7 minute read
Behind the Curtins
From raising kids to selling bulls T.J. Curtin is dedicated to quality work and successful outcomes.
By Olivia Hoots
After a long, wet, winter, the ice begins to melt, the skies open and the blades of grass in the pasture begin to smell like spring. You look out in awe, thankful for the good Lord that your cows have survived another Illinois winter, cold nights of calving and all. As you check on your cows and their calves you notice the one born in late February on the coldest night of the year. She’s walking strong – getting up at 2 a.m. is always worth it to see that sight. As she runs alongside her mother your face forms a proud smile, you aren’t sure how it got there, it was almost involuntary.
Across the pasture, there is your pride and joy, a bull calf you hope to sell in a Performance Tested Bull Sale someday, next to its mother. You remember choosing the sire – that also makes you grin. T.J. Curtin of Blue Mound has felt these types of emotions in his own pastures, anticipating one of his most favorite parts of selling bulls, the day they sell. As a consigner to the Illinois Performance Tested Bull sale, T.J. knows what it means to prize quality and thoroughly tested bulls, ones that will be worth something to other cattlemen. Here is a little insight into T.J., his family, and of course, his Angus cattle.
Family Business
T.J. And his wife Megan live between Blue Mound and Taylorville on their farm with their four children, Audrey, Will, Patrick, and Nora. Megan teaches junior high P.E. and also helps run the social media account for their freezer beef sales. The pair met in college through friends but still grew up not too far apart, with Megan’s parents in Decatur and T.J.’s parents in Stonington.
The Curtin’s oldest daughter, Audrey, 18, goes to college in El Dorado, Kansas, where she is on the livestock judging team, which helps her dad choose their best bulls for sales. She also has a custom jewelry business. “It has turned into quite the business, T.J. says.
“I really love business and being an entrepreneur,” Audrey says.
T.J. recalls a story from when their oldest son, Will, was about five and a UPS man rang their doorbell “You’ve got a bunch of cows out here,” he told Megan, who answered the door.
“Okay, alright,” she responds.
“What color are their tags,” Will pipes up.
“Yellow.”
“Okay I know where they go.” And little Will wrangled them all back in.
At just 16, he is the farmer of the four kids, always wanting to be on the farm taking care of the calves, mowing pastures, etc. He says he loves being outside, and is a workforce on the farm according to his dad. “I could not do what I do without him.” He has also been noticed by surrounding farmers who would like to hire a Will to help with their own operations.
At just 16, he is the farmer of the four kids, always wanting to be on the farm taking care of the calves, mowing pastures, etc. He says he loves being outside, and is a workforce on the farm according to his dad. “I could not do what I do without him.” He has also been noticed by surrounding farmers who would like to hire a Will to help with their own operations.
“Boy I sure did like meeting your son,” said one farmer. Their next son, Patrick, is 15 and known for his passion on the basketball court, and in the baseball diamond, at Taylorville High School. Though he is not as involved with the cattle, he has his own jobs around the farm and the Curtin’s ultimately want all their kids to chase what they are most passionate about. “I encourage my kids to follow what they want to do,” T.J. says.
Nora, the Curtin’s youngest daughter, is in 7th grade, and loves showing cattle, playing volleyball and dancing.
Angus Business
The Curtin’s raise over 50 head of cattle on their operation and do have some farm ground for raising corn and soybeans too, which means they need to manage calving season around harvest and planting like many farmers.
Typically, they calve half their cows in early spring, and half in early fall, and while aiming for early-born bulls.
The Curtin family overall has spent over 80 years in the cattle business. T.J. remembers growing up in the Illinois Junior Angus Association program, doing preview shows and doing junior nationals in the 90s. He did a judging team just like his daughter while in high school and brought some his own ideas home from his own college experiences. Ultimately, T.J. is passionate about selling bulls and females that produce performance cattle, ones that help other producers improve their herds.
In terms of genetics, T.J. believes in seeking out highly-proven bulls from reputable Angus operations throughout the country that they can implement into their own cow-calf operation. This contributes to their goal to produce registered Angus bulls.
A Performance Tested Business
Years ago, T.J. was involved with the Illinois Performance Tested Bull sale except for from 2009 to 2019 when they had their own production sale at farm. Since then, they have made appearances at each IPT Bull Sale and will again sell bulls there in 2025.
The Curtins appreciate the standards the sale represents, and that each bull has to go through a rigorous set of standards.
“As a buyer, you can look at all the rigorous tests these bulls had to go through, you can have assurance that you have a quality bull bought that should not give you trouble down the road,” T.J. says.
This year, they have three bulls out of the same cow to market. She is a donor cow purchased in fall 2020, Deer Valley Rita 8154. Audrey and Will went in search of a foundation female. She is a member of the first cow crop of the Deer Valley Growth Fund. T.J. is grateful for the job the cow has done for them so far, with strong calving ease EPDs, a great utter, and a strong phenotype, and she still provides flexibility on sire choice.
“We’re pretty pleased to have the buyers come put their appraisal on them,” T.J. says about the three bulls they are about to market.
“Throughout my career here, over 20 years of raising Angus cattle, we have bred these cattle that have a heck of an engine under the hood. That is what I want to say about the Performance Tested Bull Sale,” T.J. stresses. “These cattle, they have to be tested, and there is a difference in the type of Angus cattle that you breed as far as performance goes,” for these types of sales.
For his small feedlot for their freezer beef business, that performance that’s documented and tested for selling breeding bulls carries over into the quality of beef they produce for their beef sales. “The difference to those cattle as far as performance and predictability is another reason why I value to buy bulls at performance tested sales,” T.J. says.
At the IPT bull sale he always appreciates the camaraderie and work ethic of the other consigners. His brother, Joe Curtin, consigned some of the prized bulls in the past few years. Also to T.J., the Kramer family is highly respectable, and enjoys the friendly competition amongst another Angus breeder. “They always have good bulls,” T.J. says. He also enjoys talking to Simmental consigner Curt Rincker and admiring his “excellent” consignment of cattle and has also looked up to Bud Hobbs and admired his quality of cattle.
“There is just something about cattle people. When I am with others who raise cattle, there is a brotherhood there, a fraternity. We have all had bad days, we have all had good days,” T.J. explains.
Heart Business
Behind the curtain of this operation is a true delight in raising cattle. The springtime pasture is “like a drug” to T.J., and a good bull sale his high.
The entire process of cattle raising is something he will never undervalue. “I have thought about which bulls to AI my cows to, I have bred them, they get bred then eventually have a live calf. Then they raise the calf, I manage him correctly and that day he sells is a thrill to me,” T.J. says.
