Karla Woods
Family: Sons Austin, 22, and Seth, 17; a daughter-in-law, Morgan; and grandson, Gunner.
Hometown: Buffalo, Mo.
In Town: Karla Woods began her career with State Farm after graduating from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla. She has now been with the company for 25 years.
In the Country: Karla grew up on a farm in Decatur, Texas, where her family milked a herd of Guernsey cows. During her youth, she showed Guernseys, but during her college years she switched to Ayrshires.
Karla and her sons switched their focus to Simmental cattle and again began showing.
She currently has about 20 head of Simmental/Angus.
“I’m really kind of particular about my cattle,” she said. “I want something that is going to milk and grow calves. I want medium-sized cattle so that they aren’t eating me out of house and home. I just like a good, meaty, framey cow that is balanced. I really enjoy my cattle and the crosses are a little more docile than pure Angus, and they have a little more bone and muscling. They are just a little more balanced.”
In the future, she would like to expand to maybe 30 high-quality mommas and hopefully be able to sell commercial bulls.
In addition to her cattle operation, Karla also shows Quarter horses. Growing up, she showed in the AQHA Palomino Circuit. In college, she helped coach 4-H horse judging teams, but she said she didn’t really have time to show at that time, so she began competing in barrel racing.
Today Karla competes in ranch horse events in the Missouri Ranch Horse Association and American Ranch Horse Association circuits.
Karla said she doesn’t really keep track of how she places in events or how many points she accumulates in the circuits, but she said she typically “places well” in competitions.
When asked which species she preferred, Karla said both hold equal importance.
“I think I have the best balance right now because I have the commercial cattle at the house and I can work with them, but it’s not taking the time it took to show them, so that affords me the time to go do my passion with my horses,” she said.
