Sarah Black
Hometown: Jay, Okla.
Family: Husband, Jason; children, Luke, 11, and Riley, 3
Town life: “I worked for Farm Bureau as a licensed insurance customer service representative and county secretary for 15 years. I then transitioned to be the human resources and insurance assistant for the Jay School District where I have been for the last three years. Luke, 11, plays football for the Jay sixth-grade Bulldogs, and we attend games as a family. We own Black & Greene, Incorporated, an agricultural electrical company that also works on standby generators and sells for MTU Onsite Energy.”
Country life: “We have 40 acres in Jay and an Angus/Simmental commercial cow/calf operation in addition to two laying houses we lease out and six broiler houses with an additional six in the near future. That will mean 500,000 chickens at our place at one time. Needless to say, we have more than we can do by ourselves. We have one farmhand for the chickens now with another one or two after the new houses are finished. I lived in the country but not on a farm, although my dad loved horses and wagons and plowed our garden with horses. Jason wasn’t raised on a farm either, although his grandfather, Red Black, had a substantial farm that was sold when Jason was little. He learned farming from a neighboring couple named Jan and Chet Janes, who taught perfection as well as farming. At one point, Jason said he was never going to raise cows. Then one day he decided cattle could be a tax advantage so we started with 10 cows. Now we have 115 commercial Angus/Simmental mommas and both Angus and Simmental bulls to promote bulk and raise only fall calves. We sell calves in July at 700 to 800 pounds and 30 days after weaning. The calves are worked twice and are therefore well-established before they leave for whatever sale barn has the best recent sales. Jason AIs his heifers and looks at the female line when selecting semen because a future mama needs different genetics than a beef heifer. Just the other day I checked the mommas and found a red and white calf. I asked Jason if we had a bull for a mailman. The best family time is checking on cows with us riding in our buggy (UTV) while Luke follows on a four Wheeler.”
Future: “Nothing is ever certain, but Lucas already decided he wants to be a farmer and even wears overalls to prove it.”
