From the Pacific Ocean to the Sagebrush Seas and Everywhere in Between

By Madeline Holmes

Hi there! My name is Madeline Holmes and I am the new Marketing and Communications Director for the Wyoming Stock Growers. I have a deep passion for the beef industry and have made it my goal to know it inside and out. 

My “first” exposure to the beef industry was when I decided to make my entrance into the world. While mom was hauling calves her water broke but water on our ranch also broke. So, Mom waited while Dad went and fixed the water issue. Then they headed to the hospital while dad was scheduling loads of cattle and I came home in the blue, single cab, flatbed, ranch pickup. From that point forward horses, cattle, and cowboying were my whole world. I had an old gelding named Shorty who was my main mount. He was indeed very short and very slow, but he taught me the ropes (literally). I spent my youngest days causing chaos at Humboldt Auction Yard, where my mom worked. I would run around with the bummer calves, goats, sheep, and whatever else was back in the smaller pens. When I got hungry I would go into the cafe and get the most delectable hotdog, cut into little slices by Deb, and if I was lucky they would have macaroni salad to go with and a squirt with pebble ice. Later down the road the Auction Yard would become my first real job.

If I wasn’t at the Auction Yard or in school, I was working with my dad and our friends on our ranches and theirs. Days were spent fixing water and fences, building new corrals, putting out mineral, and checking cattle. The best days were those that were spent gathering and branding. These days were usually filled with friends, food, and good memories. These were the days I looked forward to most. The kids would take off on their horses through the hills and race their little hearts out. We would be back just in time to rope the little calves. Once we got a little bit older we could help on the ground, whether that was shots, ear tags,  chalk, or any other small things. Afterward, we would go to the beach to play in the tide pools and the waves. Did I mention I was from the north coast of California? Where the fog is thick, the wind is harsh, and we push cattle up the beach. It’s truly an incredible place.

Each ranch had a particular meal. We had carne asada tacos at ours, the Zanone’s typically had burgers or roasts, Toad and Charlie always had corned beef, cabbage, and green beans, while the Chamberlains had Ferndale Pizza, with lasagna. If you know me you know that I love to cook and bake. I truly believe that these big work days gave me that passion. Sharon always had her famous spinach dip and pasta salad at the ready and mom always had brownie-cookie bars and speculoos, a Dutch specialty from my family. My mom and Beppi (grandma) were always very inviting, so I was always in the kitchen, learning from the best. I was the designated cook in our Wilson stock trailer kitchen and camp when hunting season rolled around. I hope to have a crew of my own to cook for one day. It’s one of my biggest dreams. Until then, I’ll be sure to have everything mastered, so when that day comes, I am ready. That said, if you ever need someone to cook for your big work days, I am your girl. I’m known best for my carne asada tacos and cinnamon rolls.

I was heavily involved in all things Ag growing up. In 4-H I raised lambs, goats, and meat rabbits. In FFA I was a part of Dairy Cattle Judging, Job Interview, and my personal favorite, parliamentary procedure. I also raised dairy replacement heifers. You’re probably wondering: Why with such a strong background within the beef industry did she not raise beef cattle? Well, to be completely honest, show cattle were and still are very expensive and the feed bill is steep. Our calves wouldn’t have gotten me too far with showing, so I did dairy instead. Being from Humboldt County, there were lots of dairies and it was much more affordable to raise dairy replacement heifers. This led to me becoming the District 2 Dairy Princess and being a very strong advocate for the dairy industry. After all, dairy is a part of the beef industry. Don’t fret, I never lost my passion for the beef industry. I was a beef ambassador through the Humboldt County Cattlewomen’s.

I transferred to the University of Wyoming in the fall of 2021 as an agriculture communications and business major. I found some roommates on Facebook and we quickly became close friends. I went to many football games and began working at 307 Meat Company as an apprentice butcher. While many aspects of the job were challenging, I loved it. I became one of the faster cutters and made sure I got to know every primal, cut, and species. I also worked on the harvest floor and became quite comfortable with a portion of the process as well. I began to run the social media and do a little marketing. In the fall of 2022, I joined the UW Meat Judging team. With a rigorous class and practice schedule I couldn’t continue to work at 307.

I started meat judging and it was rough at first. I could not grasp the concept of yield grading and it took me a very long time to write out my reasons. But eventually, I caught up and became one of the top five team members pretty consistently. I began working in the UW Meat Lab and my entire personality was meat. From practice at five am multiple weekdays, Friday nights spent in JBS Greeley, and super Saturdays that started at five am, it was rigorous, but I loved it. Had McKensie Phillips not convinced me to join, I would have never experienced this. Meat judging was by far my best college memory. At our first contest, the National Western Stock Show,  we met the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Team. We were told that they select a team each year to come back to Australia in July to be a part of their ICMJ Conference. Once I heard that I knew we had to get to know them. I told the team we were going to Australia and a few of them said good luck and that it wouldn’t happen. We invited them to dinner at Cinzetti’s in Denver and got to know them all. I secured an internship on an Australian feedlot right then and there. The next day we went to the awards banquet and did exceptionally well. We called it the “The Comeback Tour” and we did just that. We put UW on the map. To our surprise, we were invited by the Australian team to come and be a part of their conference. From that day forward the planning began, passports were acquired, and plane tickets were purchased.

I wasn’t supposed to graduate until December of 2023, but I managed to pull it off and walked on a Saturday in May after branding calves earlier that morning in Saratoga. I hadn’t heard anything about my visa and had no clue what I was going to do next. Lindsey Wamsley, the manager of the One Bar Eleven Ranch said they needed help and I moved back as summer help. My visa was approved and I left the States on July 1st. The meat judging team did some tours, saw some kangaroos, made lots of friends, ate lots of new food, saw kelpies push up sheep at a processing plant, experienced different cultures, unintentionally swam with a shark, saw the Sydney Opera House, went on many industry tours, checked out some pubs, and eventually, they went home and I stayed. I was picked up from the Brisbane International Airport by the Whyalla feedlots HR manager and headed to Texas, Queensland. I moved in my things and started the next day.

I started in the induction shed, then to the vet crew where I saw some pretty gnarly abscesses and toe amputations, pen riding, dispatch, and my personal favorite, the feed crew. I loved driving the feed truck and being in the mill. If you were on the feed crew you also got to have air conditioning, which was not a luxury of most other sections I worked in. The worst job was by far cleaning troughs. Nobody was allowed to have their phones or else you would get fined heavily, which wasn’t a big deal unless you were on trough cleaning for a couple of days. Each pen had two troughs and there were a lot of pens. Trough cleaning was boring and dirty (especially if you stepped off the edge of the trough into the abyss). Having some music or podcasts would have greatly improved the ordeal. I had some good times and some not-so-good times at Whyalla. Overall, I was happy that I went to the feedlot. Whyalla is a 55,000-head feedlot, currently expanding to take on 75,000 head, and is owned by NH Foods in Japan.

Thankfully, my good pal Lawton (a member of the ICMJ team that competed with us in Denver) worked it out so I could come up to Moranbah, Queensland to work with Signature on Farm and Angus Pastoral. It was a completely different experience at Signature than at Whyalla. I was immediately thrown into things at the abattoir (processing plant). I spent most of my time on the chuck and sirloin sides of the cutting tables and in loadout when I was in the abattoir. Loadout was my favorite part of being inside the abattoir because it was nice and cold and always hot outside. The best days were spent at the Kimberly and Chesterfield stations. I was not at all prepared for my first day on the station. We arrived early in the afternoon, and I only had one small water bottle. We were there until 7:45 in the evening and it was HOT. One was not enough. We processed calves, sorted, gathered, branded, and broke weaner calves. It was truly the experience of a lifetime and I hope to visit a few more times throughout my life. Eventually, it was my time to head home, so I packed my bags and came home. 

I landed back in the US and headed back to the One Bar Eleven to finish up fall and begin the winter works. I learned how to feed and before I knew it, calving season was upon us. The heifers started calving, and everything was going smoothly until one waspy heifer didn’t care for me all that much and smashed me into a gate. Three screws, lots of stitches, physical therapy, and doctor trips later my hand is alright. Winter led into spring and it was everyone’s favorite time of the year: branding season. We branded our calves and neighbors and soon enough it was summertime. I fixed a lot of fences, got the cows and heifers bred, and started the haying. Then I saw that Stock Growers was hiring, I applied, interviewed, and was offered the job. So that’s how I ended up here. Feel free to reach out regarding convention details, membership, advertising, and whatever else you want to chat about. I am so incredibly happy to be a part of Stock Growers I cannot wait to see what this position has in store for me.