By Alyssa Schukar
The New York Times
In his earliest memories of his family’s farm, Ethan Uhlir rides in an old truck with his grandfather Arden, feeding cattle and mending fences.
Before Arden Uhlir’s death five years ago, he “reminded me that I was a good cattleman,” Ethan said, and “I have to keep it like that.”
Ethan, now 17, still notices his grandfather’s wiring technique in fence posts scattered across the farm in the rolling plains of northeast Nebraska, along the South Dakota border. He walks along the same paths as six generations of Uhlirs, but Ethan may be the last to work the land.