Farm Family of the Year Winner 2025: Wheatland Cattle Co.

The Estevan Chamber of Commerce with the Farm Family Committee celebrated six decades of dedication, hard work, and community spirit at the 60th annual Farm Family of the Year event. Wheatland Cattle Co., Vernon and Denise Lefrentz, were the winners of the Farm Family of the Year Award.

The Lafrentz family owns and operates Wheatland Cattle Co., which is located SE of Bienfait in the Souris Valley. Their family includes Vernon, his wife Denise, and their two sons; Riley and his wife Maddy, and Cody-Ray and his wife Shayne. Riley and Maddy are full-time on the ranch and involved in all the day-to-day operations. Cody-Ray and Shayne make their home in Prague, Oklahoma, where they own and operate Lafrentz Cattle. Even though there is some distance between Bienfait and Prague, they are able to work together in our breeding and marketing decisions.

Agriculture has been in the Lefrentz family for generations, mostly mixed farming, and for their family, cattle are solely what they do. They are involved in the livestock industry as a seedstock producer.  Breeding, raising and marketing purebred Simmental and Angus cattle is what they are most known for. 2024 was a super exciting and memorable year showing cattle. Wheatland Lady 211H and Wheatland Bull 4177M were crowned Grand Champion Simmental Female at Agribition and then went on to be declared Supreme Champion Female across all breeds, definitely a moment the Lefrentz’s will cherish and remember. 

From the Lafrentz bio, “Our family works relentless to build the best possible cowherd we can, throughout this industry we are truly blessed with the friendships that we have made. Agriculture runs deep in our roots and we are truly grateful and thankful to God in living where we live and doing what we love to do as a family!”

The evening was celebrated with a roast beef dinner served by the staff of the Beefeater, with Jason LeBlanc as emcee.

There were six 4-H speeches that entertained the crowd:

• Brooke Tanner - Crossroads 4-H Multiple Club
• Haylie Petterson - Benson 4-H Beef Club
• Slade Erdman - Outram-Madigan 4-H Club
• Sophia Brown - Browning 4-H Beef Club
• Rowan Shier - Steelman 4-H Beef Club
• Reed Vandenhurk - Cymri 4-H Beef Club

The opening speaker was Axten Farms, a multi-generational farm from Minton, Saskatchewan, who shared their story about how they focus on their soil health to grow nutrient-dense grains. They highlighted their processes and the expansion of their operations as they continue their journey into Regenerative Farming.

The keynote speaker was John Gormley, a lawyer, retired broadcaster, public policy analyst, and best-selling author. John shared his perspective on media he learned through his 25 years on air, as well as lessons learned from his numerous callers, such as resilience and happiness.

For more information, please contact the Executive Director, Merissa Scarlett at 306-637-2151 or via email at executivedirector@estevanchamber.ca.