Family: Husband Cody, and children Claire and Charlie
Hometown: Henderson, Ark.
In Town: “My husband Cody and I have town lives centered around our careers. Cody and I got married right out of high school and went to college together at Arkansas Tech University. In 2016, I graduated with an ag business degree, while Cody earned an electrical engineering degree and later earning a master electrician license. I began my career as a bank teller and am now a loan assistant at Anstaff Bank in Mountain Home, Ark. Cody is an electrical engineer for the Little Rock Corps of Engineers.”
In the Country: “Both Cody and I were raised on cattle farms. The family land totals 930 acres. My father and local high school ag teacher Lyn Cotter works all but 300 acres. The 25 acres around our home in Henderson has multiple uses during the year. It is not only a calving and weaning area but also a bull pen and hospital center, in addition to being grazing land for our jumping mules. We lease another 115 acres from my grandparents, Max and Velma Cotter, as our main grazing area. That land, perhaps soon to become an official century farm, has been in the family for 180 years and retains the home of my great-great-grandma Doxie. Cody and I run herd of 35 mixed mommas bred by a registered Red Angus bull. Calves are born in the spring and fall. The calves are weaned at 6 months and fed a grain ration of soy hulls, corn and distillers gain we purchase by the ton from Foster’s Feed in Bakersfield Mo., only minutes from our home. We then grain calves for 30 days to knock the freshness off of them as become accustomed to grain and people. The calves are then sold at the nearby Ozark Regional Stockyards. The cattle are worked four times a year, with calves receiving Vita-Charge as part of our health protocol. Our 4-year-old daughter Claire started showing bottle calves when only 2 and now has two miniature Hereford bulls for this year’s season. Her younger brother Charlie, who is not yet 2, loves anything cow. We look forward to growing our herd as large and as fast as we can. A deep commitment and love of farming is in our blood, in our hearts and growing in our children.”
