As Janey Nicholson balanced her 18-month-old daughter on her hip, she said her connection with the cattle industry was an inborn passion—she’s never spent a day on this Earth without it.
Her mother, Margaret Reeves, shares the same childhood surrounded by livestock. Her story is a little bit different, however. She left a 20-year career as a math teacher to come to the family feedlot.
But even that isn’t the start of their family’s story.
“We have to go back to the beginning,” Margaret told WLJ.
This story began in 1946, on the back of an old Palomino horse. Sarah Jane Smith was just three years old when she learned to ride, but at 82 today, she still calls the saddle home.
She’s traded that Palomino for a Bay horse, and pasture riding has been replaced with the pens of a historic feedlot, but for her, the plot has never changed.
“It’s a pleasure,” she said of her long career running Canyon Cattle Feeders in Melba, ID. “I like taking care of cattle. I enjoy working.”
The starting chapters
The youngest of her family with four brothers, Sarah Jane said there was never a time when she wasn’t surrounded by agriculture.
Operating a sale yard, running a trucking business, leasing land, grazing cattle—her family had their hands in a lot of segments of the industry. But in 1999, Sarah Jane joined one of her brothers and a family friend in a new venture when the trio purchased Canyon Cattle Feeders.
“We’d been in the livestock business all our lives. It wasn’t a choice of changing course,” she explained.
The feedlot’s roots trace back to the ’40s, so it’s seen a lot of cattle. Sarah Jane said, as the name suggests, the facility sits in a canyon, meaning livestock are protected from rough weather.
All in all, she notes, “It’s a great place to feed cattle.”
Even prior to the family acquisition, Margaret has fond memories of the facility.
“When I was in high school, we were sent down here to process cattle,” she explained. “We’ve been involved in this lot for a long time.”
Today, Margaret said the operation maxes out at 8,000 head. The lot goes through two rotations of calvings. Bawling babies come off the truck in both the spring and summer, and the family weans them at the feedlot.
While she can recite the same facts, schedules and goals as her mother, Margaret said it was only 10 years ago that she came back on as Sarah Jane’s partner.
“It became apparent that someone maybe needed to come and be a part of the feedlot,” she said.
With her sisters having their own careers—one a doctor and one a teacher—and her brother training horses, Margaret joked that no one else wanted the job.
Sarah Jane herself calls the transition a “happy surprise.”
“When (Margaret) was a kid, I would say she always helped me. It was like having a second pair of hands,” Sarah Jane said, adding that not much has changed even now that Margaret is grown.
Though the feedlot wasn’t a part of Margaret’s original career plans, she said her daughter was a little different.
“Janey fell in love with this place as a child,” Margaret said.
It was during Janey’s last year of high school that they moved back to Idaho, but she said she wasn’t upset to leave Washington behind. The family business was home.
“I always loved coming down and working here with my grandma at the feedlot,” Janey added, reflecting on childhood memories at Canyon Cattle Feeders spent alongside her sister, Julia.
Many years have passed since, but Sarah Jane’s work ethic has never wavered.
“(My grandmother) is never going to stop working,” Janey explained. “She takes great pride in taking care of the cattle.”
An old journal of Janey’s from sixth grade recently unearthed confirms the statement. Janey said there’s an entry that declares, “My grandma is one of the hardest working people I know.”
Steady drumbeat
Since the beginning, Cattle Canyon Feeders has been all about animal care.
“I think that explains our customer base,” Sarah Jane explained. “If you don’t do a good job with the health, I think you’d be hunting for customers.”
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
“I feel like we have more variety of illnesses in our cattle,” she added, which calls for a close relationship with the local veterinarian, growth of vaccination programs and shared dedication amongst staff.
Thankfully, Margaret said her mother has never been too stuck in her ways.
“She’s a lifelong learner,” Margaret explained. “My mom is always reading, always studying, always looking for reasons why cattle have this issue or that, trying to find the next best antibiotic, the next best protocol … she is continually learning.”
Janey said for as much dedication as Sarah Jane has for animal welfare, she’s equally determined to make that a standard shared by everyone at the feedlot.
“What’s really rewarding is we do get a lot of calves that are high-stress, and we work really hard at keeping stuff alive,” Janey said.
To her, there’s pride in knowing that when an animal heads to a finishing lot after being started at Canyon Cattle Feeders, they’re going to thrive.
While it takes a little extra work, Margaret said as a group, they’re able to consistently deliver on that statement. She admits they’re a typical family—meaning there’s easy decisions and some disagreements about running the business—but there’s no problem they can’t tackle.
“I think for them to tolerate me is the biggest challenge,” Sarah Jane joked.
In reality, Margaret and Janey consider it a pleasure to work alongside her.
“I have always been a mama’s girl. My mom has just been my hero forever,” Margaret said. “I just have the joy of that family connection all day every day … There’s a lot of peace in that.”
For Janey, it goes one step further.
“I get to learn from two of the greatest people, in my mind, every single day,” she explained.
Living next to Sarah Jane, Janey said there’s the benefit of added time—plus homemade cakes and cookies.
“I like to have a piece of cake or a few cookies, but I’m one old woman. I can’t eat all that stuff. I have to share it,” Sarah Jane said with a laugh.
Baked goods aside, she says having the family involved in the business is the light of her life.
“It couldn’t be better from my point of view,” she said simply.
To a set of outside eyes, Janey admits people think sometimes it’s too good to be true. She said she often gets asked how three generations of women could have so much passion for the ag industry and find success.
In her experience, however, there’s never been a question that she could make it.
“I was raised to believe there were no limits,” Janey said. “You can be a woman in the cattle industry and run a feedlot if you want to.”
Margaret said that kind of attitude is hereditary in their family, but it’s also what keeps their family progressing.
“Whatever you decide to do, you can do,” she advises other women in agriculture. “You just have to find the route.”
Sarah Jane said there’s more opportunities in the world today for women than ever before, but that doesn’t negate the need for those women to chase their dreams wholeheartedly.
“Figure out what you really love to do, and go after it. Make sure it’s what you want to put all your effort into,” Sarah Jane said, “but when you figure that out, it’s a pretty good way to live your life.”
It’s not just pretty words—it’s Sarah Jane’s story.
And it’s a legacy that will continue to be carried on—by Margaret, Julia, Janey and that 18-month-old little girl that Janey balances on her hip as she proudly shares what it means to be a part of their family.
