By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor
Canyon, Texas
From 4-H to half-marathons, reining horses to dog trials, Vickie Sprouse has entertained many activities in her life.
The Hamill, S.D., native grew up on a farmer-feeder operation. She was a loyal 4-H member, enrolling in a wide variety of projects. Lucky enough to attend country school K-8, she attended high school in Winner. Sprouse headed on to South Dakota State University to earn a bachelor’s degree in animal science and later attained a masters degree in beef reproductive physiology at Colorado State University.
Armed with her degrees, Sprouse took a sales position in 1992 with Merck AgVet, selling Ivomec. Over the years, she has worked for other animal health companies in five additional states. Canyon, Texas, is now her home.
Two years ago, she joined CIH Commodity Ingredient Hedging as business development manager, Beef Team, for the Chicago-based firm. Her job entails connecting with cattle operations, whether feedyard, stocker or cow-calf, and making them aware of CIH and their risk-management services.
Sprouse also owned and operated Reata Gallery, a western art business focused on limited-edition prints by more than 100 artists. She marketed the works online, through social media and numerous trade shows. Our Cameo says her customer base was the same as during her animal health sales: “Great ag people.”
Sprouse lights up when asked about her dogs. Her main canine is Journey, a Border Collie. Their main focus is on obedience trials, but they also do agility and have done some herding and rally in the past. Journey is also a certified therapy dog. Sprouse says the training process is fun and there is always much more to learn.
Is that enough? No. Sprouse enjoys working out, running and occasionally competing in half-marathons. Future plans include working for as long as possible and enjoying what she does every day.
“When you get the chance to work with such a great team, I’d be crazy to stop,” she asserts. Naturally, more dog training and competitions are in the future, which probably means another dog or two.
Her final thoughts were, indeed, positive. “It’s important to work hard and do what’s right. Laugh a lot and spend time around positive people.”
