Answering a Calling to Continue a Legacy
Marli Scarborough ranches with her family in South Dakota. Marli is the fifth-generation to return to her family operation. Her great-great grandparents homesteaded in 1907 and she is proud to continue the legacy. Marli and her father do most of the day-to-day work on their ranch but her younger brothers pitch in and help too. They are diversified in the sense that they both farm and raise beef cattle, but Marli primarily enjoys working with their commercial cows. They calve in the fall and spring, so there is always something to keep her busy. Like many cattlewomen she enjoys being outside in nature and caring for animals. Ranch work is a natural fit for her.
Marli was homeschooled and stayed to help on the ranch after graduating high school. “It worked out perfectly. About a month after I graduated we lost our hired man and a spot opened up for me on the operation.” She worked alongside her father for about 4 years and then made the decision to move to Rapid City for a year after feeling burnt out and desiring the opportunity to work on writing projects and try something a little different. After her year in Rapid City, Marli came to realize that she could do a lot of things but her heart was still on the ranch. “I think what I ended up realizing is that there's so many things that I could do and could be content doing like writing or just any kind of a job. Plus, it would all be easier and not quite as much stress as ranching. But those jobs also don’t offer near the rewards compared cattle production.”, says Marli
When Marli thinks about what makes her proud of her operation, conservation and being stewards of the land is what comes to mind. “I feel like in this area, my parents were some of the first to adopt more conservation practices like no till and rotational grazing and stuff like that. We've always had a lot of hunters coming through and whatnot. So, I think just the connection to the land throughout the generations is something to be proud of.”, says Marli. She knows they are doing a lot to improve the land but not as much as others. She enjoys learning about new ideas and is excited to continue learning more about grazing cover crops and how her family can start doing this someday.
Outside of ranching, Marli has started sharing her day-to-day ranch life on social media and ties it together with her faith and Christian beliefs. She connects with others through Instagram, Facebook, a newsletter and her blog. During her year away from the ranch, she spent a lot of time reflecting on why she felt called to ministry and sharing God’s word. Marli says, “I think I have always felt called to missions work and ministry. I had this assumption that if I was willing to do that, that God was going to send me somewhere else. And if I stayed on the ranch, it was actually selfish to do what I wanted to do instead of going and serving God. God kind of had to show me that there are plenty of ways to serve Him and minister to people just by doing what He created me to love doing.”
Marli says she is excited to be a young producer in the beef industry. The more active she has become on social media the more young producers she sees trying to be involved. With the average age of farmers and ranchers continuing to rise, this is inspiring and something to be proud of. You can follow Marli on social media by looking up her page @marliscarborough to get a regular dose of relatable ranch life happenings and great reminders to always keep growing in your faith.
