Raised on a dairy farm just outside of Purdy, Mo., Doug Clifton knows about hard work and cows. He continued to milk with his dad, Loren, for 5 years after he got out of high school. He took a job at Jack Henry, thinking “9 to 5 with weekends off sounds good.” He worked there for 4 1/2 years. “I missed the farm,” Doug said. It was at Jack Henry where he met his wife, Leslea. She had always dreamed of raising a family on a farm and so the dream for the two began.
Start with Chicken Houses
Georges needed pullet houses so Doug built two. With a pullet house there is a check every week based on square feet. There are two flocks a year with a bonus for how well they do. “They go from here to a laying house,” Doug explained, “there they will produce the eggs that will hatch into broiler chicks.”
Add Cows
Doug found a man with 50 head of registered Gelbvieh for sale. Doug bought them and leased the farm they were on. Since then he has expanded the cattle herd with 65 Angus cows and is partners on 35 Brangus. Doug believes in slow, steady growth. Doug rents 430 acres and owns 80. He now has 165 head of cattle on his Barry County farm.
Good Combination
All the chicken litter is spread on Doug’s rented property. “I get a soil test every year and only put the litter where it is needed,” Doug said. “It’s not a matter of ‘the more litter the better.’ It is a valuable commodity and is wasted if you put it where it isn’t needed.” A year after completing the first two pullet houses, Doug built two more. He was able to divide his land into paddocks and run water to them from those water lines. He is impressed with how much more forage he is able to utilize.
Health is Important
All of Doug’s cows are worked yearly by a vet. They are preg checked and he sells any open cows. He scour guards the calves and vaccinates for everything. “It’s not cheap,” Doug said, “but it has been well worth it not to deal with sickness or feed un-bred cows for a year.”
Counting Blessings
Doug is thankful that his mom and dad taught him that he couldn’t start out with all the things they have worked their whole life to get. He said “they never just handed it to me, but they always gave me opportunities. I still appreciate that.” After selling all the dairy cows in 2005 when milk was such a good price, Loren now has 100 head of beef cows. Doug does all the hay baling in exchange for using his dad’s equipment. He puts up 600 – 700 bales a year.
Doug sells calves through Joplin Regional Stockyards, selling them at 9 months right off the cow. “I can’t see buying grain when they can have milk,” Doug said. He has started using creep gates around a round bale of hay to add pounds. Loren did that last year and added about 60 pounds per head. Doug keeps a spread sheet and sells at the same time each year. He said it will be easy to tell if it works.
Priorities
Being able to stay on the farm has meant doing without some things. “A big fancy house, new cars and trucks,” Doug explained “are not as important as being able to be here with the family. God has blessed us.”
