The 110 acres making up the home-place property where Mike Crow and his wife Robin live, has been in the family over 100 years. He grew up working alongside his dad, Willard Crow, and his mother Patsy.
“The place belonged to my great-grandfather,” Mike said, “then Grandpa Findley, then Dad. Since he passed away six years ago, I’ve run the place with lots of help from Mom, Robin and our two daughters. Dad worked hard, and I learned a lot from him. Grandpa gave me my first calf when I was seven years old. Dad had Herefords to start with, then Angus. Later he switched to Limousin. He’s the one who got me started with Limousin cattle.”
Crow Cattle Company has mainly Limousin and Limousin/Angus cross, with some commercial beef cattle, 25 momma cows, 40 calves and yearlings, and four purebred Limousin bulls. The home-place is 110 acres and they own another 126 acres about four miles away where Mike runs cattle.
“I still live in the house Willard and I moved into in 1971,” Patsy said. “I help out as much as possible.”
Mike and Robin’s daughters, Katie Crow and Lindsay Crow-Hall, are the 5th generation involved with raising cattle and working the family land. They’ve participated in showing cattle for many years and placed in the show ring from County events to National level competition.
“I had a bottle calf Papa gave me in 1996,” Lindsay said, “when I was eleven-years-old. For a couple of years we showed commercial cattle, calves we raised. My sister Katie wanted to show, too, and in 1998 we decided to go with one particular breed. Papa had a Limousin bull, that’s why we choose to go with that breed. Katie and I went to the same man Papa bought his bull from and we bought our first Limousin heifers.”
Mike is a member and past Vice-President of the Arkansas Limousin Breeders Association. “We’re an organization of members that promote the Limousin breed, and we sponsor the juniors in State and National shows.”
The key to successful crossing is matching mates that compliment one another. Limousin genetics give muscle, growth, docility and sensible levels of birth weight; while milk and frame size are more complimentary to most Angus. Limousin/Angus cross, including offspring of Lim-Flex seedstock, are primarily suited for mainstream target markets calling for an optimum combination of muscle and marbling. With his embryo transplant program, and AI, Mike’s knowledge of each breed’s strengths helps him develop superior crosses that will make a positive impact.
“Lim-Flex is a breed all its own now,” Mike said. “Katie and Lindsay study the EPDs of potential bulls and help me match the bulls and females to produce the best possible of purebred and Lim-Flex.”
Mike and his family work together putting up 400 round bales and 100 square bales from their hay pastures and from another 80 acres near Dennard, Ark., that is family land.
“Patsy and I rake the hay,” Robin said. “Mike bales. Katie and Lindsay drive the trucks to haul it out. Sometimes we switch around, but we all work during hay season. Our son-in-law Keith Hall also takes his turn on the tractor.”
With Katie’s smooth touch in handling cattle and Lindsay’s vast knowledge of Limousin/Angus genetics, the daughters are just what the operation needs while continuing to grow.
“My husband said he wanted the land to always stay in the family,” Patsy said.
“Times have changed,” Mike said. “Despite the challenges, I enjoy what I’m doing, and I’ll never quit farming.”
