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Lester and Ouida Crossey, pictured with three of their grandchildren, started their family’s cattle operation 40 years ago. Ouida is the primary operator of their Flying C Ranch.
Building from the Start By Terry Ropp
Ouida Crossey has managed her family’s cattle operation since 1980 Lester grew up in North Little Rock and graduated Lester and Ouida Crossey of Searcy, Ark., started high school in Cabot. Though born in Venezuela, South in the cattle business after they married in 1980. Ouida managed their ranch, Flying C Ranch, and it America, where her father worked for Exxon, Ouida was grew to 170 acres, with the initial acreage coming from raised on an Arkansas farm. Her parents, Joe and Maria Ouida’s family’s farm. Over the years, Lester and Ouida Fincher, returned to the United States in 1960 and raised accumulated more family land through inheritance and cattle, milo and soybeans. “I’ve always liked cows and was never afraid of them. buying land from her brothers’ shares when they moved away to pursue their careers. The 500 acres is in several I remember being about 6 and feeding cattle out of my locations. The furthest is 5 miles away with their twins, hand,” Ouida said. “I also fondly remember going with my Thomas and Michael, having homes on Lester and Oui- dad in the 1970s to the well-respected Winrock Farms to look at Santa Gertrudis cattle for the first time. My dad da’s original acreage and son Daniel on a different farm. “We wanted to raise cows and my brothers didn’t. The started raising Santa Gertrudis and now we do.” The Cosseys sell bulls, show cattle, and open and bred arrangement has worked out for everyone’s benefit,” exheifers through breed sales and by private treaty, in addiplained Ouida. Ouida works full time on their ranch, running more tion to selling beef on the rail. The Cossey herd contains 130 registered Santa Gertrudis, than 250 head of Santa Gertrudis and Hereford cattle. Lester continued his career in the Arkansas Air National Herefords and commercial cows used as embryo recips. The ranch has four bulls: two Santa Gertrudis and two Guard. After 33 years of service, Lester retired as a lieutenant colonel and continues his instructor career with Herefords. Lester and Ouida have tightened their genetic line and use some line breeding to preserve the genetics CAE (Canadian Aviation and Electronics). they have developed. Their main breeding bull, Lester and Ouida have five grandchildren, Savage, is a product of that line breeding and ages 5 through 15, with some of the grandSearcy, Ark. produces exactly what Ouida is looking for. children participating in showing at various “I have a picture in my head of what I want fairs. The ranch maintains several show cattle and select and breed to match that picture, a and steers from both spring and fall breeding moderately-sized animal with a clean sheath, seasons, which provides show stock of differdeep bodied, and a wide base,” explained Ouida. ent ages so the grandchildren compete in difSavage produces really nice calves.” ferent classes.
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One of their earlier bull calves, FC Pistol 28/0, is now one of the top bulls in the breed. He was sold with the conditions that he wear the Cossey brand and they retain an interest in his semen production. Those genetics are still being used in the Santa Gertrudis herd. The females are divided into four groups, two Santa Gertrudis and two Hereford. Savage breeds the largest group made up of the best Santa Gertrudis cows. The other groups are bred through AI and ET with Ouida performing the AI and implanting the embryos, although the cows are flushed and the embryos frozen elsewhere. “My AI produces about 80 percent fertility while ET, as is typical, has a 50 to 60 percent fertility rate,” Ouida explained. “I try twice, and if that doesn’t work, I turn them out with a Hereford bull. Though ET is more expensive, the results are worth the time and money.” Because the Cossey land is in different locations, the home place serves as a maternity ward. The result is specific and frequent rotation so spring and fall calves are born where Ouida can keep a close eye on them. “Our cows are so used to moving from farm to farm, they come running when they see the trailer and almost jump in,” Ouida laughed. The working pens are also located at home, with Ouida doing almost all of the vet work and seeking help only when she feels she’s in over her head. She uses a strong vaccination protocol, pulls calves and administers epidermals. Flies are treated through free-choice medicated mineral supplemented JULY 27, 2020
