Gary Boggs of rural Dallas County is a man of many interests and talents. He and his wife, Cecile, live on 1,100 acres, several miles outside of Urbana, close to both the Hickory and Camden county lines. “The land is about half-open, half-timber,” Gary explained recently, “and right now I have about 60 head of commercial momma cows. I’m down right now because I just sold a bunch of steers. I’ve had up to 250 head and was planning on gearing down, maybe getting out as I got older but as prices rose, I thought I might stay in a little longer. My brother, Ron is helping me now and if he wants to continue, I’ll stay with it.”
Gary smiled, “Essentially here, we are grass farmers. That’s where our production is, the better the grass, the more profit. We’ve got to keep the grass up because grass-fed cattle is what we’re all about. That of course, involves proper fertilization and proper rotation. I still have my land divided into pastures and do pasture rotation but not as intensely as I once did. Still, we are so dependent on the weather in this business. Last summer’s drought was really hard on us. By late summer, the grass looked like it does now, in the middle of winter. We produce all our own hay although I contract that out.”
He continued, “I don’t want to be in the machinery business and that’s how I see the hay business. Cattle and machinery are two different businesses and I like to concentrate on one or the other. I know a lot of the old timers still do both but that’s not my choice. The best part of owning your own equipment is then you can get the hay cut exactly when it needs to be done but this way, I don’t have the huge expense of all that machinery maintenance, not to mention the break downs. If I have to choose to spend my money on machinery or cattle, I choose cattle.
In addition to his cattle interests, Gary is the owner of the six Applewood Group Homes in this area that care for mentally disabled individuals and one residential facility that is designed for both the mentally disabled and the mentally ill. They also operate a home health care business.
And as if that is not enough to keep this energetic man busy, he is also an avid cattle dog man. “It started with Duke, an Australian cattle dog I found on the side of the road. I thought maybe he’d fallen off of someone’s truck but when no one claimed him, I took him home.” And thus, began a long love affair that has resulted in multiple award-winning cattle dogs who have participated in world competition for Frisbee (micro disc) throws, placing as high as fourth, worldwide. He also has Blue Heelers and Border Collies that have finished in the top 10 nationally for agility and obedience for both the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club. His dogs have also brought home walls worth of awards and ribbons.
While he enjoys the dog competitions and the travel involved to places like last year’s national contest in Orlando, once they’re home, Gary gets back to business. “Border collies love to bring cows in while heelers like to work them up close, separating calves in the lot and helping to work the cows. With their help, I can still manage to work the cows by myself.”
