Day 7, Family Farms

 Hays Brothers Angus Farm in Arcadia, Kovac Cattle Co, in Oak Grove and GAP Farms in Brandon Ms, all have one common denominator, they're all family farms. The farms may not all look the same and may not all have the same goals but family plays a major part in all of these operations.

From our very first stop the above photo is the first building you see when you pull on to the beautiful, sprawling farm of Hays Brothers Angus. Landon, the son of owner Mike Hays, life was cut short by a tragic motorcycle accident at the age of 14. It was evident from the time we stepped foot off the bus the impact Landon had on everyone that knew him. Clark Hays, the brother of owner Mike, runs the farming operation. He spoke to the group about the new direction Hays Brothers were taking. They are no longer in the purebred Angus business but are now positioning themselves as a "one stop cattle shop". Hays Brothers buys and sales cows on a daily basis. This stop was an impressive stop, from converting timber land to pasture in less than 3 years to the huge Landon Hays Arena. No doubt about it, this is a close family.

When we arrived at Kovac Cattle Co, we were greeted by 3 year old Will Kovac. He shook about every single beef tour members hand and told them welcome to the farm. His Granddad Mike gave the crowd an overview of the farming practices. He said since they live in a farming area they are able to get feed products at a little cheaper rate than most Alabama producers. Mike works alongside his son Cullen on the farm. Cullen a graduate of LSU discussed the grazing program and the different types of forages they use in the various soil types their farm encompasses. Kovac Cattle Company closely resembled most of the producers farms on our tour. I felt like the members of the tour could have hung around here for a while. As I said in the prior paragraph, if was evident this was a close knit family farm. 

Our last and final stop of Beef Tour 2012 was in Brandon Mississippi, at GAP Farms. Mr. Gale Martin addressed the crowd about some free fertilize compliments of Terra Renewal. Terra takes the waste water from processing plants and injects the organic material into the ground. This service is free to the land owner and Terra will work with you on the rates and timing of the injections. Gale toured us to some of his pastures that the injection process has taken place on and the rye grass was at least knee deep, with a lush green color. He also demo'd to the group his bale wrapper. He cuts his rye grass and bales on the same day. He wraps the high moisture bales with a new machine that he has bought in partnership with his son in law. He "wrapped" up our day explaining the importance of farming and partnering with family members to help offset costs. That's it for beef tour 2012! Check back for Final Thought of Beef Tour 2012 and check out some of the pictures that I have taken during the week at www.flickr.com/photos/beeftour2012 Thanks for your time! Matthew Durdin

Day 6...Hill Country and Forages

Well we visited some places today that looked familiar to most of us hills, poultry houses and pine trees. While I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet today we visited again some really pretty places and good folks too! The picture above is from De'Loutre View Farms in Tugwell City,La. Vernon and Theresa Sharp are the owners, and have a beautiful place. They specialize in raising Certified F-1 Tiger Stripe and Brahman cattle. The Sharps are also poultry producers, thus our members had a lot in common with them. We were provided another tasty lunch with pecan crusted chicken breast and smoked brisket. State Representative Rob Shadoin spoke to the group over lunch and talked about the importance of farmers sticking together to benefit one another.
One of the stops we made prior to De'Loutre View Farms was at Gene Fosters. Mr. Foster spoke to the group about different varieties of the forages he is using on his farm. His goal is to graze cattle year around on Winter Ryegrass, Tifton 85 and Triticale. I included a picture of his Tifton 85.

Riser 5 Farms in Downsville are owned by Bob and Linda Riser along with 2 sons, Seth and Adam.

They were next up on our trip through hill country. We had visited several family farms on our tour this week but none have quite given me the back home Alabama family farm feeling quite like the Riser 5 farm. As Bob was giving the group a brief history of his farming back ground and how they have formed Riser 5 Farms, he became emotional when telling the group about his boys returning home to the farm. That really touched me and I believe it did with most of the group. The Risers use F-1 cows that they purchase from De'Loutre Farms because of the calves they produce and ability to take the Louisiana heat. Bob also discussed with our group his vaccination program and his first hand experience on the importance of vaccinating. Several years ago he lost several head of cows to Black Leg, it was later confirmed that is was an act of nature that caused the outbreak. That is why today that he vaccinates his herd 2 times a year.

Our last farm stop of the day was at the Double P Ranch, where Farm Manager Donnie Bevel gave us a very detailed lecture on the importance of using carcass data to market your cows. While some participants walked around and looked at various pieces equipment most of our beef producers on this trip were locked in to what he was talking about. He used the word "intensive" and "aggressive" several times in his discussion. He uses computer programs and EID's to gather his data. With this data he is able to look back and plan ahead on what works and doesn't work on his cattle ranch. As you can tell we had a full long day and our fearless leader Nate had a special deal for the group, Louisiana State Fair Rodeo. After a steak dinner compliments of Louisiana Cattleman's Association , we enjoyed a PRCA rodeo back in Shreveport. We have another full day on Saturday before arriving back in Jackson Mississippi!

Courtright Cattle/Smith Cattle Co Day

Today was a luggage moving day, meaning we packed our suitcases and boarded the busses leaving LaFayette and headed to Shreveport.  Along the way we stopped in Colfax and visited with Paula and Dennis Courtright. Their farm borders the Red River, which means we had to cross over another levy to get to the pasture. Flooding is not nearly the issue in this part of La as it is down in the coastal plains. To quote Dennis he said, " The Red River is now controlled by dams , they keep the river more full, so when it floods, it really floods." The Courtrights raise Simmental and Romangola crosses. They sell their calves to Laura Lean Beef. Dennis feels this works best for their farm and that they are receiving a premium price. Tina Murphy with Laura Lean was on hand at the farm to answer any questions that our members had about the Laura Lean program.  Most of the questions had to do with implants and antibiotics that are accepted. The one thing that stood out to me was we were standing in about a foot of Bermuda grass. Dennis said this was his best grass in a long time.

Cajun Riveria

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Pecan Island, the home of Elizabeth, for you Swamp People lovers you know exactly who I'm talking about. On the 4th day of #beeftour12 we stopped just north of Pecan Island in Little Prairie and visited Raywood Stelly's alligator farm. T-Neg as he is referred to by the locals raises close to 50,000 alligators a year. He releases 14% of these gators back into the wild.  He sells alligator meat here at the farm and the hides go over seas.  His ideal gator is 4ft, this is the size that the watch band and purse markets "choot" for.

Next stop, as far south as you can go south in Louisiana, Cameron, a little town that was wiped out by Hurricane Rita.  Cameron is a cattle town of 2000 people. Cattle graze in the marshes right up to the beach, that is, the Gulf of Mexico!  On this part of the tour Todd Little of Hackberry hopped in the bus and explained to the group how these cows survive here in the marsh.  These cows walk and rest on ridges and then go down into the marsh to eat a high quality Joint Grass, which looks like Bermuda .  These cows will go into the marsh sometimes up to their bellys in mud and stick their head under water to graze on this high quality grass.  It really is amazing to see 30,000 acres of marsh land and the cows out in the mud and water.  Our next stop, The Gray Ranch, as others had warned  us about seeing a first class cattle and horse ranch, they were exactly right.  Mr. Kent LeDoux, ranch manager, of the Gray Ranch gave the crowd an overview of the farm and history.  He also toured us through the horse barn and pens to show off some of his prize possessions, one in Particular, Right this Minnick.  He is the white stallion in the pictures I have posted today. The ladies on our tour visited the LeDoux's home place, Mrs. LeDoux is a great hostess as well. Some interesting tidbits I jotted down from Mr LeDoux, " our bulls have to walk 30,000 acres, we need them to be able to move".  He also mentioned if he was selecting heifers for a150-200 acre farm they would look different than the ones he puts out in the marsh.  His cows have to be able to work, bred and take care of their young. This was a great tour stop, after listening to Mr LeDoux I was ready to go pick up rocks in the pasture. Check out their website at www.grayranch.com or look up their cattle drive on YouTube.  Leaving Cajun country, heading to Shreveport for the next 2 days!