Arkansas Neighbors

Dave and Pat Sargent retired from dairy farming in 1990. At that time Dave decided to raise vegetables on 1/2 acre of their 40 acres outside of Prairie Grove, Ark., for personal use and “for something to do.”

“There are some dates in life you remember, February 5, 2008, is one of them for us.” The story of Dan and Patricia Stewart of Mountain View, Ark., doesn’t start on that ominous date, but their road in life does take a turn at that moment in history. “We use that tornado as a time post in our lives, pre-tornado and post-tornado.”

Will and Tamara Lane use their farm in Jay, Okla. to teach their children many life lessons. They have a family-owned farm and run a show cattle operation on 62 acres supported by another 90 leased acres. A sign in their barn reads, “Purple banners do not make a champion: hard work does,” reflecting the underlying premise behind Lane Cattle.

James and Mary Ann Skelton live on 11 acres in Springdale, Ark., but also rent an additional 300 acres in the Springdale area. They are also in a partnership with James‘s brother on an 800-acre farm near Winslow, Ark. Sons Louie and Joe bought out their uncle’s cattle operation and equipment and are partners with James and Mary Ann in a commercial herd while James and Mary Ann have a registered Beefmaster herd of their own. The commercial herd is comprised of 165 Angus and Charolais cows. The bulls put with these cows are registered Beefmaster bulls making the progeny E-6 cattle. James said, “E-6 replacement females are very difficult to find, so we raise our own.” James and Mary Ann’s registered herd consists of 100 cow/calf pairs, 15 bulls and 30 yearling heifers, all registered Beefmaster.

Many years ago, historians who know about such things suggest that red cattle were brought to Great Britain by both the Romans and the Vikings. Fast forward to the early 1800s. John Reeve, a tenet on the Earl of Leicester’s Holkham Estate in Norfolk, crossed horned Norfolk red beef cattle with the Suffolk dun, a polled dairy cow. Reeve’s cattle became known as Red Polled cattle. The cattle were recognized as a separate breed in 1846 and in 1873 were first imported to the United States.

Dale and Amy Hill bought 60 acres with an additional 40 rented acres next to the farm in Fayetteville, Ark., where Dale was raised in order to expose their children to a lifestyle that teaches responsibility on all levels. Dale still works with his dad and is the fourth generation on the land while Dale and Amy’s four sons are the fifth generation.

North of Pryor, Okla., on highway 69 in Mayes County, is the site of the shipping and receiving end of the A-Bar Ranch, owned by Mike Armitage and managed by his son Merrit Armitage along with several ranch hands. Merrit inherited his marketing business-like sense from his dad and uses it on his ranch that he shares with his wife, Michelle.

Sixteen-year-old Kou Thao and his family fled from Laos and war in 1979, first taking refuge in Thailand but eventually forced out because Thailand was unable to support all of the refugees. U.S. Immigration allowed the family to come to the United States. After living in both Wisconsin and Minnesota, Kou disliked the climate and took a vacation in 2002 to Arkansas with the intent of finding a farm.

Roy Griffith and sons, Kyle and Shane Griffith, own over 2,000 acres outside of Talihina, Okla., where they raise commercial cattle in addition to Shane’s registered Black Angus bull herd and Kyle’s F1 Tigerstripe herd. Kyle works full time on the ranch while Roy’s day job is as an administrator for a veterans’ hospital and Shane is a tree marker for the Forest Service. Both sons served in the Army and in Iraq therefore not really ranching until 2006.

Winter forage quality can effect the health of a herd by limiting the source of feeding, especially if the mineral content of the forage is unknown. Supplementation is required when tested forage lack in essential macrominerals. Lacking in the required macrominerals can cause a metabolic disorder in cattle known as grass tetany or grass staggers. With the cold season already in full force, ranchers and farmers alike do not expect winter tetany, which can pose a problem for them if they are not aware. The low-yielding cows or negative energy cows that milk entirely off of grass are prone to tetany. The metabolic disorder also occurs from lush forages, alfalfa or annual cereal forages.