AG DAY
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
A7
A day in the life of a ranching family
McCrackens work
together to take care
of the ranch
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Joe McCracken slowly
rumbles in his hay truck
across Crown Ranch’s muddy
pastures Friday as heifers
and calves meander over for
morning feeding with snow-
capped mountains off in the
distance.
It is March, and it is calv-
ing season. A critical time of
year for ranchers across Grant
County.
“This is a stressful time of
year,” McCracken says.
But, for the McCracken
Livestock company, it is a
family aff air. And Friday
morning, everyone pitches in
to get the cows fed.
McCracken’s
wife,
Didgette, the Open Campus
coordinator at Oregon State
University Extension offi ce, is
there to feed the cattle before
her 9 a.m. conference call.
As is their son Sam, a
junior at Grant Union, whose
equestrian competition sea-
son for reined cow starts in
Eugene later on in the day
Friday.
Their daughter Bailey, a
freshman, who has a volley-
ball game later that morning,
is also helping out.
Sam, who took fi rst place
in state in boys cutting ear-
lier this year — an eques-
trian competition where a
horse and a rider demonstrate
before a panel of judges both
the horse and rider’s abil-
ity to handle cattle — says
he has been helping out the
ranch for as far back as he can
remember.
His father agrees.
“I had them both (Sam and
Bailey) sitting on my lap in
the pickup when they were
kids,” he says.
Sam says he learned to
drive the John Deere hay trac-
tor when he was 8 years old
— though it was not always
easy to maneuver.
“I’ve broken a lot of
bales,” he says with a grin.
But, someday, he says he
wants to carry on the family
tradition of ranching.
“I’ve never known any-
thing diff erent.”
Contributed photo
Sam and Bailey McCracken move cows.
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Sam McCracken
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Sam McCracken feeds cows.
Contributed photo
Sam McCracken moves hay with a tractor.
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