The Galloways appreciate the traits of their heritage breed, and its name

meet yourneighbors History on a Hillside

By Ashley Wilson Loy and Mary Beth Galloway find their niche with Belted Galloways

Dotting a hillside of Crane, Mo you’ll find Loy and Mary Galloway’s pride and joy: a herd of Belted Galloways. prefer grass if available. Mary and Loy rotate their herd throughout the year where pasture is readily available. In the cold months, they feed good grass hay they purchased

Resembling a furry Oreo on four legs with their characteristic white belt pattern sand- in the summer. They also feed a little bit of grain but are careful not to feed too much. wiched between shades of black, red or dun, the Belted Galloway, or Beltie as they are “This keeps them gentle and makes them come to us more easily,” Mary explained. affectionately called in the business date back to the 16th century. They originated in Over-graining a Beltie, especially at finishing, will result in a fatty beef. Belties are notothe former Galloway region of Scotland where the terrain was rough and the country- rious for their exceptionally lean and flavorful meat. The meat is tender, juicy, low in side required whatever survived there to be hardy and rugged. After a rough go for the saturated fat and high in Omega-3. The Galloways say they have little trouble selling breed in the early 2000s, where many cattle were wiped from the British countryside their beef. Most of the sales of their halves or quarters go quickly by word of mouth. by the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic, the Belted Galloway is currently listed as a They often have a list of people waiting to fill their freezer. “recovering breed” by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. When it comes to marketing sales of their herd, Mary runs the farm’s Facebook page,

If the coincidental name likeness wasn’t enough, the long and interesting history LMG Belted Galloway. Her pictures are marketing enough when they have calves hit the played a huge role in what drew Loy and Mary to the breed. They are a perfect ground. In addition to her Facebook page, Mary also lists their stock on various Belted fit for Southwest Missouri’s Galloway Enthusiast groups hills and rocky terrain; they on Facebook, “Our goal is to are also incredibly easy keep- keep a few cattle, raise enough ers. Requiring very little vet- beef for our family, and sell a erinary care and their high few along the way. We have parasite resistance, Loy and been able to sell our Belties loMary do very little to keep cally and with other breeders their herd healthy. Basic vac- across the country. There is a cinations for the area and fly network of Beltie breeders oncontrol are a top priority. line and a lot of interest from

“They do need a little people wanting to get into the water in the summertime. breed.” Maybe a bit more than oth- As in most heritage liveer breeds, but a small pond stock breeds, a downfall of the would do,” Loy recommend- Belted Galloway is the time it ed. In addition to their wa- takes to reach maturity. Typiter needs, Mary enjoys giv- cally, Loy waits until year two ing them a quick brushing to to send a steer to the butcher keep tangles and burrs from which averages a weight of their long locks, but it isn’t a about 900 pounds. Additionnecessity. ally, he prefers a heifer to be 2

The Galloways run 25 to before exposing her to a bull. 30 registered head, which “Of course, there are many includes one working bull and about 12 cows on roughly 60 acres split over a few opinions on when to breed,” Mary explained. “We have just been successful waiting a tracts. Because Loy and Mary have full-time jobs off the farm, Loy works for Ear- little longer so we continue this practice.” The Galloways prefer to use a bull over AI ly Bird Feed and Fertilizer and Mary teaches first grade at Crane R-3 and have had success with breeding consistency. “We expose our cows/heifers to a School, they chose a breed whose temperament was docile and gentle. bull so we have a few calves in the spring and a few in the fall. We like to avoid the It was important to them that they were able to work their herd them- hottest and coldest months.” Rarely do they choose to raise any bull calves; most selves. “Their gentleness is a huge plus in our situation since it is just the are castrated and raised for beef. two of us to do all the work,” Mary said. Aside from the occasional ad- Loy and Mary truly enjoy working with their Belted Galloway herd. vice from neighboring farmers, the hard work is shared between the two. “God has blessed us greatly, and we believe that it is a blessing to have this “Mary there, she’s my partner,” Loy said. Clever, Mo. land and these cattle,” Mary added.“Farming is something we do together

When it comes to feeding, the Beltie breed has an excellent drive to forage, and enjoy. As long as we are able and as long as we are enjoying ourselves, more so than some other breeds. They do well on a little brushy terrain, but we will probably keep on with our little farm of Belties.”

Loy and Mary Galloway have been raising Belted Galloway cattle for about two decades. Photo by Ashley Wilson