The McDermott family traded horses and tack for heifers
LONG LANE, MO. – For several years after the McDermott family moved to Missouri from mid-state Kansas, their daughters, Kayelee and Bailey participated in a 4-H riding program operated by Brian and Tammy McKinney. Then, in 2020, dad Tim got into a long-running conversation with an older gentleman in the area and the girls decided to trade-in their horses and tack for seven heifers.
Today, the McDermotts operate the Dry Creek Cattle Company on their 35 acres in Dallas County, and that includes 16 head of commercial cows, primarily Angus.
Although Tim McDermott grew up in town in Kansas, he worked several summers on area farms, operating tractors, cutting and baling hay and working around cattle. His wife, Karen grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, but Tim said she is a country girl now, who also works as a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Lebanon Middle School.
Tim, a traveling nurse, said his daughters are the biggest participants in their family’s agriculture adventures these days.
Kayelee is beginning her second year at College of the Ozarks at Point Lookout, Mo. She started college with the idea that she might like to be an ag teacher but is now following her mother’s career path, Tim said, deciding she may become an elementary school teacher.
Bailey showed steers at the Laclede County and the Tri-County fairs this summer, as well as breeding and market lambs, both Suffolk cross. She’ll be a senior this year at Lebanon High School and also plans to attend C of O.
“Agriculture has always been part of my life. It’s had a big impact on my life. My ag teachers at Lebanon have been great and business people like the ones at Hudson Feed and Grain have been so helpful and supportive as they showed my sister and I how to best take care of our animals. A lot of my memories are tied up with life on the farm and our activities there,” she said.
Bailey too has decided to study elementary education with a minor in ag education. Bailey has participated in FFA in recent years in addition to her previous years in 4-H. Her various FFA activities have included team speaking competitions, floral culture, and dairy cattle.
Tim and Karen’s sons are also busy, working and going to school. Son Jason works for Butler Eye Care in Lebanon and is also a student at College of the Ozarks. Younger son, Walker works for James River Church in Ozark. He has studied music ministry while his wife, Suzanna is busy earning her master’s degree from Evangel.
The farm is divided into three pastures and we use rotational grazing, moving the cows about every three days.
“I’ve got fresh water installed into all three pastures although we also have a pond on one of them. Of course, the cows prefer the fresh water when they have a choice,” Tim said. “I got a Freeze Miser last year, that drips water constantly. Once the temperature drops below 40 degrees, it steps up the flow so the pipes and faucets don’t freeze and the cows always have fresh.”
Because the family utilized their land primarily for pasture, they purchase their hay.
“He even delivers it for us so that makes it really convenient,” Tim said. “In addition to that, we use mineral tubs and range cubes when it gets super cold. We use Purina Pre-Con for the immunity when we wean our calves and that makes it easier on the mommas and the calves. water.”
Agriculture was a new venture for the family, but it is one they do not regrets.
“When we first started, I wasn’t so sure but this has turned out not to be as hard as I was afraid it might be,” Tim said. “We’ve had good luck with our calves. We do spring and fall calving right now and we haven’t lost any so far and have only had to pull one in three seasons of calving. That makes it a lot easier in general. Our biggest health problem so far has been pink eye but we’re getting that under control.”
Calves are sold at an area livestock market, but Tim and the McDermott family hope to begin offering farm-fresh beef in the near future.
“We are hoping to buy another 15 acres that is close to our land and when we do that, we also plan to expand with building a pen system along the fence and adding some smaller feeder calves,” Tim said. “We plan to expand with another 10 cows or so. The goal is to have about 20 momma cows on a regular basis.”
