News BCIA Honors Autauga, Madison County Cattlemen

BCIA Honors Autauga, Madison County Cattlemen

BCIA Honors Autauga, Madison County Cattlemen
May 1, 2005 |

The Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association (BCIA) named Gaines Farm of Autauga County its Commercial Producer of the Year at an awards ceremony earlier this year, while Moore Farms of Madison County took top honors among purebred producers.Gaines Farm, which is owned and operated by Hank and Harold Gaines, produces beef cattle, cotton, peanuts, hay, timber and small grains on 1,600 acres near the town of Autaugaville. The beef herd includes 250 brood cows, which are predominantly Angus, Simmental and Charolais crosses. Alabama Farmers Federation Beef Director Perry Mobley has known the Gaines family since they “took him under their wings” when he was a county agent. He said Hank has made tremendous improvements in his beef cattle herd since joining BCIA.”Hank is very cognizant of the changing face of the beef industry,” Mobley said. “He’s proactive in his genetic management decisions and overall production. As a result, his feeder calves and replacement females are in high demand.”The Gaineses market their steers in uniform truckload lots through the Producers Feeder Calf Board Sale, and they use electronic identification to track performance and gather carcass information through the Alabama Beef Connection. In addition, the farm is enrolled in the Central Alabama Farm Analysis Program, and all cattle are raised under Beef Quality Assurance guidelines and are tracked using Red Wing Cow/Calf Management Software.Like Gaines, Dr. Billy S. Moore of Moore Farms in Huntsville has used performance records to improve the quality of his herd. Moore began buying Simmental cattle in about 1980, and by the early ’90s, he was gaining a national reputation for producing high-quality, fullblood Simmental heifers. During the last 11 years, the focus of the operation has been further refined to concentrate on full-Fleckvieh Simmentals.Although Moore has a small herd, Mobley said the farm has become influential in the Fleckvieh Simmental business.”Dr. Moore has one of the top herds of those type cattle anywhere in the United States,” Mobley said. “His herd has very powerful genetics, and he has continued to select for good maternal traits and performance through many changes and fads in the beef industry.”Moore Farms makes extensive use of artificial insemination and embryo transfer in order to take maximum advantage of the most exclusive bloodlines available in North America, Mobley added.In addition to the producer awards, BCIA honored Butch Lovelady of Chilton County with the Richard Deese Award and Gerry Thompson with the Outstanding Extension Agent Award.A former Commercial Producer of the Year, Lovelady offered his computer and cattle skills to assist the BCIA in updating the software utilized to evaluate participating members’ herd performance. Since 1999, that computer system has been used to track the performance of hundreds of herds in Alabama and more than 25,000 calf records.”Butch has done a wonderful job of carrying on his father’s (Ralph) legacy within BCIA,” said Mobley. “His work in computer management software for cow-calf producers will continue to have great influence in our state’s BCIA program.”Thompson, a regional agent with the Cooperative Extension System, serves seven counties in north Alabama. He was honored by BCIA for his support and implementation of beef cattle performance programs in Limestone and Madison counties.A former farm manager, Thompson has helped producers in his area improve their herds by assisting them in the selection of bulls and replacement heifers. He also serves as coordinator of the North Alabama BCIA Heifer Sale and the Alabama BCIA North Alabama Bull Evaluation. Mobley said Thompson’s knowledge and experience have been extremely valuable to the producers in his area. “Gerry Thompson is not only an exceptional regional animal science agent, but he is a great friend,” Mobley said. “Gerry has had a profound influence on the beef industry in his area. He has improved the performance and marketing capabilities of many cattle producers in north Alabama.”

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