02/02/06 Mark Harris, Idaho YFR chairman

Mark and Cheryl Harris live on a remove ranch in the foothills above Soda Springs just inside the Bear Lake County line. Their sons Justin, who is four and Seth, a two year old, are inside the house the day we found Mark outside, chopping hay, with an axe. MARK "These top bales, they suck. They froze." Its 12 below zero on the thermometer and the livestock have to be fed. MARK "Hopefully the tractor will start." In addition to three years of serving on the Board of Directors of the Young Farmers and Ranchers Mark and Cheryl obviously have a farm business to run. MARK "My brothers, dad and I run about 950 mother cows. We retain the calves until they weight about 900 pounds and sell them as yearlings. Of those calves we keep about 120 to 130 of those are replacement heifers to replace our stock. Another part of the operation is the guest ranch. We do that in the summer months. The semi-truck, that keeps us busy in the winter months too. And the farm, the farm in Malta. We do some hay here but most of its in Malta." Tomorrow, Harris talks about some eye opening experiences, at the State Capitol and the Farm Bureau office. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott