History

The Teter family has lived by the philosophy for many years that "Any job worth doing is worth doing right". This mindset, which has flown through the veins of four generations, has led us to the solid foundation that we stand on today. Since the early 1890's when Don Teter moved to the vast pasture lands of the Sinks of Gandy in Randolph County, WV, farming and ranching have been our families' livelihood. My great-grandfather Don began as a caretaker of his land and later purchased the property to begin building his commercial cattle & sheep operation. Like his father, my grandfather Hubert, continued the operation by adding farm land in the Tygarts Valley, located in the southern part of the county. In the late 1940's my grandparents, Hubert and Argle Teter, moved to the valley to start their own farming enterprise. After moving to the area, they purchased the farms that began the groundwork for the establishment of our operation. They used this land for winter grazing/summer haying and then returned the cattle to the mountain pastures for the summer months.

Grandad & Grandma were lifelong self-employed farmers and worked on the land each day to provide for their family and remain prosperous in their operation. Their hard work and dedication were the stepping stones for the next generation. After the passing of Hubert Teter in 1996 and Argle Teter in 1997, Teter Farm was then carried on by their one son Hubert "Danny" Teter II. In 1982 Danny, my dad, married Donna Elza, who grew up on a cattle & sheep operation in Whitmer, WV, located in the eastern part of the county. She worked along with her parents, Dale and Mary Elza, and her siblings to make it a true family operation. Just as the Teter Family they have always worked hard to accomplish their dreams and have never been afraid to get their hands dirty.

Danny & Donna were self-employed farmers, who strived to properly manage the existing farms and increase the acres of land owned by purchasing additional tracts to ensure a stable future. Our parents worked hard to accomplish their dreams of building a farm enterprise. Along with our parents, I, Zachary and my sister, Natasha, worked together to make it a true family farm. We all had chores that were essential to the daily operations of the business. My sister and I were also given livestock at a very young age; in the hopes that we would stay involved knowing we had something to call our own. We can both still remember those foundation animals, so I would say that philosophy was successful.

Danny & Donna Teter could best be described as “True Farmers” meaning they made their living solely from agriculture. The ability to farm full time in the Eastern United States tends to be a rarity in our modern society, however they managed to succeed in developing one of the larger cattle operations in the state of WV. Just as they built the business to the point, they could release the reins somewhat to the next generation, tragedy struck. Our father was found to have colon cancer and passed away in March 2005. Our dad was a man that could never be replaced, and we will always carry the same blood and values that he strived to maintain. Dad could have been described by the country western song " Daddy's Hands", he truly was a great man, and he will never be forgotten for his accomplishments with his family and in the community. Despite the sadness and uncertainty our mother Donna, my sister Natasha, and I pledged to keep the farm running strong. My mom took on the largest burden as my sister and I were still pursuing our education and could only help on evenings and weekends, for the first few years.

As the farm again began to get back on track and prosper once again another great tragedy struck the family. In a discovery in late 2011 our mother was found to have esophageal cancer and lived only a short 2 months, passing away in January 2012. Our mother was a woman whom skills seemed to be endless; she could accomplish anything her heart desired. Family and Friends alike all agree that she was the hardest working woman anyone has ever known. Our parents made a great team and by working side by side both possessed qualities that made Teter Ranch the operation it is today.

After the loss of our mother, we were again forced to reevaluate the future of the operation. Shortly before my mother's passing I became engaged to Elizabeth Yost, whom I married in May 2012. We have since become the operators of Teter Ranch. We both have degrees in Animal & Veterinary Science from WVU and feel confident that with our family experiences and education we can take Teter Ranch into the future. In April of 2013 Beth and I were blessed with our first son Clay Daniel Teter, he brought so much joy back to our family and is already showing great promise as a young rancher. In May of 2015 Clay became the big brother to Bryce Zachary Teter and in February of 2018 our family was complete when Freya Gwyn Teter was born. My sister Natasha Teter Keplinger is now married and resides in Grant County, WV, where she farms with her husband on his family farm operation.

After all the transitions the operation went through in WV over the years and with much research and planning, we decided if we planned to continue as the generations before us had in this way of life, that a relocation was needed to preserve and grow our business. WV had become more populated and had several challenging aspects that we felt made it extremely difficult to efficiently operate a cow/calf seedstock operation. After many trips/ tours in the west and much deep thought we chose the location we felt held the most promise: The Flint Hills of Kansas. The flint hills have very much in common with the Sinks of Gandy, where our Teter Ancestors set down roots in the 1800s. Both are limestone-based pastures with fertile land and native grass/ water that allow cattle gains to be at levels that are tough to match anywhere else in the country. In the fall of 2021, all our efforts came together to allow our relocation to become reality. We loaded up our family, belongings and a large percentage of the cow base and sheep flock and moved everything a little over 1,000 miles west to our current Ranch northwest of Eureka, KS. While this move proved to be extremely challenging and at times many said “have y’all lost your minds” we are very glad we have made this transition. The flint hills of Kansas are true cattle country, and we feel confident that our Simmental Seedstock operation will have a bright future here for many years to come. Our children will also have a future in production Ag. at a large scale, if that’s the life they choose to pursue. We, however, have not forgotten our eastern roots and still stay very connected with family, friends/ customers all over the east coast. We are excited for our future in the Flint Hills and stay tuned in for new developments along the way!

While our cowherd began as a commercial herd: transitioning from Hereford in the 1970s to Simmental and later to angus, we began to recognize the lack of heterosis in the herd in the late 90s. Simmental was reintroduced in 2005, and we have been building an elite Simmental & Simangus cow herd ever since that point. Simangus cattle are truly the best of both worlds and have worked for our operation and customers extremely efficiently.

In addition to the cattle enterprise, we have maintained a commercial sheep operation since the early 1900’s with the addition of purebred Suffolk’s in the 1980’s and purebred Dorset’s in 1995. Our sheep are used for multispecies grazing to maintain invasive species and to supply the ever-growing demand for lamb in consumer’s daily diets.

Our herds have changed in size by a significant amount over the past several decades. Our cow herd has grown from a small commercial operation, consisting of only 110 commercial cows in 1996 to a herd of 400 Simmental & Simangus females that markets 90+ bulls as well as feeder cattle and females each year. Our ranch operation contains over 5,000 acres of owned and rented land that we continuously use; only the best conservation practices to manage. The sheep flock has also continued and now consist of over 200 brood ewes that are deep bodied and production oriented. We maintain a flock of Commercial Suffolk/Dorset Cross, Purebred Suffolk, and Purebred Dorset ewes. We sell purebred rams of each breed on an annual basis and occasionally sell a select group of ewe lambs to area farmers.

We at Teter Ranch hope to bring our genetic progress and family values together to become your source for quality feeder cattle and seedstock. Our background has allowed us to obtain many life experiences; however, the consumer driven world is an ever-changing place that demands progressive agriculturalist that can meet the needs of the people. Therefore, we encourage you to contact us so we can tell you the rest of the story!!!!

Sincerely,
Zachary Teter - Teter Ranch