Bob Geneva is proof that when one door closes, there is always a window opened. Nineteen years ago, Bob and his wife, Sandra, were at a Beefmaster show in Tulsa, Okla., when they walked by a booth for Postive Feed, Ltd., out of Sealy, Texas. After learning about the advantages and technologies used in Postive Feed, Bob and Sandra decided that they wanted to try some of the feed on their own herd of Beefmaster cattle, but there was one small problem. Postive Feed tubs were only available for sale in Amarillo and Sealy, Texas. Of course, neither town was an easy trip from the Geneva’s then-home of Coweta, Okla. So, Postive Feed, Ltd. founder Bob Inglish, often called “Crazy” Bob, convinced them to become dealers for Postive Feed, and Bob and Sandra agreed and came home with $5,000 worth of Postive’s feed. Their hopes were that they could make enough from their sales of Inglish’s product to make it worth their while to feed their own herd. Thankfully, Bob said, it did not take long for the feed to prove itself. The partnership definitely became worth their while.
“Our neighbors started noticing our cattle were looking good and doing great,” Bob said. “So they started asking about our feed. We told them what it was, and they said they wanted some and it all started from there.”
There, specifically, was a loading dock Bob built at the farm, out of some used lumber. Because Bob and Sandra were often away from their home at other pastures, they needed a way for their growing list of customers to get the feed they wanted any time they wanted it. “We put a mailbox at the end of our feed dock and people would put money in our mailbox,” Bob said. “They would come and get the feed off of the dock. People always wondered if we had lost a lot of money doing that, but we never did lose.”
The Geneva’s feed business became so successful that Bob Inglish came to visit the couple’s operation, and made Bob a factory representative, responsible for all the clients in northeastern Oklahoma. From the feed dock behind the Geneva’s home in Coweta, Bob spread Postive Feed all across northeastern Oklahoma. Bob noted the feed’s PVM (Pasture Value Multiplier), 8:8 mineral and all-natural feeds for cattle, all of which are available with an Insect Growth Regulator.
Not only a great salesman, but also a long time user, Bob Geneva holds nothing but praise for his feed. “People would ask me how the feed works, and I would tell them to come on out to my place and I’d show them,” Bob said. “Feeding cubes was a big waste in a lot of ways, but we managed and got by with it until we found Postive Feeds. We feel like it cut at least a third of our feed bills.”
Raised around cattle, Bob and his wife Sandra developed a herd of Beefmaster cattle starting in 1964. They still own that land today, though most of it is leased to other cattlemen and their home has been sold to Sandra’s sister, Sylvia Frost, and her husband George. Unfortunately, due to health problems, Bob was forced to give up his herd of Beefmasters in 2005. However, the success that sprouted from the feed dock behind their home has helped them to find their way into a lakefront property in Hulbert, Okla., where Bob is quick to show off his new tractor. The couple can be found at farm shows across the region, discussing cattle and feed, still today. “You can take ranchers out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of ranchers,” Sandra joked. “That’s why he’s got a tractor and I have a cow dog.”
