Clint Hunter is pretty specific about the way his family runs their cattle business. “If you stay in the middle and don’t chase the different fads the cattle industry offers…” He paused; choosing his words carefully before continuing, “If you stay in the middle, they’ll always come back to you. We’ll just leave it at that.”
The Hunters, all five of them: father, David; mother, Gigi; eldest son, Clint; his wife Rachel; and Jordan, the second son; raise purebred Angus. Their customers keep coming back.
The Hunters started with nothing but a heifer or two given to the boys (Clint and Jordan) by their great-grandfather Virgil Parker and grandfather Bob Jordan from Gigi’s side of the family in Dent County.
Gigi says her great-grandfather brought the first Angus into the area near Salem years ago. She told of his philosophy: “‘Quality and not quantity.’” That still drives the Hunters’ methods and practices today.
The Hunters moved to Fair Grove in 1992, bought some land and now are up to 90 acres they own, plus some leased land. Fifty purebred Angus momma cows and two bulls complete the operation.
“I’d keep just one herd bull but one of them needed a buddy,” Clint joked.
Clint and the Hunters pride themselves on consistency. “We raise functional, sound cattle. We want them to have structure, udder quality, be reproductive.”
The Hunters do take care of business. A Hunter farm bred and raised heifer won Reserve Grand Champion at the Ozark Empire Fair and the Missouri State Fair and also won her division at the Tulsa State Fair last month.
Cattle shows have been a part of the Hunters’ lives since the boys were young. Clint met his wife Rachel while showing. But it isn’t all about the show. Clint continued about his winning heifer. “She laid down and had a calf yesterday. That’s what it’s all about. Take (a show calf) and let them be a cow. It starts with a cow and a straw of semen and ends up with heifer like that. When you can (develop) these cows the right way, and watch what they do and watch them grow, its fun. It’s a challenge.”
David, Clint and Rachel all handle AI duties. They’ve been experimenting with a Simmental-Angus cross lately, producing seven or eight of these calves each year.
Clint explains this diversion from Angus. “I think there’s a huge market for SimAngus females. I think the SimAngus bulls are more stout, and will gain quicker and get heavier. It’s a small portion – we won’t breed very many that way. I think SimAngus have a lot to offer to cattle industry in general.”
Clint spoke of culling hard. “If a cow can’t have a calf every year on time, within the year, if that cow can’t calve every 360-380 days, they don’t really need to be around.”
The Hunters have always told people they raise Angus, because they like them. "If someone wants to raise Simmental, Hereford, whatever, you need to like what you see.”
Clint pauses and gestures in the direction of his prize-winning heifer, “When I get up in the morning I want to see heifers like that.”
