim Davis operation, on Gabe’s Road south of Pavillion is 30 miles from Hoot Owl Road, and the Bebout farm near the Riverton Golf Course is 15.
“I do a lot of roading with tractors,” Chad said. “Which is hard on tires.”
Charene was raised by her grandmother in Billings, MT.
“My grandpa and great grandpa raised Angus near Albuquerque,” Charene said. “I have it in my blood a little bit.”
Charene, “The Adventure Queen” is her radio personality, but she lives up to it with interests in the outdoors, agriculture, and even ice fishing.
“I’m interested in pigs,” Charene said. “I do enjoy the sustainability of pigs. I traded a pig for that Blaze King Stove. I’m learning how to trade for the things I need.”
The solace of rural living, the beauty of the land around her, and the isolation call to Charene.
“The rural life I’m living, after growing up in Billings, you can live here without any of the modern luxuries,” Charene said. “Both sides of his family were so into agriculture. The Von Krosigk’s championship sheep and grandpa Dave’s and the Gardner family in Missouri Valley.”
Sugar beets are labor intensive and require timely irrigation and a bit of luck with a fall frost at just the right time to force sugar into the beet. Sugar percentage makes or breaks a beet farmer.
Fremont County has a long history in beet production, but the harvest must be taken to Worland for processing. Its modern agriculture at its cutting edge best.
The young couple has found their niche in life. Chad is gone for brief stretches running freight across the Midwest and into Texas.