Brian Palmer is the fifth-generation of his family on their farmstead, east of Miami, Okla.
It consists of several hundred acres and is home to a family commercial cow/calf operation as well as Brian, his parents Larry and Tammie Palmer, and his grandparents, Kenneth and Shirley Palmer. They use Charolais mothers and then rotate from Charolais to crossbred Black Angus bulls. They prefer the Charolais because the calves grow faster and get to selling weight quicker due to good milk production by the mother.
“In our experience, there has been no difference in price with our mixed color calves,” Larry explained.
“I have worked with my grandpa since I was old enough to carry a shovel,” 17-year-old Brian said of his life on the family farm. He also remembers helping his grandfather and father vaccinate cows when he was about 5 years old. He also remembers sitting in grandpa’s lap while raking hay and riding with his younger sister Lauren in the tractor with their father.
Brian still loves tractors whether he’s raking, baling or mowing hay.
“Grandpa spoils me a little bit and bought a second tractor so I could hay more easily. I love to bale, sitting on the tractor and listening to my music,” Brian said.
“Brian enjoys farm life and takes on great responsibilities for one so young,” Larry said of his son. “He fixes fences, feeds and even doctors animals when needed, which has occurred some this year because of the wet weather promoting sore feet.”
Calves are vaccinated when weaned, and the cows and bulls are wormed twice a year, switching back and forth between oral doses and injection to prevent immunity development.
“We try to prevent all issues and respond quickly regardless of what the current issue is because that’s how you save cattle and protect your investment,” Brian said.
Brian is president of the Wyandotte FFA. He was the Star Chapter Greenhand his freshman year, and competed in the Professional Improvement Greenhand Quiz, where he placed first before moving on to the state competition. His freshman year he also competed on the Ag I Quiz Bowl Team, with his team winning state that year. During his sophomore year, he began livestock judging and showed a Hampshire-cross gilt at his county fair, as well as the Oklahoma State Fair. He showed another Hampshire-cross gilt his junior year, and continued livestock judging and was a member of the Animal Science Quiz Bowl Team, as well as being secretary of his chapter and participating in Extemporaneous Speaking.
Brian takes agriculture seriously and has attended the FFA Alumni Camp for the last three years, with his participation being paid as a result of important wins including Chapter Star Farmer his junior year.
Brian has grown up going to auctions with his father and grandfather and always wanted to get involved.
“While I didn’t let him actually buy anything, I did let him bid,” Larry said. “When I asked him what he wanted to be, he never even hesitated, saying he wanted to be an auctioneer.”
Wanting to support his son’s interest in auctioneering, Larry looked for an opportunity and found an auction school in St. Louis, Mo.
When Brian was 15 years old, Larry decided to make contact with the Missouri Auction School and was told Brian was too young to participate on his own, but they would take him if he and his son went together. Believing it was worth the risk, they both attended the nine-day school. By the third day, one of the teachers said that Brian was the best young auctioneer he’d ever seen.
“My head was so big I couldn’t walk through the door,” Larry said.
Brian has helped at 12 auctions, as well as doing two of his own, along with his father.
“This is my career because I really like talking a lot and being in front of crowds,” Brian said. “My love fits my talent. My parents say before I could talk I stood on a stool babbling. They always said I would be a preacher or a politician but turns out I will be an auctioneer.”
Brian intends to earn a degree in agriculture business; first attending NEO A&M and then Oklahoma State University, where he plans to earn the opportunity to judge livestock. Next is jumping right in and beginning auctioneering, perhaps nation-wide for the heavy equipment market.
“God’s got a plan, whatever it is, so we will see,” Brian said.
