Hometown: Mountain View, Mo.
Family: Husband, Shawn Argabright; son, Matthew Price
In Town: Stephanie Beltz-Price is the association executive of the Ozark Trail Board of REALTORS®, a position she has held for five years. While she is not a real estate agent, Stephanie works with about 200 REALTORS® in seven counties to keep them updated on industry regulations.
“I help make sure our members comply with all state and national rules and regulations, and we also have a MLS (multi-listing) service that I work with.
Shawn has been at Smith Flooring for more than 25 years, where he is the safety director.
In the Country: Stephanie has been involved in the cattle industry her entire life.
“I grew up on a cattle farm in northern Howell County/southern Texas County,” she said. “My husband Shawn and I have about 20 cows of our own, but then we’re part of the larger family farm where we have about 225 head with my mom and dad, Joe and Nancy Beltz; my brother, Jason; and son Matthew.”
The base of the family’s herd are Salers and Angus/Salers cross, along with a small herd of crossbred cattle. The Beltz family became with Salers in the mid-1980s, about a decade after the French breed came to the U.S.
“We’ve kept them based on their milking and mothering abilities, and their low birthweights,” Stephanie explained. “My husband and I both have town jobs, and growing up my parents worked in town, so they needed cattle they didn’t have to watch 24/7, cattle that had no problems calving, even the heifers. When the Salers calves are born, they get up and they start nursing, and grow like weeds.”
She added that Salers also work well in crossbreeding operations, bringing their low birthweights and high maternal traits to other breeds.
The family has both fall and spring calving, with the registered herd being mostly spring calves for show cattle. Matthew has shown cattle for the last five years or so and has held leadership positions in the American Salers Junior Association.
Stephanie and Shawn are in the process of building their own herd, so they retain most of their heifers, focusing on the bloodlines of some of their older females that have been in the family for many years.
Shawn had no agriculture or farming background prior to marring Stephanie, but she said he quickly grew to love the lifestyle and is very involved in the cattle operation.
Stephanie and Shawn recently moved to her grandparents’ former home, which is only a few years away from becoming a Century Farm. Five generations of the Beltz family have lived and worked on the farm.
