James Clark Linthicum has been showing cattle since the age of 13. Getting his start in 4-H, he quickly started winning at several major shows. He began building a herd of Polled Herefords, one of which was the 1962 National Grand Champion.
After 20 years of a successful career, James moved to Welch, Okla., and began to expand and grow, building a Limousin herd. JCL Land & Cattle was established and became a solid company. Up until 2008, James’ cattle company was selling up to 150 bulls a year as well as holding an annual production sale each April. The annual sale sold around 100 lots during each of its’ 17-year run.
Beginning in 2009, James and his wife, Regina, started to feel effects of the changing economy and knew some changes had to be made. Cutting back the size of the herd, letting go of hired hands and rotating pastures are a few of the adjustments made to adjust to the times.
Also, instead of purchasing fertilizer, cattle manure is recycled, being spread to reduce costs. Pastures are rotated every two weeks while resting previously used pastures for 45 days. Using temporary electric fencing, different sections of the 290 acres can be easily marked off. While the rising price of feed and fuel are hitting the company pretty hard, James says the sale prices have increased, which has helped off-set some costs.
The economy has not been the deterrent James and Regina have faced lately. Just two short weeks ago, the four state area was hit with two blizzards back to back, leaving many farms looking at up to 32 inches of snow. While they are now both owners and sole operators, they can’t take a snow day. Extra amounts of hay and supplement had to be provided for the cattle. Much more time was spent by the couple chopping ice and checking on their herd. James said that this recent storm is the worst he has witnessed during his lifetime. “It was minus 22 degrees, then seven days later, 77 degrees,” explained James.
Being semi-retired, the couple leases additional pasture land, boarding 75 head on contract for a Kansas resident. In addition, they run mainly Lim-Flex cattle now. James stated many reasons why he prefers Lim-Flex, such as they require less feed, are more vigorous and have an earlier sex maturity.
A typical day at the Linthicum household is fairly routine. They feed cattle twice a day, walk show cattle on a daily basis and check on the cows and calves.
With fewer cattle to care for, there is more free time for traveling and showing their stock and this year has paid off. While at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo., in January, James set a new record. His Lim-Flex bull won the Lim-Flex bull show and Division IV. The Reserve Grand Champion title and the Division II Champion title were also awarded to James and Regina. The couple is proud of their show cattle success and are looking forward to many more shows in their future.
