BARNETT FARMS: SOLD ON BRANGUS

BARNETT FARMS:

Sold on Brangus Barnett Farms, Clarksville, Tennessee, found that diversifying their operation while utilizing Brangus genetics has made their operation sustainable for the next generation.

by Emme Demmendaal

“Using Brangus has made us money,” Matt Barnett of Barnett Farms, shares. Put to test in the heat, humidity, and fescue pastures that define the Southern United States, the Barnett family says that their Brangus cattle outperform in every situation. “Our Brangus cows don’t need anything extra. We have a good mineral and vaccination program for our cattle, but other than that, these cattle are expected to perform without any feed or protein supplements.” Headquartered in Clarksville, Tennessee, just 14 miles south of the Kentucky border, the diversified family operation raises over 250-commercial and 40-registered Brangus cattle alongside annually backgrounding over 1,500 steers and heifers, running over 70,000 head through their two sale barns, and row cropping over 2,000 acres, including 150 acres of tobacco.

Through strategic selection decisions, dedication to improvement, and hands on management, the Barnett family splits responsibilities between the different business ventures, but collectively remains committed to creating quality protein for consumers.

| DEDICATED TO IMPROVEMENT AND EXPANSION |

Over the years, the family has found that using Brangus bulls on their commercial cows improved overall performance on replacement females, as well as cattle uniformity for their buyers. Mark, Matt’s father, says, “In our area, we have fescue and humidity. Brangus cattle deal with our environment without losing points on sale day for too much ear or color.”

Brangus bulls on commercial cows have made a difference for their family. Matt explains, “We’re really focused on balanced genetics and longevity of replacement heifers in our cow herd. Brangus bulls really help us do all that. Even when they are used on some pretty crossed-up commercial cow herds - their calves are uniform and do well in the stockyard.”

Mark adds, “When you select Brangus bulls, and their conformation is right and EPDs are right, those cattle perform. We’re pleased, and our customers are pleased, with what we get with the Brangus-influenced animal.”

Both the seedstock and commercial herd is split between spring and fall calving to increase the number of calves they have available to background and sell, as well as offering registered bulls and replacement heifers year-round for customers.

To remain on top of current genetics, Barnett utilizes embryo transfer and AI in his registered stock. They are AI-bred once and put out with a clean-up bull 10 days later. Any cow or heifer that doesn’t breed back in a 60-day window is removed

from the herd. Barnett also finds that by paying close attention to the feet and leg structure, as well as the udder quality of the cows, they have cattle that stay in their herd and have fewer complications later on. He points out, “We go through and cull replacement heifers three or four times just for feet and leg issues, as well as disposition, because we want to breed and sell problem-free animals to our customers.” The breed overall has progressed to a point where profitability is easy to see from each segment of the industry. “We try to be hard on both our purebred and commercial cattle, but I hold my purebred cows to a higher standard because those cows need to prove that they’re going to produce a reliable bull worth being sold to commercial buyers.” Barnett shares that balanced and proven genetics are a large factor in their decision-making process. “Along with moderate birth weight, we pay attention to weaning and yearling weights, and we try to stay away from extremes and unknowns, because that’s where you can cause some problems further down the line.” Focused on building a dependable bull, a heifer with stayability, and a calf that performs in a feedlot without problems, he continues, “We don’t keep heifers out of heifers. We want to make sure that a four or five-year-old cow is doing her job before deciding to retain her genetics.” Making tough selection decisions on the registered and cow-calf side of the business has a trickle-down effect to the profitability of backgrounding and selling cattle in their sale barn. “Profit margins are too tight in the cow-calf segment OVER THE YEARS, THE FAMILY to waste time managing cows that need their feet trimmed,

HAS FOUND THAT USING have udder problems, or disposition issues, so we try

BRANGUS BULLS ON THEIR to recognize those animals as soon as possible and remove COMMERCIAL COWS IMPROVED them from our herd.” None of the cattle are

OVERALL PERFORMANCE ON given extra feed or protein supplements. “Our Brangus

REPLACEMENT FEMALES AS cows raise calves to six or seven months old on WELL AS CATTLE UNIFORMITY predominantly fescue pastures with no creep feed,”

FOR THEIR [FEEDER] BUYERS. he says, “We’re tough on our herd because our cows need to make us money. We keep them on a tight breeding and calving schedule and expect them to wean heavy calves that are profitable for us and the next person.”

| MARKETING CATTLE |

All of the cattle at weaning time are vaccinated and sorted. Heifers and bulls are not backgrounded on feed because they feel that it sorts out the top-performing cattle. Matt explains, “Feed can hide possible problems on animals, and we like to know how (continued on page 22)

(continued from page 21) that cow and bull are doing on their own, so we can be confident of what that cow is going to bring back to the pen for us and our customers.”

Approximately 10 years ago, the Barnetts started marketing a few commercial bred heifers at their sale barn. Since then, it has grown between 50 to 100 heifers annually depending on how many they decide to retain in their herd.

The rest of the calves that aren’t kept as replacements are preconditioned for 60 days, given two rounds of vaccinations before being sold at either of the family-owned sale barns. In 1978, Mark purchased the original Kentucky-Tennessee Livestock Market (KTLM) in Guthrie, Kentucky, a little town straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Almost 30 years later, KTLM expanded to Cross Plains, Tennessee, with the goal to provide better service to farmers in a wider area.

When Mark bought into the stockyard, he focused on providing a market where their customers and buyers both benefit. He started a trend in the area for grading cattle in comingled pens. While certain parts of the country use a weighout method, KTLM found that comingled groups allow small producers to sell cattle of similar weight, color, and class together and buyers can more easily select groups of cattle that they need. Matt says, “While it’s more labor for us upfront, it’s the best way to give the smaller farmers a way to market their cattle in larger groups and to receive the best prices for their cattle. We’re able to keep a competitive market because our customers and buyers know that we’re fair and we’re trying to do the best job for everybody.”

As KTLM grew, so did the backgrounding enterprise. Barnett Farms backgrounds between 800 to 1,500 stocker calves a year. “Backgrounding cattle is almost a market support option for us where we can fill holes for our customers.”

Each year 20-25 registered Brangus bulls are sold private treaty. Matt says, “KTLM customers sometimes need a bull or know someone who is looking for a bull. Working with customers, we know the type of calves they sell or the type of cows they have, I can help them find a bull that will work in their herd.”

| RAISING THE FIFTH GENERATION |

“We’re all involved and enjoy what we do,” says Matt, explaining the evolution of the operation through the four generations who have managed the operation. “We’ve expanded to accommodate having the whole family a part of it.”

Today, his father, Mark, and mother, Betty, are still heavily involved with the operation but have passed much of the daily management over to their three sons. Tom, the oldest, manages the two sale barns with his wife, Stephanie, who runs the office at the stockyard; Will, and his wife, Sarah, are involved in row cropping and tobacco; and Matt, the youngest son, manages the cow-calf and seedstock business, alongside his wife, Paige. All three families share the responsibility for the row crop and backgrounding enterprises. “We all just fit in where we are needed, whether that’s the wheat or the hayfield, the livestock market or tobacco patch, flexibility is key for our diverse operation.”

Each generation has made adjustments and expanded the original farm. Most notably the two sale barns and the backgrounding operation were added by Mark, while the registered herd began with Matt’s guidance; but, the cow-calf operation and farming businesses have remained the center of the family operation since its inception.

Matt shares that making the tough selection decisions on each aspect of their operation keeps their customers successful, and in turn, builds a sustainable business for the next generation of Barnetts. He concludes, “Even though we are involved with many areas of the cattle industry, we are cow-calf producers at heart. We feel that by focusing on the big picture, we are doing our part to make the highest-quality beef for the consumer. There is no better way to raise hard-working kids and do your part to make an impact on the world, than that of agriculture.”