May 2016 Articles

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Just Rambling May 2016

Louisiana Farm Bureau Beef Tour traveled throughout Mississippi on March 31 through April 3rd. A tour bus carrying over fifty cattlemen and women traveled first to Mississippi State University where we met with Dr. John Blanton, head of the Animal Science Department. Dr. Blanton, along with other professors in the department presented some of their educational programs to the group. Following the presentations a grass-fed beef lunch was provided to our group before we headed to Town Creek Farm located near West Point, Mississippi.
This farm is owned by Milton Sundbeck with Ms. Joy Reznicek, President of Town Creek Farms and overseer of the operations. She is assisted by two young men, Mr. Clay Ladner and Mr. Ron Flake.Ms. Joy and her late husband developed the Ultra Black Breed on their Cow Creek Farm in Alabama. We viewed some of the Brangus and Ultra Black cattle on the ranch, along with working facilities followed by a presentation by Ms. Joy. A very enjoyable and educational evening followed by dinner in their beautiful sale facility. Dinner was provided by a restaurant owned by Mr. Sundbeck in West Point, Ms.
On day two we traveled to Tanner Farms near Shuqualak, Ms. owned by Mr. Gary Tanner. Tanner Farms raises Registered Angus cattle on this 4000 acre farm. Mr. Tanner presented an educational program to the group followed by a viewing of some of his cattle. An opportunity was also given to tour the Grand home on the property.
After leaving Tanner Farms we traveled to Smith County to meet with Mr. Charles Waldrup and associates of his, who through the Economic Development District in Smith County, have developed a calf marketing alliance for producers in Smith County. Mr. Charles presented information on how this was accomplished and the success they have had in improving the returns to their cattlemen members. Smith County Farm Bureau then fed our group lunch followed by a presentation to the group by Mr. Joe Tally, a Red Angus breeder in the area. We then visited one of Mr. Joe’s farms to view his Red Angus Cattle.
Next we traveled to Collins, Ms. to the Rogers Bar HR Charolais Ranch to meet Mr. Doug Rogers, owner of Rogers Bar HR. This Charolais ranch was started by Mr. & Mrs. Harlan Rogers, Doug’s parents, with Doug buying it after his father’s death. It was a pleasure for my wife and I to see Mrs. Rogers (Doug’s mother) again. We had met both she and Mr. Harlan several years ago when we came down for one of their bull sales. We were able to view some of the Rogers Bar HR Charolais cattle along with Doug presenting us an educational program about how they handle and manage the ranch. This was followed by dinner provided by Rogers Bar HR in their sale facility. Day three began with a visit to the Ted Parker Farm. Mr. Parker runs a stocker operation in Covington County which consists of over 15,000 head of cattle. Mr. Parker presented his grazing and feeding program to the group which includes feeding old fruits and vegetables that he gets from stores such as Walmart. He discussed his buying strategy's as well as the marketing of his cattle. We not only got to hear his buying and marketing techniques but we got a real close up view of his home farm by getting the tour bus stuck on top of a hill in one of the pastures. They have had more rain than we have had in our area. Thankfully, Ted had the necessary equipment to get us back on the road again.
We then traveled to Country Girl Creamery owned by Butch Smith and family. They own and operate a dairy along with further processing and selling their milk and other products directly to stores and consumers. This was a very interesting operation.
Next we traveled to Rocking B Ranch owned by Shep Batson and family. Mr. Batson presented us information about his polled Brahman cattle and how he ships semen and embroyes to other nations such as Australia. Not only did we enjoy the presentation by Mr. Batson but we also enjoyed a good lunch provided by Jasper County Farm Bureau.
After leaving Rocking B Ranch we headed to the Mississippi Farm Bureau headquarters in Jackson, Ms. where we were treated to dinner and entertainment by Mr. Paul Ott. My wife, Donnette, and I want to thank the Louisiana Farm Bureau Board and all the Louisiana Farm Bureau personnel especially Mr. Ron Harrell that made this trip possible. A special thank you goes out to Mr. Marty Wooldridge,our Farm Bureau Livestock Committee Chairman, and his wife Crystal for all the work they did to help make this trip possible. Lastly, I would like to thank out tour bus driver Mr. Mike Willis, for keeping us safe. You did great! Thank you to Mississippi Farm Bureau and it’s personnel, especially John Kilgore, for the hospitality shown to our tour. Also a big thank you goes out to Mississippi State University Animal Science Department, Town Creek Farm, Tanner Farms, Joe Tally Farms, Smith and Jasper County Farm Bureau, Rogers Bar HR, Ted Parker Farms, County Girl Creamery and Rocking B Ranch for opening up your farms to our tour group. We had a wonderful trip.
Mississippi is a beautiful state with great people. Thank you and God Bless. Van Bennett