The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Barry and Larry Dowell of Stronghurst, were the recipients of the 2005 Illinois Beef Association Commercial Producer of the Year award at the 2005 IBA Annual Meeting held near Carbondale on Saturday, July 23.
The Dowells run a grain and commercial beef cattle operation consisting of 300 brood cows and 110 replacement heifers on 650 acres of permanent and rotational pasture. Besides the cow-calf operations the Dowells farm more than 900 tillable acres with 650 being corn, 200 acres soybeans and about 60 acres of hay.
The Dowells are sixth generation farmers in Henderson County with the land in the same family since 1840. The farm was homesteaded by Larry's great-great-grandfather who traveled from Chicago to Peoria on boat and then on horseback to western Illinois.
Many of the acres on the Dowells' operation are ideal for pasture due to the rolling hills that approach the Mississippi River bluffs. The pastures are seeded with cool season grasses and legumes with shade provided by groves of hardwood trees including many walnut trees. The majority of the pastures are rotationally grazed with watering points centrally located.
The cowherd started with mostly Hereford cows. These were bred to Angus, Hereford and Limousin in a three breed rotation. Starting in the 1990's Angus bulls were used for several years to obtain a more uniform cowherd and calf going into the feedlot. In recent years the herd has utilized the use of Angus-Gelbvieh composite bulls to increase growth potential in the feedlot and composition on the rail. the heifers are bred to calving ease Angus bulls.
Since the Dowells know what superior cattle are worth in the feedlot and on the rail they are very selective in their sires. Angus sires are purchased from one of the elite performance herds in Illinois and composite bulls from a herd in Minnesota.
However, to increase the genetic improvement in their herd, all the heifers and first calf females are synchronized and time inseminated to superior AI Sires. Also, this year a small group of females are carrying purebred embryos for a seedstock breeder.
The majority of the calving occurs in the spring starting on March 15. Cows are calved in the pasture, while heifers are calved in a lot close to the farmstead.
There is a group of females that have been moved to fall calving starting on September 1. This has allowed more efficient use of bulls along with spreading out the labor demands.
In addition, there is usually space available in the feedlot allowing for more efficiency and spread out the marketing of the feedlot cattle.
Feed supply for the cowherd besides pasture includes grazing all the cornstalks in the field, followed by feeding corn silage. However, recently the use of by products such as Distillers Dried Grains (DDG's) has allowed for reducing the use of harvested feedstuffs.
A major part of the operations is the feedlot with capacity of over 700 head. Each year besides feeding their own steers and heifers they purchase feeder cattle from six different neighbors.
Carcass data is collected on all the home raised cattle as well as those purchased from the neighbors. The 2003 home raised calf crop resulted in 95% grading choice with 38% qualifying for Certified Angus Beef.
Also, the incorporation of around a 25% continental breeding in the feedlot cattle has resulted in 40% of the carcasses reaching yield grade one and twos. Besides individual carcass data that can be traced back to their cow herd, this information is provided to the neighbor's cattle so they can monitor their sire groups and the overall quality and yield of their cowherd.
The Dowells have had excellent experience with purchasing local native calves from exclusively Henderson County. This has been due to a required herd health program that is administered by their local veterinary, Dr. Jon Schar from Stronghurst. With all the herds on the same health program it has greatly reduced the health cost and the number of feedlot pulls.
While taking pictures and developing this article, Dave Seibert, Animal Systems Educator with the University of Illinois Extension had the experience of riding the pasture and viewing the different phases of the operation with not only Barry, but with eight year old son, Caleb, who might be the seventh generation of the Dowells to run cattle on the beautiful pastures in Henderson County.
Even at eight Caleb is very knowledgeable about the beef cattle operation and has his own bucket calf enterprise that he is responsible for and shows at the Henderson County Fair.
Over the years Larry and Barry have been very active in the local and state Beef Cattle Associations including Iowa. Their involvement in Iowa was the result of being a member of the Iowa Quality Beef Packing plant.
Other beef cattle activities include President of the Illinois Beef Association, Vice President of the Regional National Cattlemen's Association and President of the Tri-County Cattlemen's Association. Also, the Dowells are active in their community and serve on the Henderson County Fair Board, Stronghurst Township Trustee and Small World Day Care Board in Stronghurst.
Barry and his wife, Terri, have two children, Caleb and Abby. Larry and Becky also have 3 daughters, Natalie, Nancy and Amy and 6 additional grandchildren.
As winner of the IBA Commercial Producer award, the Dowells will be placed in national competition at the National Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting and compete with commercial firms throughout the U.S. and Canada to be honored as the Commercial Producer of the Year.
Scott Krum, President Illinois Beef Assn., Larry, Rebecca, Barry, Terri, Caleb, Abbey Dowell, and Dave Seibert, University of Illinois Extension.