Town Creek Farm Since 1993
WINTER 2017
Vo l u m e 5 , I s s u e 1 • P u b l i s h e d b y To w n C r e e k Fa r m , We s t Po i n t , M i s s i s s i p p i • B r a n g u s a n d U l t r a b l a c k
City Meets Farm J R
BY OY EZNICEK length. In some situations we use short-duration, WE RECENTLY HOSTED 75 PEOPLE ON THE RANCH WHO concentrated hoof traffic grazing in which weeds WERE PART OF A LOCAL “FARM-CITY” TOUR. The tour
These bulls sell october 21, 2017.
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Town Creek Farm Milton Sundbeck, Owner Office: 32476 Hwy. 50 East West Point, Mississippi 39773-5207 662.494.5944 www.TownCreekFarm.com Joy Reznicek, President 205.399.0221 Joy@TownCreekFarm.com Clint Ladner 662.812.8370 CLadner@TownCreekFarm.com South American Representative Ing. Agr. Federico Maisonnave (011) 595 981 362 898 Skype: federico.maisonnave Maisonnave.Federico@gmail.com Total Commitment
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brought city folks – doctors, medical students, and business owners – out of city limits to see the value of agriculture in our county. In another time we might have focused on the grit, grind and manure of our daily work, but times have changed. Rather, consumers’ expectations have changed. So on this tour we chose to enlighten our audience on our personal proactivity as agricultural professionals. Our day began by stating that our overriding objective is for our cattle to be treated humanely, and, yes, with respect. We practice low stress handling. We have almost completely moved away from electric prods. We can always get cattle to move with a flag or a rattle paddle; it just takes a little more time and patience. We don’t holler or use four wheelers. We’re in our cattle on horses and foot to make our cattle more user friendly not just for us, but for our customers as well. We then shared that two years ago we committed to never reusing a needle, Subcutaneous or Intramuscular. While this might sound extreme, our decision was based on results of a study in which 10 steers were confirmed negative for Anaplasmosis. Steer 11 was positive. Sham vaccination was given to the parasitic steer 11 with a hypodermic needle fitted to a multiple dose syringe. The same needle and syringe were used to sham vaccinate the 10 negative steers. After 41 days, 6 of the 10 steers tested positive for Anaplasmosis. This practice just makes good sense to eliminate potential disease transmission and contamination of drug bottles. Needles are cheap and we expect them to deliver expensive vaccines. Changing needles has become a routine step of our cattle work. At Town Creek Farm we prefer freeze branding to permanently identify our cattle. It’s less stressful than hot iron branding and does not cause hide damage. We have less tail flicking and bellowing and freeze brands are easy to read. Back in 1987, Cow Creek Ranch was one of the first operations using freeze branding. The iconic Cow Creek freeze brand was easily identifiable just as the Town Creek Farm brand is today. We assured our tour group that we cautiously and rarely use antibiotics. It’s our last defense in treatment; however, our animal’s welfare always comes first. We find preventative ways to get results that rely less on antibiotics; nutrition, timely herd health protocols, weaning conditions, minimizing stress, etc. Antibiotic use is a hot topic and I believe its vocal chords come from consumers having knowledge of antibiotics on the human side. It’s a talk they can talk. Years ago we started experimenting with rotational and intensive grazing techniques. We’ve seen its many benefits, particularly managing through a drought this fall. We move cattle often, monitor hoof traffic and blade
are consumed, and manure and urine are trampled into the ground. So when rains finally came in December, we had improved water penetration because of the robust root system. Our pastures responded accordingly. Aside from improved forage production, our weed population has decreased, without chemicals. Our grazing practices have increased our stocking rates and reduced use of fossil fuels and chemicals. We introduced other practices that benefit our herd’s well being. Fence-line weaning is practiced on both Town Creek Farm and Cow Creek Ranch. We have few sick calves, little stress, rapid response to feed and little weight loss. And best, we don’t have breakouts from one side of the ranch to the other. I never thought I’d be writing or talking about our use of calf warmers. Every so often during spring calving, February and March, we get some ugly weather. Cold is not so bad, but real cold and wet can be intolerable to a newborn calf. Our calf warmers both dry and warm calves. At times it means the difference in life or death to a newborn. No more babies in our shop, vet room or floorboards of trucks. No more towels to wash. We work hard to get a cow to calving. It’s our job to protect when Mother Nature does not. Finally, we explained that employees on both ranches are BQA (Beef Quality Assured) certified. Each one has completed the nationally coordinated course. The program teaches common sense husbandry techniques. BQA guidelines are designed to make certain all beef consumers can trust and have confidence in the entire beef industry. We demand that our team follows the rules every time, even when they think no one is watching. The city folks could easily see the vast capital investments in a working cattle ranch. The acres of land, heads of cattle, facilities, housing, equipment, etc. were certainly an eye full. Our massive investments are a darn good reason why we should respond to the growing number of consumers who want to know how their beef is raised and know that it’s raised with an ethical eye on production. We owe it to ourselves to be advocates of our livelihood and the beef we raise. In the end, we emphasized that there is nothing that can replace human interactions we have with cattle. Technology can’t do it. Automation can’t do it. We can’t run our cattle operations with GPS. It’s only humans that can care for our cattle just as our forbearers did. That’s a grand part of our story. Both at Town Creek Farm and Cow Creek Ranch we have transitioned into a mind-set of managing for tomorrow. No one yet knows what tomorrow will look like, but we will be ready.