NEIGHBORS Meet Your
How they’re doing things down the road
Herd by Trade Jim O’Neill has spent his whole life trading and building a profitable herd By Sherry Leverich Tucker
J
im O’Neill of Wheaton, Mo., has spent his life shifting strategies, trading cattle and learning how to ride through market changes and deal with uncontrollable variables. Jim was raised northeast of Cassville, Mo., in a community called Quaker, “We had cattle when I was a boy, a few cows to milk. There weren’t big farms back then like there is now. Everyone had a few cows.” Jim remembers being a child through the drought of the 50s and how hard it was to keep cattle. “We cut down trees for the cows in the summer. In the winter we bought hay that came in on the train from South Dakota. It wasn’t good hay, but it was better than nothing.” Similar to the drought of his youth, he is riding out the current drought as economically as possible. Jim manages a large herd of mixed breed Bates
St. Clair
Camden
Hickory
Vernon
Cedar
Polk
Pulaski
Dallas
Barton
Dade
Greene
Jasper
Christian
McDonald
Barry
Stone
Phelps
Laclede
Webster
Lawrence
Newton
cows. Though he has momma cows of varying breeds, Jim sees a lot of benefits in the Longhorn, “Longhorn cows are cheap Jim O’Neill builds, trades and to buy. They are easy keepmaintains his herd as an asset ers and easy to feed.” that has stood the test of time. Besides dealing well with hot drought conditions, Longhorn cows raise good calves, “They an eye on the market ups and downs. “I milk well and their udders hold up. You buy the calves no one else will buy, and I won’t see no broken down bags with don’t mass vaccinate. If they get sick, the Longhorn cows.” Jim’s preferred then I medicate them,” Jim said. He cross with a Longhorn cow is Charolais. feeds his calves 12 percent protein feed He likes the yellow colored calves that and keeps them on pasture and hay. this cross provides, along with the After he has gotten some weight gain, “I hybrid producing healthy, gaining usually sell them at a weight somewhere stock. Jim added, “Nearly a third of my around 750-800 pounds,” Jim will unload herd is Longhorn cows right now.” He them at another market. Jim has had has also run hybrid black bulls with his experience offering large lots of feeder mixed cowherd. stock to sell through the televised Along with his “Superior Livestock” auction. For this diverse cow/calf type of auction, which is televised on operation, Jim has RFDTV, the cattle as a whole are spent time buying and videoed and then broadcast so that selling feeder stock. potential buyers can see. Jim has had He frequently visits success moving large quantities of feedlot local cattle sales, calves this way, but currently prefers to looking for calves sell smaller quantities at local sales. with good growth Through this current tougher ecopotential and keeping nomic time, coupled with the economiWright
Texas
Douglas
Howell
Taney
Ozark
Photo by Sherry Leverich Tucker
cally challenging drought, Jim is holding onto his stock. “I don’t think they have a clue how short of cattle we are,” Jim stated, recognizing that large amounts of cattle have been sacrificed through the hard times and speculations on the magnitude of the loss won’t be seen for years. Jim, who does not harvest his own hay, has tried to purchase hay as early and locally as possible to help keep expenses down. He has also cut back on the amount of feeder calves he keeps over the winter. Since his youth, Jim has enjoyed trading for profit. As a 14-year-old, when he worked at his cousin’s car shop, he started trading tools, equipment and cattle. Though now his trading includes real estate and large lots of cattle, Jim has built his business through his lifelong enjoyment of the trading he started over 50 years ago.
In This Section – Jim O’Neill takes the market into consideration when buying calves.....Above – Jeff Voris balances teaching and farming in Polk County.............................p. 8 – John Reinert selects the right genetics through AI.......................................p. 9 – Batson Dog & Archery has supplied local hunters for 50 years..................p. 10 – Michele Yoos does whatever it takes to increase milk production..............p. 12 – Eye on Agribusiness features Campbell’s Custom Butchering....................p. 13
January 28, 2013
– Rowdy Mott taps into the lean meat market with bison.............................p. 15 – Darren Stump credits FFA for the successful start of his herd.....................p. 16 – Town and Country features Donovan Dobbs...............................................p. 17 – The Dales make time for their medical practice and the farm....................p. 20 – Youth in Agriculture spotlights Tyler McCabe............................................p. 23
Ozarks Farm & Neighbor
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