Beasley: Back to write again

After several years in hiatus, I am honored to be asked to once again become a contributor to the From the Barns report for AgriNews. I penned many columns over a multi-year period prior to taking over the reins as president of the Illinois Beef Association in 2011. After completing my term leading that organization in 2013, I have been quietly and steadily working here at the family beef operation. I have enjoyed following the other contributors’ since then, reading about their respective stories and activities at their beef farms.

Although many of you already know me, no doubt there are many new readers who don’t, so perhaps it would be a good idea to update everyone on myself and our workings here at the Beasley farm. Alongside my father, Dale, and the other members’ of the crew, whom you will hear and learn about from time to time as I share our work and goings on, we own and manage a diversified beef operation in Southern Illinois near Creal Springs in Williamson County.

Seems like we have our hand in almost all aspects of beef production. We maintain a registered Angus cowherd, as well as an Angus based commercial herd. Calving takes place in both the spring and fall during calving windows. From the registered herd, Dad markets a number of bulls each year into Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Tennessee, serving as herd sires at their new homes.

Heifer development continues to be part of our program, for ourselves and other producers who want us to get theirs bred and ready to go. We do some finishing and most always have some fat cattle on hand to sell, usually selling truck loads to Tyson in Joslin.

During the spring and summer, we often have stocker calves grazing. If we do that, it will be on annual grasses that we have planted for that specific purpose, and it is not unusual to see several hundred cattle growing on those nutritious blends.

Our primary focus, though, is on backgrounding feeder cattle. Virtually every month of the year, we are bringing in new cattle, usually high-risk cattle to get straightened out. At the same time, we are selling or shipping out multiple loads of ready to go feeders, so there seems to be a constant flow of cattle in and out of this place. We have pretty much been maintaining around 1,500 head on feed, and I think it is safe to say that over the last year we will have turned 4,000 to 5,000 head.

Never seems to be any slack time, and we most always feel we stay behind and can’t keep up with all that needs to be done. We keep plugging away at it, because that’s how we’re made, and we know this work is important as we raise and feed cattle to feed the world’s beef consumers. I will share some of what we’ve done lately and look forward to doing that over the new year.

Fall calving went very well. We didn’t have to pull a calf, and I don’t think we have lost any calves either. That has to be a record for us, and one that will be hard to repeat. Most of the cows have been grazing a mix of oats, radishes and cereal rye that was sown back in August. After an unusually long dry spell in September and October, we finally got some forage growth and have been getting some good pasturing out of this, and I hope to get a few more weeks out of it. We have been strip grazing it, and that has worked very well for us.

It is breeding season of course, and the bulls are in and doing their job. A number of the cows we have been AI breeding. This year, we have been doing it via natural heat detection. My brother, Brett, and nephew, David, who is a junior in high school, wanted to flush some cows this fall, so they selected two of our premier cows. A good number of eggs were collected, and some of those were placed into recipient cows. So far, it looks like that may have been successful. The rest of the eggs were frozen for future use.

Bulls were semen tested in early December. A number of those were kicked out with the cows and also into some local cooperator herds. Others that were pre-sold were delivered. Two bulls recently sold are getting ready to head to their new home in Tennessee. Pretty much all we have left are the 15-month old bulls that most likely will sell next spring.

In November and December, we shipped six loads of fat cattle, and that currently has us empty on fats. Also saw us shipping eight loads of feeders out in that time period. Was also a busy two months in receiving new cattle, as we put in close to 1,000 head during that time frame. We are scheduled to ship at least seven loads of feeders out of here in January. I hope to share more about that part of our program in the coming months.

So, we have definitely stayed busy, but despite the tough times, we do love caring for these cattle. God continues to bless us and make provision for us, and we are always mindful of his wonderful love. Look forward to sharing with you again next month.