The fourth generation in the cattle business, Lane Pruitt who lives at Clinton, Ark., has worked with cattle as far back as he can remember. He grew up on a dairy farm, working with his grandfather, Larry Pruitt, who lives at Beebe, Ark. Larry, a veteran cattleman, has worked in the livestock industry his whole life. Lane continued working with Larry on the family farm through his college years at Arkansas State at Beebe, where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Business.
“We had a family operated dairy farm for 30 years,” Larry said, “running anywhere from 120 to 130 dairy cows. I’ve also raised and sold commercial cattle. We were just honest, hard working people trying to make a living. Right now I only have commercial cattle, about 20 head, cow-calf pairs.”
After moving to Clinton, Lane has been helping his parents run a dairy operation there since 1998. Lane and Larry also worked at the sale barn in Clinton for several years.
“I was ready to retire,” Larry said, “but I decided to help Lane get the Marshall sale barn up and in operation again.”
After months of silence, an auctioneer’s voice called prices through a large crowd of people attending the sale at the Searcy County Livestock Market in Marshall, Ark. The business has reopened under new co-ownership, Lane and Larry Pruitt. Their first sale took place Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. Trucks pulling trailer loads of cattle started arriving on Tuesday night, and continued through late Thursday evening. With the rumble of engines, haulers jockeyed into position to offload their cargo, and the gates clanged shut while cattle were settling in. Both Lane and Larry worked getting the influx of livestock unloaded and into the pens. The action played out like a well-rehearsed scene. Experience, generations of it, had a lot to do with how smoothly the operation went. On sale day, 656 head of livestock had been weighed and signed in.
“I’ve had cattle of my own,” Lane said, “but sold those. Right now, my operation is not cow-calf production; I’m in the business to market livestock. That’s the reason I bought and re-opened the sale barn. I’m providing a place for farmers and buyers to come together. My goal is to move ownership from seller to buyer and everyone make a profit.”
Roger Williams, the auctioneer, lives at Choctaw, Ark. Roger said, “I’m pleased to see the amount of cattle coming in for the reopening. A lot of farmers around here have been waiting for this.”
While the barn was closed, cattle growers in this rural, mainly agricultural community have been trucking their livestock to surrounding counties to other auction barns at Green Forrest, Harrison, Conway and Searcy.
“It looks like a huge success to me,” Wendell “Buddy” Phillips, President of the Arkansas Fair Managers Association, said. “Buyers and sellers are here and local folks, with a capacity crowd in the bleachers.”
When sale day came in Marshall, there were plenty of familiar faces around, and ranchers all agreed they are glad to see the barn re-opened. Generations of the same farming families have brought livestock here to market for the past 62 years, and even the same buyers return year after year.
Larry plans to be there every Thursday to help with the sales. “I’m just glad my health is good enough to allow me to continue doing what I want to do,” he said.
“I’ve had a hand in raising purebred as well as commercial cattle,” Lane said. “Times are changing, costs for feed, hay, fertilizer, everything for cattle production, are up. With diesel close to five bucks a gallon and tires costing a hundred dollars each, farming has become a challenge. I believe my experience and history in the cattle business will give me a better understanding of what cattlemen need."
