7 minute read
Moore Cattle, Moore Quality
2024 IBA Seedstock Producer of the Year, Dennis Moore of Moore Land and Cattle, says the secret to success is hard work, good genetics, and a drive to improve.
By Betty Haynes
It started out as a Bic lighter, and has turned into a pretty nice little fire,” says Dennis Moore from his farm in rural Jerseyville.
In just 28 years, Moore has grown Moore Land and Cattle from a pipe dream to a seedstock powerhouse, earning the title of 2024 Illinois Beef Association Seedstock Producer of the Year.
“Dennis is a very hardworking, trustworthy person,” Dennis’ wife, Sara, says. “He doesn’t know the word quit. He wants things done the right way.”
Sara says the recognition came as a welcome surprise to decades of determination.
“He doesn’t do it for the accolades,” Sara says. “He does it because he loves it and he is always up for a challenge – and cows are challenging.”
Today, Moore Land and Cattle includes 2,700 acres of crop ground, hay and pasture. He has roughly 200 registered Simmental and Angus cows, and farms corn, soybeans, and wheat.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Humble Beginnings
Dennis was raised on a farm in Jersey County, but the 1980s brought high interest rates and a challenging farm environment.
Dennis opted to take his farm boy work ethic and follow another profession. He worked jobs in construction and painting, until starting his own painting business in 1992.
“I always knew there would be people a lot smarter than Dennis Moore, but where I’ll beat them is that I’ll outwork them,” Dennis says. “If they work eight hours a day, I’ll work 12. If they work 12 hours, I’ll work 20. If they work five days a week, I’ll work seven.”
As a young entrepreneur, Dennis says he was blessed to have several older mentors advising him and the business.
“One piece of advice I got was ‘the bigger the monster, the more you have to feed it’,” Dennis explains. “So be careful on how big you make the monster.”
As the painting business grew, Dennis took this advice by investing his earnings in farmland, feeling it would require fewer employees and fewer headaches.
In 1996, Dennis purchased his first farm at auction. It was 360-acres of paradise where he and Sara now reside. Coincidentally, Dennis’ father was born on the same farm in 1929, and later left in 1936.
“You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy,” he says, reflecting on the transition from farm kid to business owner to farmer.
Sara says the pair bought their first registered cattle in 2007 for their three daughters to show. Dennis meticulously researched genetics when starting the herd.
“It takes just as long to clean the barn out for a good one as it does a bad one,” says Dennis. “I figured, if we have to clean the barn out, we might as well get some good ones.”
Dennis and Sara agree that raising cattle undoubtedly shaped their daughters into who they are today. Their youngest daughter is a lawyer, their middle daughter is a veterinarian, and their oldest daughter works at a daycare.
“It gave them a work ethic,” says Sara tearfully. “All three of them are really hard workers just like their dad. And they all love animals.”
As the cattle business grew, Dennis’ colleagues started taking notice, inquiring about his new venture.
“They’d say, ‘tell me about this cattle business because if you’re jumping in, it has to be a money maker,” says Dennis with a smile. “I’d reply, ‘no, it’s more of a passion. You know how you make a million dollars in a cattle business? You start with ten’.”
Dennis contributes part of his success to learning from other breeders, and being open-minded to the opinions and advice of those around him.
“When I visit someone else’s farm or ranch, I try to pick up on the things they believe in and learn what they do well,” he says. “Then I can digest those ideas and make them fit with our program. It’s kind of like a jigsaw puzzle.”
He’s always learning and evolving, continually trying striving for perfection.
“When you stop ripening, you start to rot, so you have to keep trying to ripen,” Dennis explains.
Blue Ribbon Genetics
In the seedstock business, Dennis has learned that breeders either lean into raising good cows or raising good bulls.
“I always wanted a stiff cow battery, because I can get my hands on semen from good bulls to AI or flush,” he says. “A bull is half of your calf crop, so he’s undoubtedly an important piece of the puzzle. But when I’m looking to purchase, I want to see what the cow looked like – I want to see the mother.”
The foundation herds of Moore Land and Cattle are the Shelby cow family on the Simmental side and the Forever Lady cow family on the Angus side.
“The Shelby cow had the pieces and the parts to make the offspring,” Dennis explains. “She raised two national champions.”
Dennis takes pride in raising easy-doing, good-sized cows with great maternal instincts while maintaining their soundness and phenotype.
“I’m proud to say that I make cows to be show animals, not show animals to be cows,” says Dennis. “The bottom line is that we want to raise great cattle."
Staying on top of not only his feeding program, but also his water and mineral, helps set his cows above the competition.
“You have to look through a lot of different windows to make sure that you’re going in the right direction,” says Moore. “Because one mistake can really set a program back.”
He’s found that the number one thing breeders want in Illinois is cattle with good disposition.
“The last thing they want is cows jumping over fences that are mean, or will get somebody hurt,” says Dennis.
Dennis has learned that having repeat customers is built around trust.
“A true seedstock cattleman has to triple check all of the boxes to make sure they’re promoting the best quality animals to the commercial guys.”
Five years ago, Ben Trygar joined the Moore Land and Cattle crew as herdsman.
His first impression was that Dennis was a good business man, who wasn’t afraid to spend the money on good cattle and good equipment.
“He definitely isn’t afraid to reach out and make sure the job gets done,” says Ben. “Dennis is also very outgoing and isn’t scared to say what he thinks whether it’s right, wrong or indifferent.”
Over the last several years Ben’s respect for Dennis has only grown, as he’s invested in 4-H, local cattle producers, and IBA.
“I think people are seeing where Dennis is trying to go with the operation and they’re impressed by it,” says Ben. “He’s trying to make the beef industry step up its game by getting good genetics in this area to push out to the whole country.”
Ben adds that what sets Dennis and Moore Land and Cattle apart from the competition, are their genetics.
“He tries to get some of the top genetics here,” says Ben. “We’ll get genetics from different breeders from all areas of the country, to raise premium quality animals for our customers.”
Moore Land and Cattle holds an annual production sale every December featuring open heifers, bred heifers, semen packages, and embryo packages. For more information, please visit, http://moorelandandcattle.com.
