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Matt said, “It works out good for us. I’m basically done selling everything now. We can clear everything out of my place and get it cleaned back up for sale season again. Cattle are going to come into our place at Garretson in July, and we’ll be done with the bulk of selling by the first of December, except for a random bull sale like we held this February.” MPJ Cattle also sells semen and embryos.

HELPING CUSTOMERS REACH THEIR GOALS

The target customer for their calf crop is junior exhibitors. “When we were kids, you went to some random pasture sale somewhere. When you took that calf home, that was your calf. Those breeders never saw it again,” Matt said. “Now the day we sell the calves is just the

At the Sioux County Fair in 2021, a new traveling trophy was presented to the senior showmanship champion in honor of the late Mark Johnson. Champion Reagan Jansen is pictured with the Johnson family: Melissa, Brad, Pam, Sawyer, Harper and Matt.

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Matt and Melissa Johnson with their children, Harper and Sawyer. Photo by Dear Jane Photography.

The mother-son calving team at MPJ Cattle: Brad and Pam Johnson. beginning of our job. The families do the day-today stuff, but we’re basically with them at every show; helping them make breeding decisions; helping them sell the calves they get out of those cows; and everything else in between.” Brad said, “What’s most important is helping customers reach their goals. Some people want to win the county fair and some people want to win the state fair. Nothing is too big or too small. We help them reach their goals before we reach our goals.” Coaching their junior exhibitor customers and helping them fit and clip at county, regional, state and national shows is a core piece of their “service after the sale” approach. Melissa said the MPJ Cattle team strives to reenforce lessons of responsibility and hard work; and help teach kids how to win and how to lose. “It doesn’t always work out the way you want it, but the experience, the atmosphere and the project have value no matter what. Caring for an animal is just something special.” She said, “Some of these kids we’re with from fourth grade when they start 4-H up until they’re done showing when they’re 21. We’ve been through a lot of things with these kids and their families. What means the most to us is the return relationships we enjoy.”

A FAMILY TRADITION

Building relationships and expanding connections and friendships is a tradition set by Matt and Brad’s father, Mark, who passed away in October 2020. Mark and Pam were married in 1984 and moved to their location near Maurice in 1988. He worked for Trans Ova Genetics for about 30 years and served on the boards of the Iowa and American Chianina Associations. “Dad is the reason why we do this. He went to every major cattle show in the country. His connections were huge. There’s no doubt he laid the groundwork for what we’re doing today,” Matt said. Mark and Pam started with 10 cows and built their herd slowly over the years, but maintained it at a “hobby” level of about 40 cows. They started with Simmental and transitioned into breeding Chianina cattle. Since Matt graduated from South Dakota State University and Brad graduated from Iowa State University, they’ve more than doubled the size of the herd and diversified the number of breeds and crossbred cattle in the herd. Brad said the four primary breeds are Angus, Simmental, Maine Anjou and Chianina, with some influence