Simply watching Jackie Moore work is a strenuous task, yet he appears to have an infinite amount of energy when it comes to cattle marketing. Jackie works hard to make himself available; he reports market information on the radio, writes newspaper columns and spends hours a day talking to individuals about cattle. However, he is remarkably eager to start in all over again the next day in his efforts to make Joplin Regional Stockyards the best place for producers to bring their cattle.
Jackie’s reports and observations are so easy to obtain that some producers may take his opinions for granted, though he and his partner and brother-in-law, Steve Owens, own and operate the largest independent livestock market in the United States. Despite the vast scope of his operation, Jackie is just as concerned with making sure the small producer makes a living as he is about the huge contracts he deals with daily.
“It has always been my philosophy in the livestock business that whenever someone backs up to my docks and says, ‘Here Jackie, here is my livelihood, here is what I have worked for this last year, here is how I am going to send my kids to school, how I am going to make my farm and truck payments. Take care of it for me, Jackie…’ that is a pretty big obligation to put on a man’s back. It still makes cold chills run up my spine that people put that much faith in me.”
Through Jackie's efforts, Joplin Regional Stockyards offers many different programs such as value-added sales, source-and-age verification, co-mingling and video sales programs, which are all designed to help the small producer.
Jackie’s devotion to the little guy is especially remarkable when you realize nearly half a million animals will stampede through his facility this year. Like many producers in the area, Jackie grew up on a small farm, and he has not forgotten his roots. His parents raised five children on a farm near Stotts City, Mo., where they had cattle, hogs, turkeys, chickens and all the responsibilities associated with them. Jackie said that as a kid, “About the only places we ever went were to auctions and rodeos, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’m blessed that I’ve got to do it my whole life.”
When he was only 13 years old, Jackie started having auctions with Frank Hall of Miller, Mo., and he has been buying and selling ever since. He was heavily involved in FFA and football in high school, and even had a full-ride scholarship offer to play football for Tulsa University. But, at age 18, Jackie married his wife Kristy and started a family. As his family grew, so did his involvement with livestock marketing. He worked for and had partial ownership of several different commission companies over the next few decades, culminating with the construction of Joplin Regional Stockyards in 1995. In that year, they sold 229,000 head of cattle. Six years later, Jackie and Steve bought both the Southwest Regional and Diamond stockyards, and sold 498,000 head in 2001.
Jackie and Kristy have three children and five grandchildren. Their two sons – Bailey and Skyler, work for the Stockyards as auctioneers. His daughter Amy’s husband, Dusty Eldridge, also works for the Stockyards and is in charge of the computer and technical work. The Stockyards employ 100 people in all.
“The success of this business is because of family and the workers here. Lots of them have been here a long time and have played a big part and do a lot of work behind the scenes to make it all happen” Jackie said.
When asked about his future plans, Jackie made a broad statement that is really at the core of his business philosophy.
“If something comes along that looks like it will help the producer and help them make money, then we will do it,” Jackie said. “That’s our number one goal as a company, and it has been all through the years.”
