Farm406

19 farm406 hen I pull up to Phil Steinberger's farm just four miles east of Forsyth, Montana, in mid-July, the sun is just starting to peek up over the horizon, illuminating his wheat fields and the bright red barn that Phil and his wife Renee turned into a guest house. When I called him earlier in the week to set up a time for a visit, I told him that I'd be driving a beat-up Subaru Forester. "Well," he said, "you'll fit in real nice around here." I step out of my car and Steinberger hands me a mug full of hot coffee. "Ready to go for a drive?" I hop in his pickup with my camera and he gives me a tour of his 525 acre dryland wheat farm located on the Forsyth Flats, a Pleistocene era (colloquially known as the last Ice Age) terrace that spreads out 200 feet above the Yellowstone River. You can see the majestic Castle Bue to the north and the Rosebud Bues to the southeast. Steinberger, who has spent a majority of his life in Forsyth but grew up on a generational North Dakota diversified farm near Minot, bought the farm from Larry Erpelding in 2002. He knew it would be a tough go to make it work but farming was in his blood. What One Farm Family in Forsyth is Doing to Turn the Tide P R O D U C E R P R O F I L E BY ALEXIS BONOGOFSKY • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEXIS BONOGOFSKY The Hollowing Out of the Mid-sized Farm: W The Steinberger's farm is located on the Forsyth Flats just above the Yellowstone River. The hill country, as Phil calls it, is excellent habitat for deer, doves, and geese and ducks coming off the river. The Steinberger's provide lodging and hunting opportunities which attracts many of the hunters who flock to eastern Montana during hunting season.

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