I.   Life Story

"Family"

My wife's Mother passed here recently.  It was a huge loss considering how much she meant to our family, and to the many people who came to know her as one of their family through the years.  My wife said she was cut from a different cloth, and I believe that.  I also believe they broke the "loom" when she was brought into this world.  When I lost my parents she helped fill a void in my life with her friendship and her motherly ways...:)

One day while Tina and I were still dating, I went to meet her parents.  Tina had prepped me by telling me her momma had been an Army Drill Instructor when she was younger, and I half believed her!...well maybe more than half.  It was some time before she told me different, but it made for delicate behavior and conversation while I dated her daughter...:).  She was tough though, make no doubt about it, and she made her family tow the line!  I could not help but admire her tenacity and after a while she just grew on you.  Once she decided she liked you, there was nothing she would not do to make things special or make sure you had a good time when you were in her home.

In her latter years she became disabled and was restricted to a run-about cart.  You know the kind...it has a real non-offensive horn that doesn't prepare you for the fact someone is fixin to run over your toes!  That cart never slowed her down though.  She worked for years doing Campers on Mission, and she always spent many hours in the outdoors at the local lake.  She would drive that cart down the the waters edge, slide off her cart and into the water, then she would slide back up on a jet ski and ride like a bat out of ...:)  She was fearless.  This was probably due to her upbringing and the fact she spent many years being both the mom and the dad during a long military career with her husband.  I have seen that woman attack coyotes in the pasture with nothing but a golf cart and a flashlight, making sure newborn calves were safe.  You didn't tell Claudette she couldn't do something because she could not walk.

She loved her family and made many more through military, missions, and church...not to mention all the caregivers she had during her long term illness.  We will miss her smile, her bold comments when it suited her, and her love of life.  She was as strong willed as they come, and a fighter.  My Mother-In-Law may not have been an Army Drill Instructor, but I can tell you this...she would have made a good one.  Tina and I would like to thank those of you who have offered your condolences and your support.

The moral of the story: 

Not all Mother-In-Laws are cut from the same cloth... as a Drill Instructor

From a cattle raisers point of view:

Do what you can, when you can, and the best you can given the circumstances.






II.   INFORMATIVE

"Hocus Focus"

I can't begin to tell you how many calls and emails I have received for Herefords in these last two years, but this year alone was phenomenal.  I have had request ranging from calves, to heifers, to bred cows, pairs, and bulls with a frequency close to several a week.  Had we not sold back the herd to make the move closer to Tin's parents, I would have been doing very well by now.   Unfortunatley, and par with my luck, we had a limited offering this past two years.  I can sell every calf on the ground, and every female I have to legitimate buyers for a good price if I am so inclined to do so, but I'm not...not yet. The fact is, with the exception of a couple of replacements, I had been selling just about everything I could produce!  The problem is I lacked the volume to do my operation any good.  That is to say, help the operation continue to grow again.

The Hereford Association has done a good job marketing the breed in the last few years, and folks have been doing their homework when it comes to efficiency, docility, and the ability to make outstanding cross breeds with the Hereford influence.  My job as a purebred breeder is to make sure that the demand for registered purebreds with the desirable traits buyers want remains available.  Of course maintaining that volume takes a lot of time and money.  Us smaller operations may have better prices, and cattle which can compete on the pasture just as good as some higher end operations, but volume speaks and boy does it help the rich become richer...:)

As a smaller operation I would make a suggestion for those of you looking to buy without having to spend exorbitant amounts of money cause your buying from a well advertised, well funded, and large volume operation...in another State.  Get your name on a list for an operation you are interested in. Tour their operation to view the cattle first hand, and find out if buying local will give you the same product without the price tag to go with it.  Ask questions and get pictures.  With today's technology you can become a very informed buyer before committing to a purchase.  Then when the calves hit the ground, or the operation has cattle for sale, you can get have dibs in already and you won't have to spend time, fuel, and energy looking.

So, I'll try to do my job to make sure I have some good quality cattle for sale that meet your needs.  I'll work on the volume end of it too.  In the meantime, don't hesitate to pick up the phone and email us on what we have available...especially since it seems I don't keep my website updating as much as I used too...:)  Thanks to those of you who have considered out cattle these last few years, and made inquiries. Please stay in touch, and be specific with your needs and we will try to help you when our stock (no pun intended) is available.         



 



III.  FARM NEWS:


All of our bulls and heifers have been sold!

Thank you! - Jason and Stacy Earnest for being a repeat buyer...again, and thank you for the wonderful visit and the hospitality.

Thank you! - Jimmy Prentice for your purchase of Double H Farms cattle.

Thank you! - Willis Polled Herefords for your purchases weanlings!

Thank You! - Taylor Made Herefords for your purchase of yearlings!

Thank you! - Trae Beavers for your Purchase of a Show Heifer

Thank you! - Todd for your purchase of a Double H Farm cattle!




IV.   CURRENT/ UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 9-16 - Jr. National, Kansas City, Mo
September 22nd to October 2nd - East Texas State Fair, Tyler, Texas
September 30th to October 23rd - Texas State Fair and Livestock Show, Dallas, Texas
October 30th -31st - American Royal Livestock Show, Kansas City, Mo





V.  HEREFORD HIGHLIGHTS:


TRM 42F Dixie 2148
(03/31/02)









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Summer 2011
      Thanks, and keep coming back!! 
2148 is a cow we purchased in a registered sale.  She is phenotypically correct with a great udder which has held up with age.  She was bred to "Bailout" when we purchased her and she calved a heifer September of 2010.  She calved again, a bull this time, breeding back in just 30 days from her September calving date.  This cow stems from a solid cow line within the Gerber program going back to Achiever 8403.  Her sire is the maternal giant Remitall Embracer 8E.   Her pedigree is also littered with Sires of Distinction, and Dams of Distinction.  She will be bred again AI this fall to another top bull.
Claudette Watson - February 20th, 1941 to July 10th, 2011
Seen here with her Husband "Big Daddy" and her Grandchildren
209 CR 4625
Cooper Texas 75432
903 395-2413

The Harvey's
Tom, Tina, Joshua,
Matthew & Andrea,
Anthony & Melissa Witt
2128 taken in the fall of 2010