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.
Next stop we had the opportunity to meet Mr Rayford Smith. Nate referred to him as the cattle Barron of Louisiana. Not many cows sold in the state does he not have a hand involved. Mr. Smith owns a vet supply business, stockyard and also is a video rep for Premier Livestock Video Auctions, which can be seen on RFD TV. Our group was provided a very fine lunch, smoked beef brisket, LO Bishop even went back for seconds. Lakeview FFA served the lunch and did a very good job of hosting the lunch. I really enjoyed Rayford Smiths farm, I believe you could stand around listen to him talk about the industry all day long. As we were about to leave and head to his sale barn "Red River Livestock Auction", he asked if we were going by to visit Gottsch Farms. Nate replied that we weren't but Rayford convinced us otherwise and picked up the phone and called Mr. Wayne Maltby, to let him know 2 busses were headed his way. On such a short notice Wayne did an excellent job on telling us about his back grounding operation. They buy most of their calves from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and the Panhandle of Florida. The run close to 5000 head at a time and hold them for approximately 90 days. For a spur of the moment visit I believe our members got a lot out of it. From there we traveled to Shreveport and actually got in with a few hours of daylight left in the day. Friday we will be headed to hill country to visit a few grazing operations and cow/calf farms. Nate has us a treat for Friday night as we will be hosted by the local Cattleman's group at the State Fairs Annual Rodeo. 2 more days till we get pack to Montgomery!!