Quality Cattle Management Recognized Through Value-added Program
Marketing calves through value-added program shows real results for Missouri family farm.
On the rolling, fescue-covered hills of eastern Missouri, just a few miles off the Mississippi River, the Karl family works hard to raise quality cattle.
The fourth-generation family farm is owned and operated by brothers Davey and Ronnie Karl and Ronnie’s son, Ryan. All three work off the farm full-time, but spend as much time in the evenings, weekends and time off caring for their cattle and the land.
“I tell everybody, once I’m back from my town job, I’m out until ‘dark 30’ seven days a week,” says Davey. “We all stick together until the work gets done.”
Davey and Ronnie’s grandfather started Karl Farms near Weingarten, Mo. Their father later maintained the business with just a few beef cows for many years. Then, nearly 40 years ago, as teenagers, the brothers wanted to have a herd of their own. They bought two cows from a neighbor and subsequently bought heifers from their father.
“We’ve always given our calves two rounds of shots off of the cow and weaned them for 60 days. But we didn’t have a way to verify our work.” — Ronnie Karl
“We bought those two pet cows and continued to grow through the years to more than 300 cows now,” says Ronnie.
Throughout those 40 years of growth, Davey and Ronnie grew their herd of commercial Angus, Simmental and Hereford-influenced cows by raising quality replacements and making timely purchases when neighbors were scaling back.
Marketing ups and downs
Karl Farms manages spring- and fall-calving herds, helping maximize their bull power and optimize their marketing windows.
Karl Farms participated in the pilot project that became the Purina Plus value-added program. They've marketed 15 sets of calves through the program at a regional sale barn. |
Having a few different times each year to market calves has let Karl Farms implement different marketing strategies. In the early days, Davey and Ronnie sold calves at various local sale barns in their region.
“We’ve always given our calves two rounds of shots off of the cow and weaned them for 60 days. But we didn’t have a way to verify our work,” says Ronnie.
About 20 years ago, a value-added program became regionally available. It lasted for a few years, and then the local support for the program went away, so Karl Farms was back to square one.
“We had to go back to playing the market with whichever sale barn we thought would have better results,” says Ronnie.
Adding value
Even selling without a value-added program to back up their production practices, Karl Farms built a reputation for quality calves.
“Despite not finishing a lot of their cattle out, they still want the next guy to have a good product,” says Tod Wideman, a local sales representative with Purina® dealer Gateway FS Inc. “And they have a really good reputation.”
“Despite not finishing a lot of their cattle out, they still want the next guy to have a good product.” — Tod Wideman
Karl Farms routinely marketed their heifers to other local farmers through private-treaty sales as replacement females, which they continue to do today. Still, the sale results for steers and feeder heifers weren’t what the family thought they could be.
In 2015, Wideman began a pilot project with Gateway FS to market calves fed Purina starter feeds through a value-added program. One of the first farms to get involved was Karl Farms.
“We jumped on board, and we’ve been selling high ever since,” says Ryan. “We’ve had nothing but a good experience with it.”
This pilot project would one day become the Purina Plus value-added program, which nationally rolled out in 2021 and is one of the first programs of its kind to marry industry-leading nutrition and health protocols. Program requirements include feeding Purina starters with RX3® Immune Support Technology at weaning, vaccinating with approved products and utilizing program-approved dewormers.
Seeing success
Karl Farms has marketed 15 sets of calves through the value-added program at a regional sale barn.
“Back when we marketed them ourselves, we always did good,” says Ronnie. “But with the current value-added program, it just went from beyond good to excellent. There’s just no comparison.”
Something the Karl family believes helps set apart their current marketing through a value-added program from their previous experience is the support of their local feed dealer.
“The best thing about going to these programs is when you’ve got a guy like Tod, he’s right there for you,” says Ryan. “Our experience has been nothing but excellent. Even marketing, Tod goes above and beyond to help market those calves.”
When asked if they plan to continue marketing calves with the value-added program, Davey says, “That’s a big Y-E-S! Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Editor’s note: Article and photos provided by Purina Animal Nutrition LLC.
