Dwight Carney has been around cattle all his life. After working for Walmart for a number of years and helping his father with his cattle, he decided to start building his own herd. Dwight and his wife Debbie now own 1,000 acres near Cane Hill, Ark., and have 150 cows as well as their home in Fayetteville on 90 acres. They have three children, a son and two daughters who still live in the area. “The farm in Fayetteville is just a play farm,” he said. “We raise cattle, mix our own feed and bale hay at (the Cane Hill) place.” Dwight used to raise Limousin. “But, we now raise Angus and cross them with black Limousin bulls,” Dwight said.
Dwight decided he needed someone to stay full time on the farm to keep an eye on it, the equipment and cattle.
“I just put the word out,” he said. Word got back to him about Charlie Perkins. Charlie had worked for a doctor for 25 years and needed a new job. Charlie has been Dwight’s ranch manager in Cane Hill for six years now.
When asked where he gets his best advice, Dwight noted, "You can find out all kinds of things from farmers who hang out at the local store. They can answer anything from pulling a calf to how to get rid of nuisance trees.”
Dwight is also a member of the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association. “I haven’t been in a while, but I support them and pay my dues,” he said. “You can’t get anything done or fight any of the issues by yourself. Getting everyone in a group like the Cattlemen’s allows you to have a bigger voice,” Dwight said.
Dwight uses bulls in the top ten percent ranked by EPD (Expected Progeny Differences). EPD's are calculated for several traits including birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, milking ability, total maternal, direct calving ease, maternal or daughter's first calf calving ease, hip height, scrotal circumference, ribeye area, fat thickness and marbling. He also tags his cows to keep track of age and performance. Dwight calves in the spring and fall looking for the best time to put weight on his calves. He sells calves in groups instead of a few at a time in order to make a little more. “They just sell better when we sell them in groups,” he said.
Dwight thinks things on the farm have changed quite a bit over the years. “My father never tracked his cows' statistics or performance. He would just sell a cow or chicken every now and again to get by,” he said. Dwight’s father also drove a school bus to make ends meet. “Now you can go to your computer and look up charts on the machines you are trying to fix. I don’t have to take the time and money away from the farm to get things fixed,” he said. Dwight’s father always fixed his own machines. “Of course, he was smarter than me.” Dwight also remembers when you used to be able to leave things unlocked. “Now there are people just driving around to see what they can get,” he said.
Dwight loves the science of cattle and working at the farm. But perhaps his biggest passion is quail. He travels to Texas to hunt and tries to give them habitat at his own farm. “I work with the NRCS (National Resource Conservation Service),” Dwight said. Only about one-third of Dwight’s place is open. He also leaves brush and trees in his fence lines. Dwight has large areas where he lets blackberries grow wild only cutting them back every three years or so. “Quail eggs only hatch when conditions are right. If the humidity is wrong, the eggs won’t hatch,” he said. “The hen lays each egg and only starts sitting on the eggs when she is done laying. The eggs all hatch at once. They hatch just when the bugs they eat have hatched.” Dwight has several coveys he keeps a close eye on along his fence lines.
It's this kind of attention that secures strong wildlife and quality cattle at the farm.
