Our Legacy 

       Forder Land and Cattle The Forder family originally settled in the St Louis area, but in the early 1900’s my great grandfather Conn R Forder Sr got the urge like so many others to move west. They first settled in Idaho around Nezpearce. In 1918 they decided they needed to move to a drier climate (what were they thinking???) for health reasons. They purchased the home place in the fall of 1918 and have been fighting the drier climate ever since.When they moved to Montana there was my great grandfather, Conn R Forder Sr, Conn R Forder jr (son) and Ann Forder (daughter). In 1928 Ann was joined by her new husband Hardee Phillips.

      Over the years they purchased other property to expand the ranch. In 1937 Conn Sr suffered a stroke so it was decided to build a new house with lots of windows so he could keep an eye on things. Around this time Ann and Hardee hired a young woman from Winifred to help care for Conn Sr. This brought on another addition to the Forder family when Rose Marie Murphy and Conn Jr were married on Jan 12th 1941. In 1946 they adopted my father Wayne and his twin brother Dwayne, followed by adopting Conna Ruth in 1956. The main agricultural interests have been cattle, wheat and barley. Conn Jr was very active in the community serving on church and school boards, being very active in the Masonic lodge, and being an original board member of the Belt Valley Bank.After returning home from Montana College Wayne worked right along side his dad and continued to grow when opportunities arose. In 1971 he married Dorothy Randash and they moved to the Penn place. They had 3 children Conn, Bret and Tami.

         Wayne had another passion and that was the National Farmers Organization (NFO). He worked tirelessly to use collective bargaining to help neighbors market the grain and cattle they raised. He started on the state board of directors and then moved up to the national board where he served for 33 years. Wayne and Dorothy made many wonderful friendships through their NFO travels.Conn and Lorri are now at the helm of Forder Land and Cattle. We now run cattle in 4 counties and put on lots of miles keeping track of everything. They have transitioned to straight cattle and use the farm ground to raise feed for the cattle. They have a growing heard of mama cows and raise a slew of bred heifers that they sell each winter. Conn scours to get the right to purchase the top end females from some of the oldest herds in the state. They also run a herd of yearlings.Conn and Lorri have 4 children Lilly, Sophia, Amri and CW (Conn Wayne). When not chasing cattle they love to keep up with their favorite football team the Montana State Bobcats!! But don’t be surprised if you find them at a rodeo or a high school sporting event.