Jerry Jo Hamm
In Town: Jerry Jo is the Madison County 4-H program assistant. She has between 100 and 120 students enrolled in the program. She promotes higher education and community service with her students. Jerry Jo is also involved with several 4-H judging teams. Some of her accomplishments include taking three horse judging teams to nationals, two poultry judging teams to nationals and one grasslands team to nationals. Last year her students won more than $10,000 worth of scholarships.
In the Country: Jerry Jo and her husband, Jerry, raise turkeys for Cargill. They run around 22-24,000 hens and grow three batches a year. They also run cattle, horses and bale hay.
This year Jerry Jo will foal out six mares and her dad will foal out about 25 head. They also have four standing studs. Their pedigrees include Dash for Cash, Lena’s Ride On, Smart Little Lena and Doc Bar. Jerry Jo is a life-long horse lover. “I used to rodeo as a kid. My dad was a pick-up man for one of the stock contractors. My brothers rode bulls and roped. I barrel raced, pole bended and helped run cattle out. We’ve always lived the country life.”
Family: Three generations are involved with the Hamm’s farm. She has three grown sons that all help out on the farm. They also help Jerry Jo’s parents on their farm.
“We hand feed and water baby turkeys for the first two weeks. With working and helping dad it is a lot. My son and his girlfriend are a big help. We are a close-knit family, and I value that.”
What do you feed your livestock?
“We have to put out salt and mineral for the cattle and horses – especially this time of year for cattle that are calving and mares having colts. I have to get them off of the fescue 60-90 days before foaling. Fescue can cause them to lose their babies or not have any milk for the babies. We feed the mares Bermuda hay and 20 percent cubes and feed them through their foaling time. At six months we wean the colts and we put them on a 12-16 percent feed and hay through the winter. Horses, especially colts, need to be wormed quite a bit.”
By Sarah Hale
