I joined Idaho Farm Bureau Federation in the fall of 1996 as a video specialist in their news division.

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At the time, we produced weekly video news stories on agriculture that aired on four television stations across the state. 

 

Each month we produced a half-hour television program called “Idaho Crossroads” that included the best of our weekly stories. 

 

After YouTube launched and social networks were developing, we adapted and started our own little networks of distribution. Since then, we have posted over 700 video stories to YouTube and Facebook and over twenty thousand photos to Flickr.

 

Last year, we had a record 1.4 million hits on a story I produced about a guy who fixed farm machinery (mostly John Deere tractors). That record stands today as I retire.

 

After graduating high school in Council, Idaho, I attended the University of Idaho and Boise State. While at BSU, I was a part-time studio camera operator at KIVI-TV in Boise.

 

That lead to a 20-year stint as a photographer, assignment editor, and assistant news director in broadcast news. It was a good gig, but pay... not so much.

 

In my younger years, I spent summers working as a logger and eight years as a weekend bull rider with only two bad train wrecks. I eventually realized working full-time and riding bulls didn’t go together too well.

 

Catching big fish, chasing big game, and riding my snowmobile have always been and remain a big part of my recreation.

 

I was born in Emmett, Idaho, where I now live, but grew up in Council, Idaho. I had five brothers and one sister, so hand-me-down clothes, toys, and bikes... that was the norm until my teenage years. Bucking hay for the summer for ranchers was considered a good job because of the great food you were fed. I played eight-man football in high school and was mentored by many rough and tough loggers and mill workers who made up the town of about 800 people.

 

Working for Farm Bureau has allowed me to meet the rural characters of Idaho from Bonners Ferry to the Utah border. My many visits to ground zero (farms and ranches) of Idaho agriculture has been invaluable. I just hope the stories I told about these heroes and their operations has educated those not lucky enough to see it first hand.

 

Working at Farm Bureau always gave me a feeling of being a part of a big family that cares; good people with good families. 

 

The 75th anniversary year was special because I learned so much about the history of Farm Bureau and how much the volunteer organization had developed and adapted to become the BIG “Voice of Idaho Agriculture.”

 

And after 23 years, I am proud to have been a part of the print, radio, TV and yes, now social networking media that has helped keep Farm Bureau “The Voice of Idaho Agriculture.”

 

The job required a lot of travel and I enjoyed the many miles and most of the places I’ve slept in. Just a few were so bad I slept with my clothes on.

 

My experiences and education of Idaho and her people has left me with endless stories.

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On a shoot in the Ola Valley a few years back, rancher Harry McCaulou took me to a small creek on his ranch named Ritter Creek. I live less than 20 miles from it and had never heard of it. Discovering how it acquired my family name is one of my retirement projects. [A photo of Steve at Ritter Creek is included above.]

 

I have four adult children with four grandkids; three little boys from three to one that will help keep me busy in retirement, along with the few sheep and cattle I keep on my little farm.

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My wife, Cindy, and I also plan on RVing more of Idaho and the Northwest.

 

Working for Farm Bureau has taken me down mostly backroads and I enjoy exploring all the west offers off the beaten path.

 

As I sit and reflect, I chuckle thinking that for a kid from a small town, I’ve got to experience much more than most. I shook hands with four US Presidents, three AFBF Presidents, seven Idaho Governors, countless US senators and congressmen, state legislators, and most important of all, hundreds of people across the nation that produce the food and fiber we all depend on.

 

I want to give a special thank you to my longtime coworker Jake Putnam who has traveled a bunch of those miles with me. [A video about Steve provided by Jake is also included above.]

 

Thank you Farm Bureau, for the many rewarding chapters of my life you helped make possible.

 

Please join us in wishing Steve the best in his retirement.

 

A retirement reception for Steve took place in Twin Falls on December 9. 

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NOTES FROM STEVE'S COWORKERS

Please see the video above for a retrospective on Steve's Farm Bureau career.

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