Pictured are back, from left Teresa and Matt Stedman, front, Briar, Baylor and Bryndi. (Submitted photo)
Matt Stedman, Stedman Inc., has been heavily involved in the sugar beet industry since he was a kid. From the age of 8, he started farming with Rocky Norby and is now running his own operation, Stedman Inc.
"I used to run around with Rocky Norby as a kid. I started riding around in the pickup with him and he got me running the tractor at about 8 years old and it has been history ever since," said Stedman.
Since 2011, he has been farming his own acres of sugar beets and some small grains near the Culbertson and Brockton area. Stedman has had a passion for farming since the time he was exposed to it years ago.
He said, "I love everything about it from start to finish, watching the plant start as a seedling and moving all the way up to harvest. The anticipation of what you did, seeing if your hard work is going to pay off or not."
Stedman employs around 15-25 people full time, with a harvest crew consisting of 65 people; running 24 hours a day. Stedman also has a trucking operation, hauling beet pulp from the factory to ranchers around the area.
Several people contribute to the successful operation of Stedman Inc. including Lori Norby, Charley Sheehan, Jake Wyman, Dino Verhasselt, Marvin Stedman, Mandy Malkuch, Michael Johnson, Tyler Malkuch, Petey Kunnerup, Chris Hartsoch, Jakob Rogers, Bill Linder, Patty Beeler, Roy Williams, Zoey Vannatta, Randy Leister, Jason Giambalvo, Casey Raad, Jaymie Romo, Scott Swanson, Curtis Lawhead, Tyrell Darlington, and Teresa Stedman.
This year's harvest has been running "really smooth" for Stedman's crew. He added," It's been dry, the digging is crazy. We have not had a bit of moisture; we have only had an inch and a half all year. But we have a really great harvest crew, which makes things run really smooth."
Stedman hopes to maintain good sugar this year and get all of his crops off the ground. "We have had pretty good sugar all along, I would like to maintain that and I think we are close. We've got 130 acres or 1200 or so left to dig, I think we are doing pretty good so far. Just hope to get all of the beets in; keeping everybody safe is the main goal."
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