Sharon and Charlie Waterman are more than long-time ranchers. They’ve also been active advocates for agriculture.

The couple own and operate R&B Waterman Ranch, a livestock and small woodland operation about 8 miles south of Bandon, Ore. They’ve worked hard to create a successful business, but have also given plenty of their time to represent their industry on committees, commissions and boards at local and state levels.

On the ranch, after years of having both sheep and cattle, Charlie, 75, and Sharon, 74, recently sold their 800 ewes and cut their livestock business back to just 220 mother cows and their calves. But the sheep haven’t totally gone away because their son, Franklin Waterman, bought some of the yearling ewes and is pasturing them on his parents’ ranch.

“Ranching is part of our lives,” Sharon said. “It’s what my husband was raised in and I married into it. It becomes part of life.”

Charlie is the third generation of his family to be on the ranch that was established by his grandfather, Charlie Frank Waterman. In addition to caring for the livestock, Charlie has enjoyed rejuvenating other properties through the years, improving the soil health of pastures, thinning brush, planting trees and building fences.

“I’ve enjoyed that part more than anything, taking rundown places and making them functional, improving them to the best of our ability,” Charlie said. “To see new grass growing is like watching new calves and lambs being born.”

Despite having plenty of ranch work, the Watermans have found the time to work for agriculture off the ranch. Sharon helped start the Coos-Curry Farm Bureau, was a member of the Oregon Farm Bureau’s state board for 20 years, was a regional director, the second vice president, the first vice president and then the state president for 14 months. She decided not to run for a two-year term because of the time commitment.

Sharon has served on several state Farm Bureau committees and continues to be the secretary for the Coos-Curry Farm Bureau.

She was also one of the originators of the predator control district tax that helped fund Wildlife Services in Coos and Douglas counties for the past five years.

Charlie grew up around ranch work and livestock and his interests were recognized at an early age. He was presented with an FFA American Farmer Degree in 1965 while a freshman at Oregon State University. After finishing at OSU and returning to the family ranch, he has been chairman of the Oregon Sheep Commission, and has been a board member of the Coos Forest Protective Association for 30 years, of the Coos Soil and Water Association for 20 years and of the Coos County Planning Committee for 20 years.

He was a 35-year member of the Farm Board of Review, a group that has been disbanded. He’s also been a member and past president of the Coquille Watershed Association and a member of the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Advisory Council.

“If you don’t get involved, nothing is going to change,” Sharon said. “We need to support our industry. If we don’t stand together in agriculture, we’ll not have it.”

“We need to tell our side of the story,” Charlie said. “I want to bring reality to the various committees, the real farm and ranch situations to them. We don’t always make a difference, but we do make others aware.”