Marvin Burnett is retired from the Missouri Department of Transportation where he worked on highway maintenance while his wife, Barbara, is a retired elementary schoolteacher. The couple met early in life when Barbara’s father was hired to move Marvin’s family from Kansas to Arkansas when Marvin was a senior in high school and Barbara was in junior high. Barbara said, “At the time I was a snot-nosed kid no one wanted to be around, but I grew up and everything changed.” Marvin said, “One night we were both stood up and decided to make the best of it.” They began dating and have now been married for 49 years.
The Burnett’s own 126 acres in Rocky Comfort, Mo., but have recently downsized their commercial herd to 15 momma cows so Marvin will have less work while recuperating from an upcoming hip replacement surgery and can later finish a corral project. Originally the couple tried a Hereford cross but Marvin felt the calves didn’t grow as quickly as he wanted because milk production was not good enough to support that kind of growth. Barbara said, “If they don’t make us money, we don’t need them.” The couple eventually settled on a Simmental/Gelbvieh cross. Their current momma cows include three or four purebred Simmentals while the remaining cows are half Simmental and half Gelbvieh or three quarters Gelbvieh.
Marvin prefers the Simmental/Gelbvieh cross because breeding is easy, the mommas deliver small calves but produce abundant milk that promotes weight gain rapid enough for the calves to triple their weight in three weeks. According to Marvin, the cross also produces a friendly temperament so working them is easy. Marvin said, “We can walk the herd down the road in the hot summer to change pastures even though some are 2,000 pounds and leave footprints in the blacktop.” Then he laughed and added, “They are all our pets except for the ones we name ‘Deep-freeze.’” The Burnett’s current bull is a registered Gelbvieh though Marvin plans to buy a registered Simmental when it is time for a change.
The couple run a mostly closed herd, sometimes keeping heifers for replacement and other times selling them depending upon their current needs. When they purchase a bull, they do so from a reputable breeder they know personally rather than from a sale barn in order to maintain the benefits of a closed herd. Marvin keeps what he calls “a clean herd,” and therefore does not vaccinate. The herd is dewormed with a pour on wormer because the couple feels the process is more humane as is tagging rather than branding and banding rather than cutting. Further, no steroids or growth implants are used. Marvin also consults the Farmer’s Almanac about when to wean. Marvin said, “Believe it or not, when I follow the almanac, the process is easier and the mommas don’t bawl very much.”
At this point in their life, one of the couples’ top priorities is easy maintenance. One decision supporting that priority is haying only 10 acres and buying the rest of their hay. He applies 200 pounds of 3-2-1 fertilizer per acre and sprays in the spring and later for thistles as needed. Marvin said, “I can buy a lot of hay for what equipment costs.” Marvin’s brother gives Marvin first option when he sells his hay.
The Burnett land is really a family conclave. Their son and their granddaughter also have residences within short walking distance of Marvin and Barbara’s home. The only requirement was that the children needed a path to walk to grandma’s house. One consequence is that their granddaughter and her husband raise and sell colts on their land, some of which come from a mustang mare the granddaughter broke when she was younger. The couple also breaks horses for other people and keeps them with their small herd.
Barbara said, “Having our family all around us is wonderful and good for all of us. We are thrilled to be able to have a place for them to build their homes.”
