“The statistics show that just 2% of Americans are involved in farming and ranching,” Taylre Sitz states, “and it makes me really proud to be a part of that 2% that is providing fuel and fiber and food to America and the world. It also makes me really proud to be a woman in agriculture. I come from a long line of strong women.” Taylre grew up a member of the sixth generation on her grandparents’ cow-calf operation in Ennis, as well as on her dad and uncle’s fourth-generation seedstock ranch, Sitz Angus, which has locations in Harrison and Dillon. Hailing from generational ranches is a blessing that Taylre finds herself extraordinarily grateful for.  

After graduating with her Master’s in Animal Science from Montana State University in 2023, Taylre has continued to work on her family ranches, as well as work as a part-time veterinary tech for a mobile large animal vet service. She’s developed a passion for agriculture, which has continued to flourish as she has worked in various areas in agriculture and alongside her family. Taylre is a sweet soul: full of energy yet down to earth. Her love and respect for agriculture pushes her forward as she works to maintain a generational legacy and make big changes in the agricultural world. 

As Taylre can attest, growing up in agriculture instills a deep sense of integrity and responsibility. It’s also instrumental in infusing those within the agricultural industry, and especially women, with a sense of determination and grit. “Grit is really driven by conscience,” Taylre expresses, “It is doing the right thing when you know it’s the hard thing, whether it is doing something where you know you’re going to have to be courageous in the face of fear or doing the exhausting task when you’re already exhausted.” Agriculture is an industry that often requires you to set aside your own wants and instead, prioritize the landscape and animals relying on it. Similarly, you must be willing to heed the challenges you are up against, and willing to learn from them.   

Throughout the state, farmers and ranchers are faced with the task of learning how to work alongside the land. Montana, both harsh and beautiful, offers a unique set of challenges in correlation with its landscape, but there is also an immense challenge within the struggle to survive as a wife, as a mother, and as a rancher. Deanna Collins, a retired elementary teacher and rancher in Harrison, represents precisely what it means to be resilient and to persevere. From working a full-time job and still coming home to take care of the cows, she’s spent her life working to create a legacy for her family. “Some of the hardest things were, you know, just making it,” Deanna expresses. 

Deanna grew up around agriculture but never found herself fully involved in the industry until she married her husband, Ed. Together, the two of them built their ranch from the ground up. “We started with probably only two cows, and we borrowed a bull to breed to get them going,” Deanna recalls fondly. From those two cows, Ed and Deanna successfully built their herd up to around 200 head of cattle. Besides her work on her ranch, Deanna found ways to incorporate her ranching lifestyle into her fourth-grade classroom, which provided access to agriculture many kids didn’t have. Bringing agriculture into the classroom over her 36 years of teaching has been incredibly gratifying. 

Deanna, a woman tough as nails and chock-full of determination and faith, has faced many challenges in her years of ranching. She’s withstood droughts, faced the temperamental Montana weather, and seen cattle prices rise and fall. She’s had to make tough decisions to keep her legacy alive. “When the cattle prices go down, it’s not really affordable for the small guy,” Deanna explains. “You end up selling cows and, you know, we’ve always tried to keep it going because we’d like to pass it on to our boys. And so, there’s been times that we had to maybe sell a little bit of land to make a go.”  

But even through the tribulations, there’s nothing else she’d rather have done with her life. “I know how I’m going to go on. I’m going to keep going and it’s going to go to the boys,” she states proudly. While it may be a tough life, it’s rewarding in more ways than one. There’s a deep sense of pride instilled in the notion that as you work for your family, you’re also working to do something good for others. It takes a strong woman in mind and soul to keep working to find solutions when it seems hope is dwindling.  

Women have been and continue to be the backbones of many agricultural operations, especially in Montana. For generations, they’ve stepped into a mixture of roles, ranging from mother to ranch hand. Often inspired by the strong women before them, they take one look at the hard life that would be required of them and dive in, headfirst.  

Tracey Roberts owns and operates Roberts Rattlesnake Creek Alpacas in Argenta. She grew up on a sheep ranch, where she mainly worked alongside her grandmother. “She taught me that women do have a place in agriculture,” Tracey recalls. Her grandmother was the picture of strength and determination, teaching Tracey and her brother what it meant to accept what you have and push forward through the challenges of life. Tracy’s grandmother was her inspiration to start her own agricultural operation 12 years ago.  

In starting her operation, Tracey faced many challenges, both in terms of the landscape, with predator threats, the ever-changing Montana weather, and discrimination because she is a woman. “I have had people look at me like they don’t see me, like they don’t see me doing what I do,” she remarks, speaking on the reactions she received when deciding to quit her office job and pursue her true passion in life. There was a sense of disbelief about what she was aiming to do in starting her own operation, especially later in life. Tracey is a strong-willed woman, however, and didn’t let these challenges keep her from pursuing her passion.  

“It taught me to take a lot of risks,” Tracey states, regarding the building of her ranch. “It also has helped me encourage my kids to reach out and take those risks in life and find out what they really want to do. Don’t put yourself in a mold.”  Through it all, she’s created a successful business, but she’s also discovered what she was meant to do in life. She is painting the same picture for her children and grandchildren that her grandmother painted for her all those years ago. Tracey has found a space that’s granted her the ability to demonstrate that women have an inherent and extraordinarily powerful place in agriculture. They too can create their own legacies, all while building on the perseverance they’ve been taught by their foremothers. 

It’s no secret that the agriculture industry in Montana has changed from the loss of farmland and increased difficulty for young farmers and ranchers to make a living. Ranching and farming are tough lifestyles that require a lifetime of dedication and determination. However, that’s not to say the Montana agricultural industry hasn’t also seen positive changes. New technologies are revolutionizing agriculture, and as the public wants to learn more about where their food comes from, there is an increased hope for small farmers and ranchers to continue to survive. “I think the future of agriculture is bright,” Taylre states. And she’s right: as producers continue to share their stories and their heritage, they’ll be able to keep their legacies alive, all while working to capitalize on the enthusiasm surrounding cowboy culture.  

In striving to tell these stories of heritage, farmers and ranchers—and the women working to keep their operations alive—can continue to honor the generations who came before. “In thinking about tradition, I think it’s about honoring the work that those who’ve come before you have done and all that they have accomplished,” Taylre illustrates. There’s a balance to be struck between maintaining tradition and a willingness to explore new ideas. In weaving together tradition and adaptation, there’s hope for survival, but there’s also hope for the women within agriculture to be viewed in a more powerful light, as the creators of change. Tracey reflected on this hope, “As a woman, it's empowering.”  

Those within agriculture do not simply find belonging within the landscape they pour their lifeblood into; they also find belonging within each other. Women in agriculture are not only empowered by their accomplishments but also by the women who inspired them to continue forging their path forward, whether to maintain generational traditions or create their own legacy.