If Aaron Owen was looking for a way his family could benefit from farm life, he found it in Simmental cattle. Owen Brothers Cattle Company has been prevalent with the Simmental and Angus breed for many years now and each family member brings their own specialty and contributions to the farm.
The family and company consist of five members, Aaron and Jennie, and their three sons Adam, Matt and Casey. Aaron and his wife, Jennie, made it a point to make sure cattle were a part of the Owen brother’s lives. As the boys grew up on the farm, they became more cattle savvy, making Aaron's job as a cattle farmer much easier. “Between the clipping, fitting, photography, and the rest of the farm duties the boys use the place for there own personal businesses,” smiled Aaron.
“The boys do the day-to-day stuff and I help out when I’m home and in the summer time, but the boys do all the work,” acknowledged Aaron.
Adam, the oldest son, works at Paul Mueller with Aaron and does freelance work for other cattle farmers. He graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor Degree in Animal Science. Adam also specializes in clipping and fitting cattle for the show ring.
Matt concentrates his efforts on freelance work as well as clipping and fitting cattle for the show ring. In recent years, Matt has worked for several cattle ranches including, Express and Silver Town. He also runs a photography business which focuses on cattle sale photos. Matt and Adam also hold State and American Farmer Degrees through the FFA.
Casey, the youngest, is a sophomore at Republic High School and holds the title of Sentinel in the Republic FFA. Casey is also a state representative for the Greene County Cattlemen’s Association. Casey maintains the farm grounds and takes care of the machinery.
Jennie works in Springfield and is an advisor for the Junior Simmental Association and is the Secretary for Simmental of the Ozarks.
When all of these specialties come together they operate one of the more prominent Simmental farms in the Ozarks. The farm consists of approximately 138 acres and another 190 rented acres. “We calve about 85 head of cattle a year and usually try to calve (about 80 percent) in the spring,” stated Aaron. The production of the herd is studied carefully by the boys. “Matt and Adam A.I. the majority of the cattle and the rest are bred by a clean up bull, Westfall Voyager,” said Aaron. “They (the boys and especially Matt) concentrate on the Simmental breed and look for structural soundness, udder development, and EPD’s,” stated Aaron. These characteristics are prevalent in their cattle. “Except for two years, we have been the premier breeder at the Ozark Empire Fair since 1993,” recalled Aaron.
Aaron believes the Simmental breed is favorable for many reasons. “Simmentals will have hybrid vigor with almost any breed and they do it successfully. Also if you look at the Simmental breed, they have open record books and let you register half breeds,” stated Aaron. Aaron realizes the breed had calving ease problems almost ten years ago, but today this characteristic has been bred out. For these reasons the Simmental breed has become the 3rd largest breed in the United States.
The Owen farm also caters to other breeds in the area. “We rent the farm facilities out three to four times a year for other breeds to have sales. One of our main goals is to have our own production sale one year from now. Through the sale we can offer select genetics to the public, embryo packages and embryo pregnancies as well,” said Aaron.
Aaron feels the Owen Brothers Cattle Company is heading in the right direction. “There is something going for the boys revenue-wise all year round and we have cattle together. If they (the boys) leave we couldn’t do all this,” said Aaron smiling. In the end, the farm speaks through its slogan, “Cowboys at Play.”
