The Good In A Longhorn
Walking through a pasture of Texas Longhorns could be quite intimidating. Whether straight or curved, the horns are long and threatening, and the animals are huge. But then the owner calls them by their names and scratches their heads, and suddenly they’re not as unapproachable. It’s hard to be afraid of a cow named Nancy Jane, Little John, Get ‘er Done, Deadeye Dick – and the best one – Princess Margaret.
Farming Bonds
A lot of farmers don’t look forward to the times that they have to work their cattle. That’s not the case for Randal Bonds of Cecil, Ark. In fact, he even does it for other farmers all over the Franklin County area. He uses his team of Catahoula dogs and a horse to quickly accomplish a task that takes hours for some. Often, it only takes Randal 10 to 20 minutes to gather a herd that is used to being driven by horses and around an hour for those that aren’t. “My dogs gather the cattle up, and then I use the horses to drive them to where they need to be, he explained.”
A New Venture
The fourth generation in the cattle business, Lane Pruitt who lives at Clinton, Ark., has worked with cattle as far back as he can remember. He grew up on a dairy farm, working with his grandfather, Larry Pruitt, who lives at Beebe, Ark. Larry, a veteran cattleman, has worked in the livestock industry his whole life. Lane continued working with Larry on the family farm through his college years at Arkansas State at Beebe, where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Business.
Supplement Requirements
When the pocketbook gets thin sometimes the first thing to get scrimped is the livestock’s diet. We glean a little bit more from the hay, a little bit more from the field, and supplementing becomes less of a priority. Whether it’s time or money that’s running low, how long can the cattle really go, lacking some of those essential nutrients, and still produce?
Holistic Planned Grazing System
Each farmer, rancher and agronomist brings different ideas and levels of learning into an operation. Holistic Management is the term applied to the practice of viewing the entire operation as a whole. According to Cody Holmes, owner of Rockin’ H Ranch in Norwood, Mo., taking all things into consideration is holistic management. "Holistic management says, ‘How can I produce more grass or hay in that field without destroying something?’” Holmes practices what he calls “Holistic Planned Grazing” on the thousand acres he owns. He directs his holistic management at the point of grazing because he feels nothing is more important than growing grass.