Wooden Shoe Farms, as it is known today, is owned and operated by Neal and Shelly Ward, Bradley and Britany Ward, and Steve and Alicia Billman. Wooden Shoe has roots dating back 75 years with two different cattle operations — one in Idaho and one in Washington. In college, Neal interned for the original Wooden Shoe Farms in Washington, which began 50 years ago when Jack Powell and Dick Frank purchased a tulip and daffodil farm and added cattle shortly after. In southeastern Idaho, Neal’s grandfather, Zeke Ward, operated LZ Ranch, which reached a point where it needed to be divided in 1976. At that point, Zeke kept LZ Ranch, and Neal and his father, DeLoy, started Timber Creek Ranch.

In 1992, when Wooden Shoe Farms in Washington dispersed, Neal and DeLoy purchased the entire herd and moved it to Blackfoot, Idaho, merging it with Timber Creek Ranch. The operation now consists of registered Herefords and Angus with an extensive embryo transfer program. 2019 marks 75 years in the Hereford industry for the Ward family, which now has five generations that have been involved in raising Hereford cattle. The Ward family looks forward to continuing its legacy of raising quality stock.