Jim Bob Hendrickson
In Town: Jim Bob Hendrickson works for Oklahoma Farm Bureau in Adair, Okla. “Knowing, caring and doing what’s right while providing the best service is what sets us aside from others. I have recently taken on the management position for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance company after 28 years. The company has been good to me. I enjoy people and seeing different parts of the state. It is a member-based service with lots of benefits. It is there to protect – when you cannot afford to replace. I make sure my customers are properly insured and explain it the best way they understand. My current job in management is to ensure my folks are doing their job. If you do not care about folks, we’re not going to last.”
In the Country: “My wife, PJ and daughters, Jamie and Abby, have shown Limousin cattle for over 19 years. Our oldest daughter, Jamie, got us started in this. So, we started small and stayed small. We did not have a lot of money or influence. We had to learn about breeding and showmanship, with the great help from other people and our Limousin family. We wanted to focus on representing the breed through showmanship and did quite well doing that. We chose this breed because they are good doers. What makes this breed unique are the people. You develop friendships while showing. My wife PJ said, ‘You help them heal if they lose a competition and share in the joy if they win.’ We use to spend 5-6 hours a day when we were showing, now it is down to 5-6 hours a week. Both kids are young adults now. Our oldest daughter, Jamie and her husband, Joseph McKellar, live in Texas with their two children and work on their family ranch breeding Black Angus. Abby is in college and judges in livestock competitions.”
Making it Work Now: “We went from showing to breeding. We currently have 18 embryo calves that will go to auction this year. If we do not sell all of them, they will most likely be replacement herd. We have Lim-Flex butcher beef for our own purposes and the other show cattle have become pets. Our daughter has named them all; they will walk right up to you. We had three calves born in November which barely made the mark. We prefer fall calving but also do spring calving. These cattle are just good practical cattle with virtually no issues that other farmers have. Although I am on the board of the North American Limousin Foundation and a member of the Oklahoma Limousin Breeders, it is not about me. I am one of them. It helps when you have fantastic people to work with.”
