VIEW This family team uses shrewd business sense to manage land coveted by investors. Mehlhoff . “I’m involved in every facet of the operation, talking to key people on our family team and others.” The ranch wouldn’t run without a team approach involving the whole family. “We want our kids to fi nd the areas on the ranch that they love and desire. Plain and simple, we want them to truly like what they do,” he says. Here’s how the responsibilities stack up: • Lisa handles accounting and the DNA work needed to verify sires. She’s also on top of a multitude of other jobs that glue the operation together every day. • Laramie runs the farming side of the operation, growing wheat, malt barley, hay and small grains for silage on 3,500 acres. He also manages the custom chopping and spraying business. • Larisa takes care of the breeding program, including embryo transfer. This year, she transferred 300 embryos after receiving training at an embryo transfer school in Mississippi. The family also is beginning to work with in vitro transfers. Larisa recently married Zach Oldenburger, who provides top-notch mechanic expertise to the enterprise. • Larinda manages overall cow herd duties, including registrations. • Logan oversees calving and works with both a spring and late-spring program, including blood testing and DNA sampling for each calf born. • Landon works off the ranch in Colorado and currently is not part of the operation. Despite some rough patches along the way, which resulted in ranching at three locations, including their fi rst operation in North Dakota, Lisa and Larry attribute the Sheridan ranch’s success to the family’s core value: integrity. “We’re fi rm believers in operating as a team and are fortunate that our kids really work well together. They’re capable and really good in their specialties,” Larry Mehlhoff says. “They’re adaptable and able to handle change.” That’s similar to how he describes his Red Angus herd. “The cattle need to be adaptable and have the breeding to turn adversity into advantages,” he says. “You shouldn’t spoil registered cattle. They have to function on pasture ground from the valley fl oor to the mountains. We don’t have the time or resources to pamper our cattle. We select them on their ability to digest forages.” Expert Advice The family’s teamwork approach includes relying on herd nutrition advice from the CHS Nutrition team of Kim Hager, David Miller and Cash Yount, plus Ken Visser of Rocky Mountain Supply. “You need a trusted partner when it comes to nutrition and I have a long-term relationship with Kim. When something > Your CHS Connection 21