The very first season brought three cuttings of hay and about eight customers. Between grass and alfalfa, the fields produced a few hundred bales. It was the proof that the property could pay its own way and that the hay operation had real potential.

Phase 1 of the main shop building started with foundation work on January 30 and piers poured on February 1, followed by the slab on February 28. The crew fought mud, flooded roads, and then a March blizzard that dumped snow into 4–5-foot drifts across the slab. Sean, Nik, and Judi spent hours shoveling out the building and digging out the road just to keep the project moving.

In May, the family bought a 7,000-bushel grain bin in Fleming, CO, and dismantled it with help from friends and a boom truck, loading it in just three hours. A month later, a 30-foot Aeromotor windmill was purchased and hauled in from Kansas. The skyline of the farm started to look like a real working operation, not just open fields.

Sean and Judi made a major investment in the farm’s future, hauling home a fuel trailer from Lee Agra in Lubbock, a Case 721C wheel loader from KEI, a Bobcat T595 skidsteer, and a John Deere 4-bottom plow with a JD 235 19′ disc. It was the day the farm truly stepped up from “making do” to having the heavy iron needed to move dirt, work ground, and handle hay like a full-scale operation.

With extra time during lockdown, the family tackled a massive cleanup of the creek bottom. Trees were cut, hauled, chipped, and reshaped into a beautiful open area they nicknamed “The Park.” It turned a tangle of deadwood into one of the most peaceful spots on the property.

2021 brought a very wet spring and a strong hay year. The new John Deere 7230 tractor, Hesston/MF 1840 inline baler, and Steffen accumulator and grapple all got their first full season of work. The operation moved from “making do” to running with professional-grade equipment

The first full year on site was spent settling into the new building, fine-tuning plumbing and systems, and continuing to improve fields and weeds. A long-delayed Wolf range finally arrived after almost 13 months, becoming the centerpiece of the new kitchen. Farming became easier and more efficient simply because everyone was now “home” on the land.

By fall, the main channel crossing was completely rebuilt with three large rectangular concrete box culverts, bought surplus from a highway project. The old washout turned into a permanent pool that filled with surprise bluegill and minnows carried in by the flood. Firewood storage was upgraded with tote cages so wood could be stacked neat, moved easily, and ready for winter evenings in the new ag building.

The smaller Kubota was sold and replaced with a larger M6-141 Kubota tractor and a BV 4160 round baler, giving the farm serious horsepower and hay capacity. Somewhere between equipment swaps and weather forecasts, there was a picture-perfect fall day out on the farm with Judi—just before a record November snowstorm rolled in and covered everything in white.

In 2025, the entrance to the ag building got new gabion-style rock fences, giving the drive-in a finished, ranch-style look. Sean bought an old miniature “barn on wheels” mock-up from Gary Sample; he and Nik rebuilt, painted, and re-tired it into the farm’s first portable stand, currently selling eggs from Nik’s chickens. The hay operation expanded into round bales, producing about 40 tons (around 100 bales) To top it off, a herd of elk took up residence on the farm for the first time in seven years.

Winter 2026 was about finishing what had been started. The entrance gate project moved toward completion, giving the farm a true front door. In the fields, Sean tested a vertical plow/disc— a Great Plains Turbo Max 1200—on alfalfa field #3 to help aerate and smooth ground for future crops, while selling older equipment to help pay for the upgrade. Down at the creek, banks were fortified against future erosion using the Bobcat E-88 excavator and carefully placed trees reclaimed from flood cleanup and pond work.