Community-minded citizens – Lungren family recognized by Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors
Worland – During the 2015 Ag Appreciation Dinner on Feb. 3, organized by the Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors, South Flat Land and Livestock, owned and operated by the Lloyd Lungren family, was recognized for their long-standing support of the agriculture industry in the Basin.
“Our Ag Family of the Year is an innovative family,” said Jim Miller, president of the Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors, as he read the Lungren’s nomination. “They are working toward soil improvement using minimum tillage and crop rotations of sugarbeets, beans, barley, alfalfa seed and grain corn.”
Family based operation
The Lungren family came to Washakie County in the 1920s when Adam Lungren moved to the area and started the farm. Adam’s son Lloyd, the oldest generation on the ranch today, continued his father’s traditions and developed the operation further.
“Lloyd believes the best fertilizer one can put on a field is a bootprint,” Miller said. “He’s tough, and he’s survived tough times over his ag career in the Basin.”
Lloyd’s son Vance also continued the operation, and today, Vance’s sons Vance, Jr., known as Vanny, and Clint work on the farm and ranch with their families. Four generations live on the farm and ranch today.
Lloyd’s wife Ruth, Vance’s wife Debbie, Vanny’s wife Kim and children Kaden, Tristen and Lily, as well as Clint’s wife Sara and children Owen and Paige, all call South Flat Land and Livestock home.
“Ruth is a spiritual leader and a rock of faith. She has been the rudder of the ship as she guides and passes on many of her longstanding German traditions to the new generations and to the community,” Miller added. “Always finding time to help, her compassion and selflessness are unparalleled.”
Each of the family members has their own specialty and expertise on the operation, making it an overall successful farm and ranch and enabling the family to reach the height of productivity.
“When needed, everyone works in all aspects of the farm, ranch, pumpkin patch and corn maze,” Miller said.
Diversified operation
At South Flat Land and Livestock, which sits just south of Worland, the Lungrens run a farm and commercial Black Angus cow/calf operation, pumpkin patch and corn maze. Each aspect of their operations benefits the others.
Clint primarily runs the farming operation and has continually worked to improve the efficiency of the operation.
The farm originally started by producing sugarbeets.
“Sugarbeets have been a very good crop for us. They have been in our family for a long time, and we have a lot of good history with the sugarbeets,” said Vanny. “We’ve been able to blend the sugarbeets in well with our cattle operation, whether we are talking about feeding the beet pulp coming out of the factory or grazing cattle on beet tops in the winter.”
Barley, corn, pinto beans and seed alfalfa were strategically added throughout the course of time to capture market value and increase the productivity of the operation.
“The cows are able to utilize the resources that the farm has,” Vanny added.
Cattle
The Black Angus commercial cows run on the headwaters of No Water Creek, but the cattle are run at the farm closer to town, as well.
“We start calving the first week of May,” Vance explained. “The calves hit the ground running, and the cows produce a lot of milk.”
During the summer, the cows run out on the range. They are trailed back to the farm for the winter, where they are able to graze grain, beet tops and other crop residue.
“We have be able to double-crop some of our acres and provide much-needed fall pastures through these times when feed is high-priced,” Vanny added.
Work together
“All of the family members are conscientious producers who are always striving to make the best choices on their operation and are cognizant of the impacts of those decisions on natural resources,” Miller continued. “When it is economically feasible, they implement practices that have a positive impact on those resources.”
“We love the challenge of ranching,” said Lloyd.
Vance noted that his sons compliment each other in their strengths, allowing them to work together well and prosper.
“It’s amazing how well these entities compliment one another,” Vanny added. “They really go together well in a lot of aspects, and it helps us to be successful.”
On presenting the 2015 Ag Citizen of the Year Award, Miller commented, “Congratulations to an agriculture family who is successful, innovative and a hard act to follow.”
Ag Ambassadors
The Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors work each year to serve the producers in the Basin.
“The Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors was formed to help promote ag and education in our citizens about ag,” says Tori Dietz, Washakie County Conservation District manager. “Our group includes the Washakie County Conservation District, Washakie County Cooperative Extension Service, local ranchers and farmers, USDA Farm Service Agency, Allied Seed Company, Security State Bank, ANB Bank, Pinnacle Bank, Worland Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce and some local businessmen.”
The Ambassadors strive to provide information and education to farm and ranch families to help them achieve their business goals. They are also proactively involved in the social and economic issues affecting the farm and ranch community and work to educate the general public about the impacts that agriculture has on the economy, ecology and society as a whole.
Ag Citizen of the Year
Since 1998, the Big Horn Basin Ag Ambassadors have recognized an outstanding member of the ag community for their time and effort toward improving the area.
Previous award winners include Phil Huber, Terrill Gibbons, Bill Glanz, Gary Rice, Ray Lowe, Kathy Bush, Dave Asay, Jim Gill, Elmer Nelson, Sam and Phyllis Hampton, the Brewster family, the Harold Miller family, Sharon Kelly, Propp Farms and Dick McKamey.
Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at saige@wylr.net.
