Fourth generation rancher, Lesley Robinson, was recently elected the first woman president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA). Robinson’s family has been ranching in Phillips County, which is in the north central part of the state, since the early 1900s. She and her husband, Jim, have been married for 39 years and have ranched their entire lives. Currently they own and operate the Lazy JD Cattle Company, a ranch purchased in 1958 by Jim’s family.
“You have to have a passion for ranching to love it,” Robinson says. “If you don’t have a passion for it, it’s going to be very hard to get up every day and go through everything that you have to do to make a ranch successful.”
Robinson’s interest in leadership was inspired by her parents, who were both involved with livestock associations.
She previoulsy served on MSGA’s board of directors from 1996-2000 and has spent the last two decades dedicating her time and knowledge to the livestock industry on the local, state and national levels.
“My vision for the cattle industry in Montana and across the nation is to keep agriculture land in production,” Robinson shares. “We need to keep the ranchers on the land producing beef and encourage young people to come into ranching. It’s important we find ways to help people be successful in ranching, so that we can keep the land in production.”
With a record number of dispersions in Montana and other states, Robinson says remaining sustainable is a top priority.
“Right now we have the good markets, but we need to be able to be sustainable when the markets drop also,” she says. “It’s important to find ways to make your place sustainable in the bad times along with the good times.”
This cattlewoman recognizes not everyone agrees on all the issues, but it’s important to work together.
“We need to work on the tax rules that are going to sunset next year in 2025 and I think that most of the organizations, if not all of them, can agree on estate tax needs to be either get rid of estate tax or at least keep the limits that we have in place right now,” she says.
A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald inspires Robinson daily. She has a sign on her wall with it that reads ‘Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.’
“You can still have a loss, but don’t give up, because not every everybody can win, so just keep trying and come back,” Robinson says. “We have losses every day in ranching, so we’re resilient, and we have to just keep going.”
For more information, visit mtbeef.org.
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