CALF_News_December_2018_January_2019

14 CALF News • December 2018 | January 2019 • www.calfnews.net Many in the Nollette family are traveling that road. Inclusion on that trip requires an impeccable work ethic, willingness to learn, a sense of humor and an incredible ability to work well with others. Deeply seated in the beginning of the family journey is great-great-grandfather George Nenzel, who moved west in 1887. Subsequently, his daughter married a Nol- lette. The town of Nenzel was founded on George Nenzel’s property in 1899, and the Nollette family still resides there. We will fast-forward to the 1950s when the Nollette family is firmly estab- lished in the tiny community and our entrepreneurs have stayed put in Cherry County. To be honest, this is a hard- scrabble area where making a living in the sand isn’t easy. The Nollette brothers – Greg, Tim, Lou and Neal – grew up on a 30-acre patch at Nenzel, the kind of place where everyone has a job and longs for the opportunity to strike out with their own dream. Lou’s recollection of the lean times includes his mother’s ever-present plums, the wild sort, which she used to help feed her hungry brood. After all her efforts in plum preservation, there was little appre- ciation among the boys for her product; a chronic lack of sugar in the household would set the four youngsters to pucker- ing at every attempt to eat the sour fruit. Greg recounted the small farm’s menagerie: some chickens, some milk cows, a couple beef cows and a few hogs. Maybe not much, but plenty to instill responsibility and encourage ambition in young men. All grown up Lou and Neal, deeply faithful, headed to the seminary and became priests. After a lifetime of service, they are now both retired and have returned to the family ranch. They are often occupied filling in at Catholic parishes in western Nebraska. Their input, however, is just as important at the Nenzel farm. Greg and Tim dug in at home, deter- mined to establish a ranch. Greg is quick to explain a core fact and the foundation of this article: “You can make it with- out inheriting or marrying money. You cannot have a nine-to-five mentality.” Both Greg and his brother Tim became vocational agriculture instruc- tors. Tim says it was the most honorable way to make a living and remain as close to production agriculture as they could. Teaching experience gave the brothers an open mind; they were able to explore opportunities to diversify an agricultural operation of their own. Marrying two cooperative and ambitious ladies, their plans grew even more quickly. Tim’s wife, Terri, was also teaching full time, and Greg’s wife, Cindy, ran a mail route. Moving forward With the family shouldering six off- farm jobs and having no debt, the group was in an advantageous situation. When the 1980s agricultural recession hit, the Nollettes were ready to roll. They purchased their current grass in 1987 for a reasonable price. At this point, the family had a few dairy cows, beef cows, feeder calves and some hogs. Things started to change quickly. They bought some bred heifers and leased some cows. Cindy, with her more flexible work schedule, became the “cow boss.” A total of seven young cousins (Greg and Cindy’s four children, and Tim and Terri’s three children) were enlisted (sometimes involuntarily) to help. It was noted that planting windbreaks was not a favorite childhood pastime. The cow herd continued to expand with their land purchase, and 70 head of sows became the backbone of a farrow- to-finish operation. Various adjustments were set in motion between 1987 and 1994. Among them, converting their cow herd to By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor DESTINATION: Success Continued on page 16  The vineyard at Nenzel contains 10 varieties of grapes and 2,600 vines. Netwrap for large round hay bales protects vines from opportunistic birds. Deep in the Nebraska Sandhills there’s a family (a large one) who maintains a theory that’s guided them through tough times: The road to success is paved with diversification. After a summer of good rains, there’s plenty of grass. Aaron Dinklage is in charge of the cow herd. C E L E B R A T I N G PEOPLE