Red Moon Ranch Intro

Welcome to the first blog post of Red Moon Ranch, thanks for following our Ranch story!

My name is Shelby, and I am the owner of Red Moon Ranch! I have had a passion for animals and livestock my whole life. As a little girl, I loved all animals, great and small. It was not until high school that my true passion for agriculture took hold, when I showed my first livestock project in the FFA program. I knew then that I wanted to spend my life in the agriculture industry. I did not take the traditional route of college after high school. Although my grades were stellar through school, I knew I wanted to be my own boss and start my own business from scratch. So that is what I did! It took me a couple years to come up with a plan that involved livestock and could also make a profit.

I met my husband (Doug) in 2016. Our first date consisted of drinking beer in a tractor cab, plowing a field, how fitting right? On the night of our first date, there was a red moon in the sky. The name of our Ranch was born that night, although I did not know it at the time. He eventually swept me off my feet, and we got married in 2019. My husband is the glue to the operation. I often run the day to day and up front operations of the Ranch, but behind the scenes, things could not be done without him!

The Ranch was started in 2017, from the ground up, we started with bare land. To get where we are today has been an adventure to say the least! We have spent the years building barns and fence, installing water and electric lines, and learning lots! There have been too many failures to count, but you cannot learn without failure! We have overcome so much, and we are proud to be the first generation ranching couple that we are today! The Ranch name came with lots of thought and meaning. I did not want to be another "Toops Farm". I wanted a deeper meaning behind it. So I chose "Red Moon Ranch", from the red moon in the sky on our first date. It will always have a special meaning to us.

This Ranch is not just a business to me, it is my dream. I love being able to provide quality food for our family and the community. Raising livestock is a true passion of mine, being able to care for something that depends on me daily is rewarding. I like to stay busy, it is very hard for me to be stationary. So although our schedule is sometimes overwhelming, I finish the day feeling content with all we have accomplished. From working a fulltime job, getting chores done (hopefully before dark), trying to maintain a semi clean household, to finishing the day with a hearty meal, our days are long but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for supporting this dream of mine!