Hometown: Fair Grove, Mo.
Family: Husband Hal Ryan, three children and three grandchildren.
In Town: Tresa Ryan is an assistant professor of Health Information Technology, and serves as the department chair and program director of the Health Information Technology and Health Information Technology Program at Missouri State University-West Plains. She has been with the university for more than five years.
She teaches courses, advises students and oversees instructors in the program.
In the Country: In July 2020, Tresa and her husband Hal started a small miniature Hereford operation in addition to their commercial cattle herd.
The couple opted to start their herd for a couple of reasons.
“We want to get our grandkids involved in showing,” Tresa said. “I did it when I was a kid when my parents got us Milking Shorthorns, and our kids showed and I want the grandkids to have that opportunity. Because they are smaller animals, it’s not so scary for them. A lot of people also say they prefer miniature Herefords for beef; they have a good market value.”
Even though she grew up on a farm and has been around agriculture her entire life, Tresa admitted she was never “involved” like she is with the miniature herd.
“Hal has taught me so much,” she said. “I’m learning more of the record keeping, and the whole process of when we should breed and the genetics. I never got into that before, but I have really become more involved. Today I’m more invested, other than financially. I just think they are the cutest little things.”
To help her brush up on her cattle skills, Tresa and Hal took an animal science course together at MSU-West Plains.
“We were every competitive with each other in the class, and I beat him by two-tenths of a point,” she said with a laugh. “I really did learn a lot in the class, and Hal thought it would be good for me to take it.”
The first calf for the Lacy 2 R Mini Herefords operation should be born any day, and Tresa is looking forward to the future.
Their herd sire is a mature 5-year-old bull that measures 41 inches, a stark contrast to the other cattle in the Ryan operation.
“(Hal) has a Chianina-cross that stands over 6-feet tall, then I have my mini Herefords,” Tresa said. “They look kind of funny out in the field together.”
Tresa and Hal are planning to implement an AI program, and their goal is to grow the herd and one day offer heifers and bulls to other breeders.
“We’re going to play with the genetics and see what we can do,” she said.
