Jim Sherrill strives for high-quality seedstock at Diamond S Limousin in Macks Creek, Mo.
Jim Sherrill and his wife, Beth have Diamond S Limousin of Camden County and live on their farm just outside Macks Creek, Mo.
“We had a house on the lake at one point,” Jim stated while seated in his farm truck. “I spend all my time here. I just love farming.”
And that love permeates his life in a number of different ways.
“We raise bulls and replacement heifers, registered Limousins,” Jim explained. “We keep a few LimFlex on the place for a couple of special customers’ requests, but we keep 80 to 100 cow/calf pairs, with a total of about 130 animals at all times.”
Diamond S Limousin has both red and black Limousins on two farms in the area.
“We have 285 acres on this farm and then I rent another 500 acres,” Jim said. “We keep some of it in pasture and use some just for hay.”
Jim has a construction company and also runs an industrial maintenance company but is moving toward spending more of his time on the farm and less in the business world.
His wife Beth is a retired elementary art teacher from the Camdenton School District. Their grown sons, Nick and Dan, have also been a big help in the farming over the years.
Nick still lives on the farm in a nearby farm house and Dan lives and works as a marketing specialist in Springfield, Mo., but still comes home to help with farm work when needed.
Genetics are important to Jim, which helps him produce the best cattle for not only his herd, but for his customers who buy seedstock.
“I do my own AI work and follow the genetics and EPDs closely on all our cows and bulls. Most of the cattle in this area are commercial cattle but I like to focus on the purebred bulls. Using the purebred bulls with the cross cattle give hybrid vigor to the calves, which is what my bull buyers are after. We do spring and fall calving. I always feed in the evening and I find that by doing so, almost all of my calves are born in the day time. I’ve been farming for over 25 years now and enjoy spending more time doing that. It’s what I really want to do.”
Jim said he prefers the Limousin breed because of the growth potential.
“The commercial farmer sells for the pounds so crossing with the Limousin bulls works well all the way around,” he said. “We work to breed for the congeniality. All of our cattle are very docile. I was in Kansas recently where I bought several bred heifers. I research the bloodlines carefully before I buy. We buy from 100 genomic-tested herds to make sure of their productivity from the beginning. I cull hard, for their behavior and productivity.”
Just like other cattlemen, Jim has had ups and downs.
“The bull market was pretty sluggish this past fall and I actually held more back than I usually do but the heifer market made up for it,” he said. “As soon as the grass starts to green up, people will be out looking, ready to buy. For quite a while, everyone was interested in the black Limousins but recently, their interest in the red Limousins has picked up so now I keep both. Black cattle generally bring a little more on the market but the only difference really is people’s personal preference.”
Jim attends the First Baptist Church of Macks Creek where he also teaches a youth Sunday School class.
“When you can get a dozen kids together to hear something positive, that’s a good thing,” he added with a smile. In the same way, he has worked with local agriculture FFA students in the Camden County area.
“I enjoy working with the kids and always enjoyed it when our kids showed steers and heifers in years past. It’s a great thing to get these kids started at a young age and with their first heifer they can literally, start their own herd while they are still in school. One of the kids we worked with locally, started that way and he has eight cows now in his herd and he is still in school. These kids and their interest in agriculture is our future in this industry so I think we need to encourage them any way we can.”
Jim is also on the Camden County Farm Bureau Board and works with the local extension council. He and his family were the Camden County 2018 Farm Family of the year at the Missouri State Fair.
