meet your neighbors
50x100x16
One side sheeted. One gable sheeted materials.
James Isaacs retired from his career in education and is now a full-time cattlemen.
50x100x18 Roof only Materials
40x50x12
enclosed w/3” reinforced vinyl back insulation. 1- walk thru door, 2-10x10 openings, 26 ga. 40 year painted metal. All red iron frame. Materials.
INSTALLATION AVAILABLE Call for pricing due to rising cost of steel. All American Steel Buildings Pole Barns • Commercial Buildings Agricultural Buildings • Shops Custom I-Beam Construction
Toll Free: 1-888-364-9527 Office: 417-671-8015 Fax: 417-671-8018 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am - 5pm 12760 St. Hwy 76 • Cassville, MO 65625 www.superiormetalsalesinc.com sales@superiormetalsalesinc.com
8
Breeding for Profit Photo by Terry Ropp
until his children graduated from college. While working toward his science The use of Stabilizer certification, James taught veterans from genetics gives the Isaacs’ the Vietnam War who were interested in farming in both Magazine and Paris for operation a diversified 10-hours a week at night and on Saturrevenue stream days. James then pursued his educational James and Sandy Isaacs run a career, beginning as a science teacher heavily Angus-influenced com- then moving on to be a principal and fimercial herd on the land where nally the superintendent. Now James is retired and farming fullJames was raised. James is the third generation on his time, something he always wanted to farm outside of Magazine, Ark. The land do. During many of those years, Sandy is gently sloped with Mount Magazine worked for Magnetics in the engineering making a compelling backdrop. James department, which made ceramic magand his wife Sandy own 550 acres and netic cores for electronics sent to China. The Isaacs’ farm runs 300 cows bred rent an additional 700, some of which is by 20 bulls, most of which are Stabiunfenced and used for haying. James and Sandy met at a church meet- lizers. The composite breed was deing. James was attending Arkansas State veloped in the 1970s in Colorado by where he was earning a degree in animal the Leachman Cattle Company in an science with a specialty in nutrition. San- effort to combine the moderate size, dy wrote him a letter and he came to visit. fleshing ability and marbling of BritWhen James graduated from college, ish breeds with the milk, muscle and growth of those from contifew agriculture teaching jobs nental Europe. were available though the Magazine, Ark. James is able to use his bulls local high school needed a longer than most because his science teacher. James recattle are divided into seven turned to school and more herds with more than one bull for or less stayed in school as he each herd. An additional critical progressed upward through factor is that he rotates the bulls methe educational system and By Terry Ropp
Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
thodically and culls only when they seem to be wearing out. James began using Stabilizer bulls about 10 years ago when neighbor Bruce Stanton became a local representative for the Leachman Cattle Company. James experimented by using a few and liked the results. He maintains bull diversity by using AI performed by Dr. Charles Meisner from Boonville, Ark., on his best 40 females, developing some bull calves and heifers for future breeding. His replacement heifers are selected for AI because they have the most advanced genetics in his herd. James and Bruce have worked together by using AI on both herds and alternating who keeps the bull calves and who keeps the heifers. Once James and Bruce raised bulls for the Leachman Cattle Company using embryo transplant. A specialist came to each of their farms to perform the process which meant they had to be ready on specific days at specific times during January. Like James, who runs only a fallcalving season for maximum profit and to avoid summer heat, the Leachman Cattle Company also wants fall bull calves. The calves were then sent back to Colorado to develop with one of them returning to — Continued on Page 14 MAY 4, 2020
