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!