SEMEN • CIDR’s • TANKS SUPPLIES • AI SCHOOLS
meet your neighbors
Multiple Operations in One By Julie Turner-Crawford
Cattle Visions has one of the most diverse and complete semen inventories in the nation. Since our warehouse is located in Central Missouri, our freight rates will be reasonable. We sell semen on the hottest bulls in the U.S.A!
Angus • Club Calf Charolais • Simmental Gelbvieh • And Others Call Toll Free
1-866-356-4565 13015 S. 63 Hwy, Clark, MO 65243 www.cattlevisions.com
Voted THE #1 Electric Fence Solution Since 2011
Rafter J Fencing 6880 Lawrence 1097 Mount Vernon, MO 65712
417-461-4514 Jamie Miller - Owner
Contact us for volume pricing! Are you getting the most out of your pasture? Benefits of MIG or rotational grazing: • healthier soil & grass • healthier livestock • higher stocking rates • higher profit per acre With Timeless Fence you can do this with less stress. We don’t just sell it, we use it. Contact us for volume freight discounts.
18
McDowell Land and Cattle Company runs stocker calves, cow/calf pairs and markets is own beef When it comes to raising cattle, John McDowell knows a thing or two. The lifelong cattleman runs a multifaceted operation of stocker cattle, cow/calf pairs and USDA-inspected beef at his Dade County, Mo., farm.
Cow/Calf pairs
With the help of one full-time employee, John McDowell runs a cow/calf operation, as well as stocker calves. He also sells USDAinspected beef straight from his Dade County farm.
On the cow/calf side of the operation, John runs about 400 pairs at his farm near South Greenfield. Females are a mixed herd and about a decade ago he began to incorporate Red Angus bulls. “I’ve had other bulls before I got the Red Angus, but they are more consistent and I like the way the Red Angus I want. Some of the purebred cattle out breeders have stayed true to the cause there aren’t as good as the commercial cattle, and the reason that is, and I’m still and not chased a fad.” The Red Angus Association has honored learning, some of the registered people John with three Grind Master Awards. chase the wrong things. They chased size The award is earned by operations that for too long; we don’t need a 1,500-pound have successfully combined high-perform- cow. I don’t need a 1,300-pound cow. I ing Red Angus genetics, skillful feeding will take that 1,000- to 1,200-pound cow and precise marketing to achieve success and raise a 500-pound calf.” Calves are weaned at about 8 months with the slaughter of superior beef carcasses. In 2016, his naturally-fed Red Angus of age. He retains about 60 or 70 heifers cattle were required to achieve 90 percent from each calving season, then sells the Choice and Prime, with no more than 10 majority as bred heifers, which are bred percent Yield Grade 4s and a minimum at about 15 or 16 months of age. grid score of 100. Two of McDowell’s loads Stockers went 100 percent Choice. In his stocker operation, John’s calves, “The Red Angus is what has made as well as calves he purchases from area the difference,” John said. stockyards and local farmers, will reHe currently runs about main in feeding pens until they are 14 bulls with his herd, ready for pasture or the feed yard. which is split into spring Calves are housed in 17 lots, and fall calving. each with a watering system and “We try to keep them pretty South even,” John said. “We retain Greenfield, Mo. feed bunks. Each pen also has a shaded area, where round most of our females and that bales are placed. John said Red Angus is making them the shade not only gives the more uniform, which is what Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
Photo by Julie Turner-Crawford
cattle a cool spot in the summer months, it also allows the hay to stay dry and gives cattle protection from rain and snow. John added he keeps the number of calves in each lot small so they can also take advantage of grasses that grow there. He can run more than 700 head in the facility, which was built by his late brother, but opts to keep numbers low. He’s currently at about 500 head. “I like to rotate them,” John said. “My brother kept 2,000 head and all of the pens were dirt. Keeping fewer calve helps reduces chances of disease and we don’t have the soil erosion.” Stockers are fed a mix of feeds, including oats, barley sprouts, distillers grain, corn and wet coffee grounds. A highprotein liquid from Pro Energy Feeds is also added and mixed at the farm. Calves, as well as all cattle, are also offered the liquid supplement free choice. John strives for about 2 1/2 pounds of gain a day with the stocker calves. Stockers are typically sold to a buyer at about 750 to 800 pounds, but he does sell at area stockyards as well. MAY 18, 2020
