Mike Henry always wanted a big family. When he married his wife Denise three years ago, he said he was blessed four-fold. Denise brought with her an instant family — three little girls, Abby, Amber and Amy.Just nine months after they married, Mike and Denise had their first son, Porter. And earlier this year, their second son, Davis, was born, giving the young couple a handful of children — literally.”From being single to having a wife and five kids in just three years has been an adjustment,” Mike said. “I always wanted a big family of my own. The biggest thing was how fast it came. I really enjoy being married and having children. It’s everything it’s cracked up to be.”Mike’s face lights up when he talks about his family. The only thing that comes close to pleasing him that much is when he talks about his cattle. His entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm and success in the beef cattle business are among the reasons the Henrys were chosen as the Alabama Farmers Federation’s Outstanding Young Farm Family in the Beef Division.Mike and Denise live in south Montgomery County near the Pintlala community where Mike grew up with his three brothers and one sister on a family farm. Today, Mike and Denise have 600 brood cows as well as registered Angus and registered Charolais cattle. They operate a custom preconditioning business for weaned calves with members of Mike’s family and own a thriving catering business aptly named Michael’s Catering.”Mike is one of the busiest people I’ve ever met,” Denise said. “That can be good, and it can be bad. He has a wonderful work ethic, but he has trouble when it comes time to stop. There’s always something else that needs doing. It’s a balancing act to make time for family when you operate your own business, much less two or three businesses.”But Denise said that’s another reason Mike likes for the entire family to take part in what goes on around the farm.”If he’s hauling a load of cows or going to pick up a bull somewhere, he wants us to go with him,” she said. “In the summer time, if he’s cutting hay or bush hogging, we’ll take lunch to him and have a family picnic.”But unlike her husband, Denise didn’t grow up on a farm. Although she had worked on a poultry farm, she wasn’t completely prepared for life on a cattle farm.”I enjoy being on the farm and raising my family here,” Denise said. “But the biggest surprise for me, I guess, was simply the boldness of nature. Semen testing bulls, castrating calves — things people who grow up around cattle have seen all their lives — it was kind of flooring for my girls and me at first. But now it seems every day to us, too.”While Denise sees her primary role in the family as mom and cook, she helps with the farm’s bookkeeping and really likes the catering business.”Hopefully, as the children get older, I’ll be able to work more with the catering,” Denise said. “We want to build another kitchen and have a place where we can have functions and a room that people can rent out.”Mike said they could probably make more money in the catering business if he put the kind of time and effort into it that he does into his cattle operation, but his passion is beef. He and Denise have their own herd, but they work with two of Mike’s brothers, a nephew and his parents as well.”We’re all independent, but we’re smart enough to work together,” Mike said. “We’re able to capture the economies of scale by farming together, but separately. We’ve all had our own separate herds, but this year we’re starting to combine our herds so we can manage them a little more efficiently.”The Henrys market their cattle in truckload lots and sell at board sales around the state. They also have pooled their resources to purchase additional equipment. They recently renovated the cattle working facility, purchased new scales, implemented electronic identification and purchased new hay equipment.Mike hopes to expand his cattle business to 700 head of brood cows and with Denise’s help; he expects the catering business to grow as well. He also operates a bull-leasing program where he often buys replacement heifers sired by the leased bulls, and he helps his customers market their steers.”Cattle prices have been really good — not as good as they could be — but it’s one of the few commodities that has been making money,” Mike said. “I was very fortunate to buy in low and sell high — and that’s the basic way to make money.”Other than price, the biggest change Mike said he expects to see in the cattle business is the expanded use of electronic identification, and mandatory identification for animals and farms. Those changes come at a price, but Mike said he thinks they will be worth it.”These changes will force me to do a better job of keeping records on my cattle herd,” he said. “I’ll be able to get back information such as carcass data on my cattle that will help me make better decisions here on the farm. As a whole, it will make the cattle industry more efficient.”Even with a hectic schedule, the Henrys still find time to be active members of Liberty Church of Christ, and are active at their children’s school, Hooper Academy, where Mike serves on the board of directors.A former State Young Farmer chairman, Mike now serves as vice president of the Montgomery County Farmers Federation and wants to be president in a couple of years.”The young farmers program has allowed me to meet people and develop relationships with other farmers all across the state,” Henry said. “Sometimes you think you can’t make a difference. Being involved with the young farmers and Alfa has opened my eyes to how grassroots can make an impact on policy and in politics — state and nationally.”