Farm manager Luke Jenkins believes in the cattle at 44 Farms. The ranch is one of the largest breeders and sellers of Angus cattle in the country. — CWN Staff photo by Coppedge
Country World News, May 27, 2010 – The “44″ brand has been around Milam County for 101 years now. S.W. McClaren acquired his first tract of Little River bottom land in 1909, and the land along with additional acres has been in the family ever since. The current owner, Robert S. McClaren, is a businessman who served for a time as president of the Houston Astros organization.
Luke Jenkins, farm manager, worked for many years as a professional groundskeeper, first for the New Orleans Saints in his native Louisiana, and later for the Astros, where he met McClaren. A few years ago, Jenkins decided to follow his roots back to production agriculture and went to work for McClaren and 44 Farms as the farm manager.
In its more recent history, 44 Farms has become one of the largest producers of Angus cattle in the country. The farm focuses on relative genetics, raising the best cattle and bulls for sale to farmers and ranchers primarily in Texas, though customers are served all over the country and, increasingly, the world.
“The main thrust here is relative genetics,” Jenkins said. “At the end of the day, when you go into a restaurant and order a steak, we want the end product to be as good as it possibly can be. That has to start somewhere, and it starts on places like this.”
McLaren, general manager James Burks, Jenkins and the rest of the 44 team have gone all over the country to buy Angus cattle that posses the kind of genetics they are looking for. The cattle are bred at 44 farms and sold primarily to Texas producers. Sales of bull semen go on year-round.
“We feel like we’re breeding the best bulls in Texas,” Jenkins said. “People buy them and put them in their herd in order to produce good tasting beef.”
The “relative genetics” that 44 Farms is looking for are identifiable genetic markers that can be measured by the animal’s appearance and performance. Of the 18 to 20 genetic markers that are currently measured, 44 Farms is interested in ease of calving, growth, maternal instincts, feed efficiency, tenderness, rib eye and marbling. Two 44 herd sires were recently ranked numbers one and two, respectively, in the Dollar Beef Index, which is used to measure the animal’s commercial potential and that of its progeny.
“We’re proud of our bulls here,” Jenkins said. “We have a couple of others that are really coming on that we think are going to be big producers for us.”
In addition to raising and selling some 3,000 cattle, 44 Farms also grows a lot of hay, from Coastal and Tifton Bermuda, and also from some native grasses. The farm recently planted about 50 acres of Texas Sue Eastern Gamma Grass. They also plant about 250 acres of corn, which is turned into silage.
Having a lot of silage on hand came in handy during the recent drought, when stock tanks went dry and producers were forced to cull their herds. 44 Farms wasn’t immune from the drought either.
“The drought affected everybody in Texas,” Jenkins said. “We were right on the edge of the worst part of it and we still had tanks that dried up. Fortunately, we had put up a lot of silage and were able to feed that until it started raining again. It’s pretty well caught us back up.”
The farm hosts a number of sales each year, including a big two-day fall sale where females are sold the first day and bulls the second. There is also a spring sale, and private treaty purchases are available year-round.
Though most of the 44 Farms customers are in the U.S., they recently sold a group of bulls that went to Mexico. Jenkins believes that other foreign markets are a possibility.
“With the technology that’s available today, there’s no reason the market couldn’t be worldwide,” he said. “You can log onto a computer in Australia and buy a cow in Cameron if you want to. We sell on the Internet and with video sales. It’s amazing how far that part of the industry has come in such a short time, but I guess that’s true in almost any business.”
Even with the changes in agriculture, Jenkins said he is glad he moved from the sometimes hectic and grueling schedule that working for a professional sports team often requires to a quieter existence for him and his family.
“One of things about working for a professional sports team is that you’re always going to be living in a big or mid-sized city or in one of its suburbs,” he said. Jenkins and his family live in College Station. “With two kids, I sometimes had to miss some birthdays and anniversaries. This was a good opportunity to live what I guess you would call a more normal life, away from the big city. It’s been a blessing for us.”
44 Farms en Español