Photo by Laura L. Valenti
meet your
neighbors The Wrinkle family has been raising cattle for more than 100 years in Laclede County, Mo. Pictured, from left, are Thomas, Addalynne, Tom and Aaron Wrinkle.
Family Ties By Laura L. Valenti
Generations of the Wrinkle family has raised cattle in Laclede County, Mo. “We do a lot of mob grazing or really Aaron Wrinkle and his family, including the generation before intensive grazing with cross-fencing,” and the one coming after him, Aaron explained. The original Wrinkle homestead was stay busy on their century farm of 70 acres in eastern Laclede Coun- near Richland, starting around 1850. Tom and Aaron have always worked ty, just outside of Lebanon, Mo. They have a cow/calf operation of approx- off the farm in addition to their agriculimately 30 head, which includes both tural pursuits. Tom worked at Bill’s Farm registered Charolais and commercial and Home for nearly 20 years and has cattle. In recent years, they have also also worked with electrical suppliers for become involved with club calves. In one of the contractors at Fort Leonard addition to the acreage they own, they Wood. Aaron has worked for the Laclede County Water District No. 3 for rent another 200 plus acres. For the Wrinkle family, raising cattle many years. The Wrinkles AI all of their heifers is a long-standing family tradition. “My father Delbert Wrinkle, as well as and also do embryo transfer, using purB.T. Wrinkle, my grandfather, were also chased, frozen embryos. “We keep about 95 percent of our involved with raising beef heifers each year and sell off the cattle here,” Tom Wrinkle, older cows that no longer quite Aaron’s dad shared. “I also fit our breeding program as we milked for several years.” want to be aware and not get The Wrinkles grow and cut into problems with inbreedtheir own hay, about 250 to Lebanon, Mo. ing,” Aaron said. ”There are 300 bales a year, and maintain some folks that like to have a grazing program.
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the genetic lines we have going here, too. We have some recipient cows for the frozen embryos that we buy and we use our registered Charolais bulls for our commercial cows. It’s through the AI that we got into the club calves. “We are working on building up our herd right now with the club calves, using AI with our own stock, but we only do four or five a year. We are breeding our club calves right now for our own kids to show so we are not marketing any. We only show the steers and we keep the heifers to breed back to the club calf bulls. The club calf was developed, beginning in the 1970s, Aaron explained. “Through cross-breeding, the idea was to develop the best-looking calf for the show ring that would also carry the best traits for meat,” he said. “The basic concept is to bring together the best traits of multiple breeds. Sometimes, you actually — Continued on Next Page
Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
OCTOBER 4, 2021
