Seth Cooper never planned on being a full time farmer, even though his parent's commercial herd was home to over 400 cows. But time does have a way of changing things. He went to college on a football scholarship and got a degree in biology. Seth's dad, Randy, owned the general store, Longview Grocery and Lumber Supply, in the small town of Rocky Comfort, Mo., for about 20 years before Seth came home from college and became his dad's partner in both the farm and the store.
"After college I really took an active role in the store," recalled Seth, "I also started taking over the management of our cattle herd and converting the commercial herd of mostly Gelbvieh into a registered Gelbvieh herd." He purchased a good quality herd out of Lexington, Ky., from a family who was selling out and getting into race horses. Today the farm runs around 70 registered mama cows with about another 120 commercial cows as 'recip' mothers. Seth transfers about 40 embryos each year, with the goal to get over 30 calves from those.
In today's markets, Gelbviehs are a lesser-known but equally successful breed in southwest Missouri. "We always used Gelbvieh commercial cows growing up and we really fell in love with the breed," Seth added "Those first herds evolved into the registered herd we have now."
Seth and his dad use mostly AI on all the registered cows, but they do own a service bull that they use some. He said, "The goal for the farm right now is that we want to eliminate the commercial herd completely and move to all registered." The cattle are raised on around 400 acres (both owned and rented) called Rocky Top Gelbvieh Farm. Seth has also started selling semen off of their bull, Independence.
The farm is fully operational for rotational grazing with automatic waterers and cross fencing. Seth fertilizes with chicken litter and lime to enrich the vast pastures for the many cows.
"We keep a pretty busy schedule," Seth said with a smile, "We have a summer-fall calving herd. Ninety-nine percent of our bulls get sold. We wean them at seven months and conduct a soundness check on them at 12 months and again right before they leave the farm to ensure a quality animal." The Coopers sell only a few females; most of them are kept to grow the herd. Most of the sales are private treaty: about 90 percent to commercial herds and 10 percent to registered herds. "In the future we would like to have our own sale," added Seth.
Added to the activity of the farm, Seth and his dad run the store in town that "really helps everyone in the community" according to Seth. It's a cross between a Wal-Mart, Lowes, and gas station. "We'd like to expand the store in the future with a new building and more products," added Seth. The store sits in the original building built in the 1930's.
Seth keeps himself busy with not only two full time jobs with the farm and the store, but also with a six week old daughter at home. "I love the flexibility of farming," he said, "I can take a break in the middle of the day to go home and see baby Riley if I want to." Even though Seth never planned on being a farmer, he's grown to love working on the land. He added with a chuckle, "But wouldn't it be great if farmer's got paid for overtime?"
This father-son duo is making a significant contribution to the agriculture industry in southwest Missouri by both producing and supporting their friend and neighbor producers.
