Chastain Farms is the classical depiction of how cattle farmers have evolved the past 80 years from expansive pasture-based operations focused on natural selection to small-scale farms focused on introducing technology to create high-quality cattle.
In 1832, Steve Chastain's ancestors moved from Kentucky to what is now Arkansas, settling near Highfill in Benton County on farmland purchased from American Indians for 19 cents an acre. In 1880, his ancestors moved to a 120-acre tract in rural Rogers, Ark., and at one point, they operated a registered dairy with 400 cows and raised chickens and grain on about 1,600 acres. Then in 1982, Steve, along with wife Jo Harris Chastain, took over the farming operation that his father, Sid Chastain, had worked. A year later, Steve purchased a Beefmaster bull and began the process of refining the cattle operation with Beefmaster cows.
BREED IMPROVEMENT
Almost 13 years ago when the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville began a systematic push to start building its animal sciences program, the Chastains stepped forward to provide the necessary leadership and financial support to take the program from the conceptual to implemental stages, said Dr. Keith S. Lusby, head of the Animal Sciences Department in the Bumpers College.
Such measures on the Chastains' part is not unusual, as the couple is known throughout Northwest Arkansas for their generous support of the Benton County Sunshine School, Mercy Medical Center, formerly known as St. Mary's Hospital, and the university, where they are credited for working with the Arkansas Beefmaster Breeders to establish an endowed scholarship. The endowment funds one annual scholarship, known as the Beefmaster Breeders Endowed Scholarship, of about $1,000. "We appreciate what Steve's done. He's been good to us, and his support has meant a lot to our program. This builds on itself because people want to see their family and their farm recognized," Keith said.
BEYOND SCHOLARSHIPS
Steve's support for the university's program goes beyond funding scholarships: He has allowed scientists, particularly in reproductive physiology, to use his Beefmasters in their research; he has provided livestock for youth and other cooperative extension events for teaching activities; and he has provided some embryos for scientists to produce Beefmasters at the university's research facilities, Keith said.
"That is valuable because it gives our scientists a larger number of animals to use in a commercial setting," Keith said. Steve's herd has been used in university research focusing on artificial insemination, embryo transfer and reproductive physiology. "We put a lot of emphasis on reproduction because that's the key to survival of any breed. … In the Beefmaster business, a lot are bred artificially, and the big market is through the sales of semen, embryos and breeding cattle. So, those professional breeders really are interested in that type of research."
Although Beefmasters are physiologically the same as any other livestock breed, it helps for a breeder to show research done with his own breed, Keith said.
"Developing the blood line is what keeps this business interesting," Steve said of his Beefmaster line and the research done at Chastain Farms.
NATURAL BREEDING
On a recent weekday, Josh Richardson, Steve's farm manager for about three months, supervised the release of seven heifers in an area of the farm known as "cross creek" because it is situated near a wet-weather creek. There, the heifers will breed naturally with bulls.
"We breed at 18 months because it allows for better pelvis development," Steve said as he watched constant companion Sister, an Australian shepherd, mind the heifers. Successive breeding will be done with artificial insemination to retain the breed's good genetics; bulls are retained as backups. "We breed naturally the first time around to make sure everything is working the way it should. … These bulls throw small calves that grow fast, provide low maintenance and good carcass value."
Chastain Farms has 130 mama cows weighing up to 1,800 pounds apiece and five bulls, and has expanded to sell seed stock and high-quality cattle nationwide. Herd health is important, so the cattle Chastain Farms sells has the necessary shots and is a certified-free herd by the state of Arkansas. When one thinks of Beefmasters, the typical big, red cow comes to mind, but on Chastain Farms, paints, reds and browns are the norm.
For the most part, Josh said, the Beefmaster is a docile animal. "They're easy calvers," he said. "They eat briars. They're insect resistant, real gentle and good milkers."
The Land
Chastain Farms now sits on a 96-acre tract of land near the intersection of South 40th and West Oak streets about 1.5 miles from the Pinnacle Hills Promenade in the upscale west Rogers.
"Land is too valuable to run a farming operation," he said, commenting on how the city and developers turned their interests toward his and other farmers' land bordering the Interstate 540 corridor. "Northwest Arkansas is a good place to raise cattle because the grasses are good here, but the area has developed too fast. I'm content to have a farm in the middle of town. My kids can do what they want with it after I'm gone."
What makes Chastain Farms unique are the natural water sources, three stock ponds filled with bass, catfish and Georgia breem, and vegetation, such as fescue, Bermuda, and red and white clover, that help maintain the cattle operation, especially during drought conditions the past three to four years. The farm also is very active in herbicide and pesticide control. Such a unique setting also interests the university's researchers, who focus their work on the utilization of fescue, not necessarily confined to Beefmasters, in beef cattle operations.
THE BREED'S FUTURE
Beefmasters really haven't changed much physiologically since the early 1900s when Texan Tom Lasater developed the crossbreed of half-Brahman, half-Hereford/Shorthorn, to thrive under adverse range conditions without much supplemental feed. Farmers economic issues food and fuel also haven't changed much from one century to the next.
The Beefmaster, with its Brahman influence, will have a greater emphasis in marketing and breeding programs because the breed can tolerate warmer climates and has evolved in terms of carcass quality out of response to customer demand for quality beef, Keith and Steve said. That Brahman influence goes a long way in making the Beefmaster breed more capable of surviving and being reproductive with the kind of forage found in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and anywhere fescue is grown. "Cattle can do better on lower quality forages where you have hotter climates," Keith noted.
ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES
The economy is undoubtedly changing cattle operations, Steve said. Where a farmer once could get by with knowledge about animal husbandry, that changed in the past 100 years to include electrician, mechanic, welder and plumber. Now, more than ever, being a farmer also combines conservationist and businessman.
Two advantages will be attractive to the Beefmaster breeders to emphasize in marketing and sales, Keith said. First, farmers are fertilizing pastures less, which means cattle are going to have to be productive on lower quality forages, as energy and fertilizer costs won't be going down in cost. Second, farmers are going to harvest a lot less hay than in the past simply because it's expensive to bale, haul, store, haul out and feed. Many cattle operations will begin relying on forage from the ground, then stockpile forages like fescue for grazing during the winter rather than putting up hay bales.
The rising cost of diesel fuel also means cattle operators will be physically checking their cattle less, which means cattle farmers are going to want cows to calve by themselves and breeds that can demonstrate they have cows with a low rate of calving difficulties. Those breeds are going to find the better market, Keith and Steve said.
Tom Lasater developed the Beefmaster primarily for that very utility. "He didn't care about color but about having calves that could be raised with little support. I think it may be ironic, with today's energy situation and economy, the realities of the cow-calf industry is, that in order to be productive, it must have little input and little help from man," Keith said.
