Seedstock Producer of the Year Tobacco transition money helped
Raines Farms
expand into purebred Angus, horticulture Story & Photos by Amy Beth Graves After a long day tending animals and plants on the farm, the Raines like to sit down for a nice family meal and chew the cud afterward. It doesn’t take long for the conversation to work its way back to cattle, a favorite topic for Todd and his 19-year-old son, Ty. “We have a lot of kitchen table discussions about farming and what to do the next day. Ty and Dad tend to talk about what bull to breed a cow to. It’s their unwinding for the evening. There are times when Mom says ‘Is there anything else we can talk about?’” laughed McKayla, Todd and Melanie’s 20-year-old daughter. “There is but talking about the farm is what we do.” And what a diverse farming operation the Raines run in Adams County. They have 300-350 purebred Angus cows on pasture and a feedlot, raise corn, soybeans and some burley tobacco and have about 5 acres of greenhouses where they grow plants and flowers. It takes about 10 employees and several family members to run the operation and with so many different pieces to manage, it can be challenging at times. But Todd wouldn’t have it any other way. His family has been farming the land near Seaman for generations and it’s in his blood. “Ag is where my passion is,” Todd said. “We’re here seven days a week tending livestock and making sure things are OK. What other profession do you get to spend all day with your kids and be your own boss? I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” McKayla echoes her father’s words, 44 | Ohio Cattleman | Expo Issue 2021
describing how growing up on a fifth-generation farm has influenced her life. She’s an animal science major at Ohio State University with aspirations of becoming a large animal veterinarian and working with cattle producers. “I’ve learned a lot of things over the years and have first-hand experience in some of them. There’s not a single large animal vet in our county, and that’s something that hits home with me. There’s so many different technologies within the beef industry to utilize: artificial insemination, embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization. Being able to utilize those avenues is interesting,” said McKayla, who recently received an OCA scholarship. Ty, who is a first year animal science major at Ohio State, envisions himself staying with the family farm and continuing to concentrate on the cattle side of the operation. He’s involved in the feeding and breeding of the cows and making pedigree decisions. “We do a lot of DNA tests on our cattle,” he said. “Every animal that has a chance of becoming part of the herd in breeding will get a blood sample at weaning. For every animal registered, we’ll send in a blood sample for HD50k genetic testing to ensure the animals we’re breeding with are top quality and the EPDs aren’t lying.” Their father couldn’t be more proud that the next generation is lined up to take over the family farm. He has fond memories of working side-by-side
with not only his father but both his grandfathers. One tract of land was bought by his great-great grandfather on his mother’s side in 1895 and another belonged to his great great grandfather on his father’s side. Todd’s interest in Angus started after he graduated from college with an animal science degree. Previously, the family had been raising crossbred cattle, and he wanted more predictability in his animals. His family, like many in the area, had recently received funding from the Southern Ohio Agricultural & Community Development Foundation to transition from raising mainly tobacco to another agricultural product. “I felt the cattle operation needed revamping because genetically we had no idea what we had. We’d had crossbred cattle for years and years and no set program,” he said. “I’d thought about changing and then when the money came in, it gave us the opportunity to switch to seedstock Angus.” A college roommate helped Todd find the type of Angus that he was looking for – strong in carcass traits. He sold the crossbred cattle and traveled down to Georgia where he bought 10 purebred black Angus. Over the years, he worked at improving his herd through artificial insemination and embryo transfer. Today Raines Farms markets purebred heifers and some bulls to farmers in Ohio and Kentucky. About half are retained as replacements with the rest fed out in the feedlot. For several
