By Maggie Edwards

An Alabama Farmers Federation Beef Tour 27 years ago was all it took to hook Dale County’s Joe and Faye Williams. This year’s cattle-focused excursion to Idaho was no different. 

“It’s like coming on a family reunion,” Faye said. “We’ve been so many years and made so many friends. It’s fun to see everyone each tour and share about our farms. Each year, we try to take something new we learned home to our operation.” 

The Williamses have raised cattle 62 years while growing row crops 52 years. The couple even celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on a past Beef Tour. 

“We are getting more seasoned ourselves, but we hope to continue coming because it is always a great learning experience,” Faye said. 

Education was the cornerstone of this year’s Idaho journey, said Federation Beef Division Director Chris Prevatt. Seventy-five farmers visited feedlots, dairies, cow-calf operations, mountain rangeland and more during their weeklong visit to the Gem State. 

“Our goal should be to get at least 1% better each day,” Prevatt said. “I wanted our farmers to have a good understanding of the critical importance of water and nutrients in our livestock systems. My focus was to meet with farmers and ranchers in another state and hear their stories, learn how they do things differently and ways they’ve innovated their beef cattle and forage operations.” 

Conversations between Alabama and Idaho farmers centered on water rights, irrigation, H-2A labor and feed methods. 

“We were so surprised to see the land out here,” Joe said. “We’d never been to Idaho. It is remarkable how hard these farmers work to get water. They grow so much feed for cattle with not much rain. It’s tremendous what they are doing. I appreciate seeing how hard they struggle, but they are working hard to make it happen. They are tough and have grit.”

Beef Tour first-timers Kip and Brandi Childers of Morgan County had an insightful experience. 

“It was eye-opening to see how the diversity of landscape plays a role in how different these farmers have to plan around the weather and topography versus how Alabama farmers raise their cattle,” Brandi said. “The biggest takeaway is how we are in the same business and industry, but we have to do things differently.”

Kip echoed his wife, stating the fast-paced tour was the perfect way to see all Idaho agriculture had to offer. 

“Water is scarce out here, so decisions farmers make are determined by water access,” said Kip, a livestock hauler who grew up on a cow-calf operation. “These farmers have a work ethic and a passion that shows in their management practices of moving cattle on the mountains to graze.” 

Comparing precipitation was a pivotal conversation among the farmers. Idaho receives 7 to 10 inches of rain annually — about 15% of Alabama’s total, said Brandi. 

“This year, we had too much rain in north Alabama during early summer months,” Brandi said. “Our farmers have had a hard time because of that. In Idaho, they build canals to capture snow and the little rain they get. They’ve found ways to be productive.” 

Stops on the Beef Tour allowed Federation members to see production agriculture in southern Idaho. Locations visited included Malson Angus & Hereford; Huston Vineyard; R & S Pearson Farms; Marchant Ranch; Double C Feedlot; Sawtooth National Forest; University of Idaho Rinker Rock Creek Ranch; Donley Farms; Arkoosh Cattle; Five Rivers Cattle Interstate Feeding; and Bachman Land & Livestock.

“Every stop is different as no two farms are the same,” Prevatt said. “I want producers to share both their successes and failures so we can develop new ideas and grow our industry in Alabama.” 

The Federation Beef Tour will travel to Iowa in June 2026.