Our roots in the cattle business go deep here at Carter Cattle Co.  It has been a way of life for our family for close to a hundred years.  Our grandfather Homer Carter moved to Idaho from Utah as a teenager.  While working at the Wheeler/England construction company he met Violet England who was one of the cooks for the crew.  She was the niece of one of the owners.  They became very fond of each other and were soon married.  They leased a small farm in the Thomas, Idaho area.  Grandma’s father had beef cattle and a ranch up by the Blackfoot reservoir.  They started out with a few milk cows and little by little developed a beef herd.  Soon they were able to buy a farm at Thomas.  They ran their cows with Grandpa England for a few years and then they acquired a permit to run the cattle up on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.   



My Father Don is grandpa’s oldest son.  He also had an interest in cattle and farming and after he married my mother, Gloria Elison they bought a farm in Springfield.  After a short couple of years in Springfield they sold their farm and bought another place south of Thomas on the Snake River where they are still at today.  Growing up we ran cattle up on the reservation.  We also had a place out on the desert for a while and also a ranch up to Driggs.  During those years we also had a small dairy as well.  It did not take us boys long to realize that it was a lot more fun working with the beef cows than milking cows.  My dad and us three older boys were in a partnership for a while.  We had a couple of dairies in addition to the beef cattle and farming operation.  We just stayed together for a couple of years and decided to each go our separate ways.  Eventually we all got out of the dairy business but continued with the beef cattle.  My older brother Ladd and his boys still run commercial cattle up on the reservation.

In about 1992 Val purchased some registered Angus cows.  In 1993 I bought a set of registered heifers as well.  Val and his family had their farming operation in Pingree and Carlene and I and our family had a small place in Springfield.  I had worked in the A.I. industry since we were married.  We both sold bulls private treaty for a few years and then in 1999 Val and I formed Carter Cattle Co. and had our first Production sale.  We felt like this union was to our mutual benefit.  Val would be here on the Ranch to take care of the day to day responsibilities while I could help in the evenings and on the weekends when I was home.  Hopefully my involvement in the A.I. industry would help us in our breeding decisions and open some doors to form relationships with other seed stock producers across the country. 

The year after we formed the partnership I was offered the position of “Director of Beef Marketing” for Accelerated Genetics.  I was reluctant to accept the position because it would entail us having to move to Wisconsin for a couple of years but we were promised that we would be able to move back.  In 2002 we were able return and take up an active role in the partnership again. 

  
Today Val and his family take care of the day to day responsibilities on the ranch.  With my travel schedule I try to help when I can and we do the best we can to schedule major events around my travel.  It’s great to be able to work together as a family.  It has been a wonderful opportunity for our kids to grow up around the cattle.  We feel fortunate to do what we like to do each day and feel like some of the best people in the world are involved in the cattle industry.   We hope some of our kids will continue on the Carter Cattle Co. name long into the future.