The real deal: Farm and ranch children focus of new book by Moses Lake woman

MOSES LAKE — Sue Tebow started her “agriCULTURE” social media accounts to give her readers an insight into farm and ranch life. And when she talks to and photographs farm families, she talks to and photographs farm kids. What the kids had to say is the subject of her recently released book, “Real Farm and Ranch Kids.”

“These kids are not only funny, they are smart, imaginative and completely self-reliant,” according to a press release announcing the book’s publication.

For about five years, Tebow has traveled farm and ranch country, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, talking to men and women about their lives and jobs. In a separate interview, Tebow said that in her experience a lot of people who don’t work in agriculture don’t know much, if anything, about it. She wanted to change that, and started her social media channels to give urban and suburban dwellers a look at rural life in the words of the residents.

“I thought it was important for the general public to know the people – the farmers and ranchers, basically – behind the scenes,” she said.

Most of her subjects are farmers and ranchers, while others work in ag-related industries. Each profile includes a photograph of the speaker, but no names or identifying information.

Along the way she’s met farm and ranch kids, and kids whose lives include agriculture even if their parents don’t run a farm. And kids have their own perspective on what’s going on.

The stories the children told, like the stories the adults told, were funny, educational and inspiring, she said, but the kids had their own way of telling them.

“They just say it how it is,” Tebow said.

The kids don’t know the rules of grammar yet, she wrote in an email, and their conversation – like their thought processes – sometimes jumps around. And they too have stories to tell about living on the farm.

“It‘s about farming and ranching, and the kids are part of it,” Tebow said.

One of Tebow’s young subjects loves her dog and the neigh-neighs (horses) out in the barn. Another girl said the horses around her ranch were all pretty, all fun and all hers.

A 7-year-old boy likes to play outside – but he does not like to clean things that are dirty. That’s not cool, he said. A girl agreed with him that it’s fun to play outside, and she added that the barn makes a great place to play hide-and-seek with her friends.

Some of the kids came to Tebow’s first book signing, she said.

“It was really exciting for them,” she said. “I had one little boy tell me, ‘Now I’m famous.’”

One of the kids was very impressed with the news that a copy of the book had been sold to a customer in Georgia, Tebow wrote.

The children featured in the book live on farms and ranches around the Pacific Northwest, Tebow said. Like the adults on the “agriCULTURE” posts, all are anonymous.

The social media channels have attracted attention nationwide, she said, from urban, suburban and rural readers. Farmers and ranchers from other states, Texas and Kentucky among them, have contacted her with their stories. In fact, she has readers from around the world.

“It’s fun to see people in Germany asking questions,” she said.

Tebow is a rancher and farmer herself, raising cattle and alfalfa on a place near Moses Lake with her husband Ron.

Tebow was awarded the Charles Easton Award from the Agriculture Council of America for her efforts to provide accurate information and promote better understanding between urban and rural audiences.

Signed copies of the book are available at Basin Feed & Supply and North 40 Outfitters in Moses Lake, and the North 40 location in Spokane. People also can order copies from Tebow’s website, www.agriculturepeople.com.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.