The farm of retired school teachers Sam and Jan Starks lies on the outskirts of the town of Salem, Mo. and has been in Jan’s family for over six decades. During that time, Jan’s family has owned, almost exclusively, a herd of purebred horned Hereford cows.
“Since ’45 it’s been closed,” Jan remarked of their breeding program, “there has not been a commercial cow brought in.” Both Jan and Sam suspect that the family history of purebred Hereford cows goes back even to the 1920s, but at that time open range was the norm.
Sam and Jan’s involvement with the Show-Me-Select Program led them to buy an Angus bull that they cross with several Hereford heifers. They consider this their commercial herd.
“We decided if we bred the black, it might be a better selling point,” Jan remarked of the Show-Me-Select Program. When the heifer market went up drastically, the program’s yearly sale wasn’t held this year, and the Starks sold the resulting black and white heifers off of the farm.
The Starks also sell purebred Hereford bulls from the farm. While the heifers are dehorned as calves, the bulls are left horned. When people are looking to buy the traditional purebred horned Hereford bull, most want the horns left on. “We’ve always been horned Hereford, and we just stayed horned,” Jan said.
Most producers have specifics they breed for in their cattle, and the Starks believe the Hereford breed can bring some exceptional qualities to the table that are often overlooked. They mentioned the temperament and feed efficiency of Herefords as top on the list. “And they’re just downright hardy,” Jan said. The Starks select for milk production and calving ease as well. Sam also mentioned the breed’s tendency for longevity, “When we took over in ’82 I don’t think there was a cow less than 20 years old,” he said.
As far as Hereford bloodline preferences, the Starks are partial to the Domino and Advance lines. “Folks are always looking for Domino,” Sam mentioned.
While the Starks loyalty to the Hereford breed remains steady, what they feed their cattle has evolved over the past few years. Sam mentioned that they used to buy a lot of commercially ready-made feed but due to the rising feed prices, they started mixing their own grain to save money.
Some plans may have evolved over the years but some things will remain the same. “I know one thing,” Jan said, “We’re not getting out of the horned Herefords.”
