Cattlewomen Wrap First Round of Filming Pasture Gate to Dinner Plate Video
October 30, 2024 — The Logan County (Colorado) Cattlewomen have presented their Steve the Steer beef byproducts lesson and their Flat Rancher program in schools across the region to supplement agriculture education in elementary schools. In wanting to add a video component, president Britty Pratt said they sought out a video produced by another group that would fit the bill, but ultimately decided to produce their own.
The group partnered with Western Ag Network and The Fence Post magazine to produce From Pasture Gate to Dinner Plate and visited operations and businesses across Logan County and northeastern Colorado to film.
The premise of the video is a storytelling written by Rachel Gabel of how families raise cattle, contribute to their communities and economies, and provide protein for families in and out of the area.
"When we started our Flat Rancher program in schools, we wanted a visual for the kids and when we researched to be sure we weren't duplicating the efforts of another group, we found that there was room for one produced by us to showcase the families behind the agriculture industry," Pratt said.
Filming, all done by Western Ag Network's Paul Humphrey, began at 6:30 a.m. around the breakfast table at Steve and Meg Kugler's home and ranch where the story begins. The film will be narrated by Sterling Livestock Commission owner and Hall of Fame auctioneer Jim Santomaso. The crew also filmed at Sterling Livestock as trucks were arriving Tuesday and on sale day on Wednesday. Filming moved to Grove Cattle Company near Sterling where they filmed sorting and weaning calves on horseback.
At McEndaffer Feedyard, filming included processing arriving cattle, pen riders and aerial shots of the yard. At Hettinger X7 Ranch, corn harvest was captured by ground, in the combine and grain cart tractor cab, and by air. A different October may not have allowed footage of baling alfalfa, but this one did at a field farmed by Brandon at Kroskob Farms. Parts and Labor Brewery also allowed the crew to film the hand cutting, cookings, and serving of steaks and the brewery operation. Humphrey even made the trip to Otis to film Hannah Kugler and her Prairie volleyball teammates play. Filming concluded back at the Kugler Ranch with a community barbecue.
Pratt said the funds to make the video possible are raised primarily through the group's annual Heifer Feeding Contest.
"The community has been incredibly generous participating in the contest and supporting us in many ways so that we can increase the number of students we can impact every year," she said.
She said she hopes to make the video available in all elementary schools and to other agriculture groups who can use it to bring agriculture into schools. Filming will continue in the early spring, with calving, branding, meat processing, and a visit to a school with the Flat Rancher program. The video will be available for the 2025-26 school year.
Source: The Fence Post Magazine and Western Ag Network
