Hoot O’Farrell has found a breed of cattle that suits his lifestyle
MONTROSE, MO. – At almost 70 years of age, Hoot O’Farrell is living his best life. Most days you can catch the Kansas City native riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle or on his ranch.
“I was an iron worker in my working life before I retired,” said O’Farrell. “I’ve been retired for about 11 years, and I just raise cattle and ride my motorcycle.”
One of the reasons O’Farrell is living his best life is that he knows what he likes and sticks with it. From his Harley-Davidson to the breed of cattle he raises, once he finds something that suits him, he sticks with it.
“I’ve always lived on the farm since I was 15 years old, and then I got interested in Beefmaster cattle about 30 years ago or more,” O’Farrell said. “I started raising Beefmasters and just couldn’t get away from them.”
O’Farrell’s ranch is located in the heart of Missouri and spans 330 acres. He keeps his herd of Beefmasters around 50 head of registered mother cows, which he splits into two herds of 25.
“Some of my better animals, I take to OHOA Spring Sale in Springfield. That’s the Ozark and Heart of America Beefmasters,” O’Farrell said. “Then I go to Central States Beefmasters in May and I sell two or three heifers there. I try and keep some of them for myself, of course. And then the ones that aren’t good enough in my eyes, I just take to the sale barn.”
O’Farrell recently started up a freezer beef business in which he sells beef on the side.
“The freezer beef business has really evolved within the last 10 years, maybe, maybe a little longer,” O’Farrell said. “I was just raising beef for my family, my kids, and then they knew people who wanted beef. I raise about 10 beefs a year for that. Once you get used to eating farm beef, you just don’t want to go to the store anymore.”
O’Farrell said his beef is tender and just tastes good, which is why his customers keep coming back. He has set high standards to ensure that.
“I feel like every calf that a mama cow has should be better than she is,” O’Farrell said. “And if they’re not, then I get rid of them. If they’re better, then they continue on with the program. I try and keep back two or three of my good bulls, and I try and sell them either off the farm to neighbors or whatever.”
O’Farrell doesn’t plan to expand his ranch or operation any bigger than it is now. With the help of his son, he does most of the work by himself, and he is content to keep it that way.
“The size of the herd is about all that I can do at the moment for the land I have because I still have bale hay on it and everything else,” O’Farrell said. “I’m just trying to make my cows better and keep the land for my kids. My youngest son doesn’t live very far from me, and he helps me whenever I need help. He can, and hopefully he’ll try and continue the farm after I’m gone.”
O’Farrell’s avoidance of expansion stems from not wanting to go into debt trying to acquire more land and equipment just for the sake of getting bigger. He has gone through that fresh torment before and never wants to experience it again.
“With the price of land these days, my expansion is done,” O’Farrell said. “I’m almost 70 years old, and I’m not going to go into debt like that again. My ironworker job made my living, and then the farm had to pay for itself. Most of the time, it at least made the payments. It’s not like I had to make my living off the farm. I couldn’t have made it if I had stayed on the farm and tried to live on the farm. I couldn’t have made it that way.”
While O’Farrell says if he were starting a farm today, it would be impossible to make it on just that income, he can’t see himself doing anything else.
“I don’t think I could stand to live in a city, for one thing,” O’Farrell said. “I’ve got farm roots and I love the farm and I’ll die on the farm. All I’m saying is that sometimes you think about slowing down, but you’ve got to have a reason to get up in the morning and cattle is my reason.”
