Justin Bramall
Hometown: Berryville, Ark.
In Town: “I graduated from Greenland High School in 2010 and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 2014 with an agriculture education degree and a minor in agricultural economics. This is my third teaching year at Berryville High School where I am one of three ag teachers. I teach animal science, poultry science, agriculture business, agriculture mechanics and agriculture structure better known as woodshop and work a 12 month contract. I grew up on a commercial cattle farm and wanted to be an agriculture teacher so other students could get an agricultural education that was not available at my high school. Another reason I went into teaching was because my dad was the agriculture teacher in West Fork for eight years and then transitioned into tractor sales when I was in kindergarten. Most of my students have farm backgrounds but do not live on a farm but rather are involved with agriculture through their grandparents.”
In the Country: “I really love working with cattle and am beginning my own commercial herd with five mommas using my grandparents’ and father’s bull. I also help my dad at his place in West Fork (Ark.) and my grandparents at their place in Huntsville (Ark.). They have 32 full-blooded Angus mommas, but you don’t get more money at the sale barn by having papers so we don’t do that. My dad or I castrate the bull calves, and we wean the calves at 5 to 6 months, depending upon their size with a target weight of 400 to 500 pounds, usually selling at weaning. The calves have one round of shots and possibly two depending upon the season and need. Our animals are grass and hay fed except for a few cubes which helps keep them tame. We hay 80 acres of Bermuda and white clover, which is what grows best for us here. We spring fertilize with chicken litter and sometimes apply lime or phosphorus as determined by soil testing every two years through the Extension Service. We broadcast spray in the spring for weeds and spot spray for thistles as needed. When I was a kid, one of our punishments was cutting the heads off thistles and putting them in a feed bag.”
Future: “I plan on staying in agriculture education, but want to work on growing up my own herd and eventually having a purebred Angus one because that’s what’s popular right now. However, I really like the looks of Angus/Santa Getrudis or Charolais crosses because of a larger body frame and more muscle.”
