meet your neighbors Cattle Sale Every Saturday! 12 Noon, Selling All Classes of Cattle
Special Stock Cow and Bull Sale
3rd Tuesday of Each Month, 6:30 p.m. Next Sale Date October 20th
Sheep & Goat Sale
4th Tuesday of Each Month 6:00 p.m. Next Sale Date October 27th
Watch All Auctions Online at www.cattleusa.com
Call Lyle or Leon or one of our fieldmen to find out what we can do for you: Bobby Cole 573/ 674-3131 John Sanwald 417/718-3317 • Danny Cross 417/ 576-5461
Lyle Caselman, Owner/Mgr. 417-345-7876, mobile: 417-533-2944 Leon Caselman, Owner/Sheep Sale Mgr. 417-345-4514, mobile: 417-588-6185 Howard Miller, Owner - 417-818-3914
Buffalo Livestock Market
Barn 417-345-8122 SEMEN • CUSTOM COLLECTIONS AI SUPPLIES • AI SCHOOLS
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!
See us at Farmfest Oct. 2-4, Booth 83 East Hall 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
24
Catering to Pork Lovers
Photos by Julie Turner-Crawford
Tim Martin said bacon is one of his more popular sellers from his Red Wattle pigs.
By Julie Turner-Crawford
South 40 Farm offers pasturerasied Red Wattle pork Retirement has been anything but sitting in a rocking chair for Tim Martin. Tim grew up on a farm in Texas, and after 35 years as a computer specialist with the federal government, he and his wife Susie decided it mule foot, it better be a mule, so we went was time to go back to a rural way of life. “I wanted more than 20 acres and I want- with the Red Wattle.” Red Wattles, a large breed of heritage ed a creek on the place,” Tim said. “Susie agreed with all of this, so she got on hogs, are known for their red color and disCraigslist and started looking. She found tinctive wattles on each side of the neck. a place and I called the owner. It sounded The breed is also acknowledged for its harlike what I was looking for, but there was diness, forage proficiency and growth. “They produce lean meat, but they still someone else looking at it that weekend. I sent my son, who lives in Springfield, out have plenty of fat, and it’s supposed to be to take pictures. I called the guy back and the best tasting,” Tim said, adding that the told him I was interested in it if the other meat is also a little darker in color than people weren’t. He said I had first choice; I other breeds. “We also considered Tamsaid I wanted it and I bought it just from a worths. A guy raised a Tamworth, a Red Wattle and another breed. He kept track bunch of pictures.” The couple moved to Dadeville, Mo., of the feed and everything he did to raise from Washington state in 2012, and began them and found out the Red Wattles were remodeling the barn into “the bunkhouse,” the best tasting and the most economical giving Susie a canning kitchen, sewing and to raise.” The swine herd consists of six sows, a maquilting rooms, as well as sleeping areas for visitors, in addition to rebuilding the house ture boar and about 50 to 60 younger pigs and reclaiming the land, giving birth of the of varying ages. His original stock came from registered breeders out of state, but South 40 Farm. Once the property was improved, the Tim never wanted to become a registered breeder. couple was ready to start a “I wanted a purebred line of pigs,” he livestock operation. With said. “I have now found a purebred the help of family members breeder locally who has stock not with a passion for research, related to mine. I just bought anthey opted for Red Wattle pigs other boar, so when he gets a litin 2016. Dadeville, Mo. tle older he can take over for the “It came down to the Red Watbig guy.” tles or Mule-Footed breeds,” Tim Summer is not the ideal to said. “I said if something had a Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
forrow, a lesson Tim said he learned early on, so most of his litters are born in the spring and fall. “From the time the sow is bred and the pigs are ready to butcher, it’s about a year,” Tim said. “From the time they are born, they are ready to go in eight months, at about 250 pounds. My goal weight is 300 pounds because I want to get a little more sausage, and my steaks a little bigger.” While Red Wattles are foragers, pigs also receive supplemental grain and minerals. “Pigs have a simple digestive system, just like humans,” Tim said. “They aren’t like cows with their four-chambered stomach, so they have to have protein and minerals.” He went on to explain that pigs need a high-protein feed to develop muscles and grow at a normal rate. Tim found a 14-percent hog mix from Main Street Feeds gave him what he was looking for. The additional grain also allows the flavor of the meat to be consistent. “They are on pasture, but nothing with tress on it,” Tim said of his pigs. “Acorns or walnuts can change the flavor of the meat and the fat, which is something I didn’t want.” Pigs are allowed to roam on 5 acres of the farm, with the remainder being rented to a local cattle producer. No vaccinations are administered. Diatomaceous earth is occasionally mixed with feed to control parasites. SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
