CHEWELAH, Wash. — Lorren Hagen grew up on a farm in North Dakota, then his family moved to a small place near Spokane.

“After I graduated from college and got out of the military I bought a small place of my own and had a few cows,” he said.

He taught school, then took a job as principal of the high school in Chewelah—40 miles north of Spokane—in 1987. He and his wife, Pauline, moved there and bought 187 acres.

“We had two little boys, Matt and Clint,” he said. “They grew up on this place and became a big help. Pauline pretty much ran the place for many years until I retired from school administration.”

During those years they upgraded the irrigation system and the quality of their cattle and increased the herd.

In 1997, he retired and Pauline went to work as a para-educator at the school district.

“A couple neighbors were retiring and asked if we’d like to buy their adjoining property. We grew from 187 acres to 250 acres and then 300 acres,” Lorren said.

“Several years ago, when Pauline and I started slowing down and having some health issues, our oldest son, Matt, came on board. He’d been teaching in Oregon and wanted to come back to the farm. We formed Hagen Cattle and Hay Company and he became a partner,” Lorren said.

They purchased 110 acres from another neighbor and now have more than 400 acres—and irrigate about 350 acres of hay with pivots.

Their primary market is alfalfa hay.

“Some of our property is along the Colville River and not farmable, but makes good pasture,” Lorren said. “We increased our cattle numbers to utilize the pasture and any lower-quality hay, to get some return from all our acres.”

The cattle help resolve the problem of cash flow.

“We needed more than just hay sales. Some years there is a lot of hay available and the price is low. The commercial cattle didn’t generate enough revenue to make up the difference,” Lorren said.

They decided to raise registered cattle and sell 15- to 17-month-old bulls in the spring. This generates more income and at another time of year, when it was needed for fertilizer, seed and other inputs.

“I had a small registered Hereford herd ever since the 1970s, so we expanded that herd,” he said.

“We realized we could only sell 5 to 10 Hereford bulls a year in our immediate area, so we added Black Angus. We sell 20 to 25 bulls private treaty each year—about 7 or 8 Herefords and 14 to 15 Angus bulls.”

He diligently selects for traits that are important, including disposition.

“We use AI and have never owned a bull. The key to having high conception rate with AI is keeping the cows in good condition with proper nutrition, and good heat detection,” he said.

This was one of the things Pauline did while he was at work. She checked the cows early morning, noon and last thing at night, so they could be bred at the optimum time.

“To me, this is the key—being really aggressive on heat detection,” Lorren said.

This results in the highest conception rates, better than heat synchronization.

“Pauline and I are happy that our son, Matt, is taking over, and that the hard work the family has put into this place won’t be lost. Matt’s wife, Cassandra, helps when she can. She has a vet tech background and is good help with the herd,” Lorren said.

“Our other son, Clint, has always really liked the ranch but has allergy and asthma problems. He and his wife, Emily, are IT people. They do our website and any other technical things we need.

“Emily designed our website,” Lorren said, adding that it has been beneficial in picking up new customers for hay and cattle.