Chris and Jodee Thompson live on 140-acres near Warner, Okla., with their two children, Adam, 7, and Colt, 2. They have a newly constructed home Chris built and a herd of 40 Angus momma cows on that acreage.
The couple’s relationship goes back about as far as you can go. Chris’s mom babysat Jodee when she was only 6 weeks old. Chris added, “We grew up side-by-side through the years and always got along really well. As soon as I graduated from nursing school, I asked her to marry me.”
Both work off the farm. Chris is a registered nurse and Jodee manages the loan department of a bank.
One of the couple’s goals is to run a self-sufficient cattle operation. To that end, they raise and bale their own hay and roll it out daily to conserve hay. Chris said, “We save about five bales per week because they consume it all with very little waste.”
In addition Chris does his own AI with the use of a cleanup bull. Chris said, “Our operation is really a family one. We all have our own stuff, but we all work together. This is especially important with AI because heat detection is such a critical issue. My father-in-law monitors heat detection for me. Because of his help, last time I successfully impregnated 22 out of 25 mommas, a pretty good showing.”
Chris first learned about freeze branding with horses. Then he tried it on his cattle. The advantage is that when done properly the freezing changes their hair follicles so that the hair is white when it grows back out, making a clean contrast against the black hair on the animals. Chris explained, “The trick here is timing. I started at 70 seconds but that caused too much damage and the hide scarred. Then I backed off to 50 seconds which seems about right.”
Currently, Chris does not register all of his calves because the price for a 500-pound calf is high enough that the registration is of less importance. Chris said, “You do what is best at the time. Right now we are so busy, especially with Adam and his sports, that we don’t have as much time as we used to.
Chris continued, “For us farming is more about passing on a lifestyle than anything else. I want my boys to know you have to work hard to succeed.” Then Adam piped in, “I really like to go hunting with my dad. We hunt for squirrels, coyotes and deer.”
By this time Colt had had enough of sitting around. Chris said, “They are with me almost all the time. Colt in particular gets upset when he can’t go out with me.” Then the men trooped out of the house. Chris put Colt in the tractor, climbed in himself, and was followed by Adam who sat in the back.
