Jimmy Looper believes in good, old-fashioned hard work. The fruits of his labor include a 1,000-acre cattle operation that runs seven breeds, an auction and realty service, and a family legacy of ranching and farming that spans several decades.
“I love it,” said Jimmy, age 62. “I would rather work than eat. I work now 12 to 14 hours a day with bad feet. If my feet were better, I’d work 20 or 21 hours a day.”
Jimmy’s work ethic developed early as he helped both his grandfather and his father, W.D. Looper, on the family farms.
“I helped Granddad turn watermelon vines with mules,” said Jimmy. “After the mules finally died at age 40, he got a cub tractor.”
Near the end of World War II, the Loopers purchased the swath of land near Witcherville, Ark., that they still ranch today. Originally, the Loopers operated a dairy farm there.
“Mom bought it in ‘44 or ‘45,” said Jimmy. “We had 125 Holsteins on it by 1947. I partnered with my dad in 1966. Grandad milked. At one time we had five generations alive in the milking business. I bought dad out in 1983, and we sold off most of the dairy cattle in 2006.”
Jimmy says switching from dairy to beef made economic sense at the time, but that the dairy business still holds an attraction for him.
“I might go back into it. I miss it,” said Jimmy. “We had two droughts, and kept getting all these ‘Dear John’ letters from milk companies, and milk got down to about 11 cents. I saw that financially, it was better to quit. “
Even though Looper Farms now runs beef cattle, Jimmy still maintains a small herd of Holsteins. “All the cows now were the calves from those cows we had when we sold out the dairy,” said Jimmy. “We don’t milk, but loan them out to another dairy.”
Now Looper Farms focuses on beef cattle, and Jimmy manages herds of Registered Angus, Red Poll, Simmental, Purebred Brangus, Longhorns and commercial cattle.
“We already had the Red Polls when we were changing over,” said Jimmy. “The rest, we did go buy, but we already had the Longhorns, too. We keep them in different pastures. We try to do AI on heifers at least one time. We’ve done breed to breed on three of four different breeds. We’d still do AI for all of them, if we had the time. AI is the way to go, no doubt on that.”
Jimmy says that he’s attracted to the different breeds because all of them have their own special traits.
“I’d say Angus is best, but I see a lot of good traits in the Simmentals, and they are a really good cross with the Angus. There are some SimAngus registered now. I like things about them all. The Longhorns ain’t much count, but I like them too. We’d all probably be better off eating Longhorns instead of all the fat kinds we eat today. Longhorns are what we all used to eat anyway.”
As if managing a large dairy farm weren’t enough work, Jimmy went into the auction business in 1980.
“I went to auctioneering school. I always liked to trade, and I was hoping to do auctions because I never left the farm,” said Jimmy. “I went for 110 hours and it took about two weeks. I hired a guy to milk and I got with it.”
Jimmy found it difficult to get on with an established auction service, so he just started his own.
“I went to every auctioneer within 50 miles, but they all told me they didn’t need me. You got to do it yourself. When I started, I did about 20 auctions a year, and now we’re up to about 200 auctions a year.”
Jimmy’s son Shawn at first made fun of his father practicing his auctioneer’s chant. But eventually, Shawn joined with Jimmy in Looper Auction and Real Estate.
“He’d follow me around and make fun of how I sounded,” smiled Jimmy. “But by doing so, he got good at it. I did it for 18 years by myself, and now I’ve got Shawn onboard. He got his real estate and broker license.”
Jimmy says the keys to a successful auction business are hard work, honesty and flexibility.
“We have around four auctions a week, and we do everything. We’ve auctioned restaurant equipment, farm sales, households, real estate, vehicles. We do auctions for the 12th Judicial Drug Task Force and all the stuff they confiscate from drug dealers. We auctioned a clothing store just two weeks ago. We specialize in anything.” Jimmy says that Shawn’s son, Zachary is a future auctioneer, too.
Jimmy’s other son, Michael, works as a research scientist at the USDA Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center, in Booneville, Ark. He was recently named as the Early Career Scientist of the Year by the USDA. His daughters, Madison, and Taylor raise 4-H pullets.
Jimmy’s wife of 44 years, Sue Looper, is his most important partner on the farm.
“Sue has always been there for me,” Jimmy said. “She would feed 40 calves at four in the morning before we went to do auctions.”
Jimmy sees getting the younger generations involved in agriculture as very important.
“It’s absolutely important,” said Jimmy. “A recent survey showed that the average age for farmers was around 55 and is now probably more like 60. You’ve first got to have interest in it, and common sense and want to work. Then actually do it.”
