Texas County beef operation adds state-of-the-art USDA-designed feed barn

After being recognized on several occasions by leading beef industry organizations for producing award-winning animals, Texas County’s Taylor Angus Farms is well known as a source of quality beef.

But in keeping with a goal of constant improvement, the Taylor family – Bernie, Carla and Logan – have stepped up their act another notch with the recent addition of a state-of-the-art feed barn on their property just west of Houston. The structure is 280 feet long and 72 feet wide, and was designed by – and in large part paid for – the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Work on it began early in the summer and cattle were moved into it about a month ago.

“This has proven to be a great addition to our operation,” Bernie Taylor said.

Taylor Angus steaks and ground beef are used for menu items at Savor Grill in Houston and can also be purchased frozen there. The barn where many future sirloins and hamburgers now eat is as much of a system as it is a building. Its layout features open sides and ends with four cattle areas – two on each side separated by manure-gathering compartments. A 24-foot wide alley goes down the center, and each side has the capacity to feed 100 head.

Logan Taylor said one advantage of the design is that each compartment can be used for different types of animals.

“We might have heifers on one side, and maybe separate them by registered and commercial or bigs and littles,” he said, “and then have bulls on the other side with older bulls, big bulls or little bulls kept together.”

Carla Taylor said the barn’s design results in significant cost savings on feed.

“When it rained and snowed so much earlier this year, the cattle wouldn’t eat a lot of the hay and grain we would put out for them because it got dirty and nasty,” she said. “But in here, the feed is protected and the cattle will eat the feed bunks slick. Then we can add more and it doesn’t go to waste.

“That has already shown us a considerable savings in feed costs.”

The unusually muddy conditions the region experienced during the past winter and spring led to a drop in weight gain rate within the Taylor’s herd.

“Wherever the cattle went to feed, they were up to their bellies in mud,” Carla said. “We couldn’t get away from it. Our average daily gain went from 3 ½ to four pounds a day to where we were lucky to get 2 ½.”

“That adds up to tens of thousands of dollars,” Logan said.

The design of the new barn solves that problem.

“We no longer have to scoop unused feed out of exposed bunks,” Carla said. “That, and containing the manure, has made a huge difference in only a few weeks. We’re ecstatic.”

The concrete floors inside the barn make gathering manure easy. It can be pushed into a large containment compartment and scooped up from there, with virtually no loss.

“That’s one of the great things about the way this was designed,” Carla said. “It makes it easy to utilize almost all of the fertilizer back on your land.”

Cattle with access to such barns tend to enjoy hanging out in them, because conditions are more temperate than in the outdoors.

“There’s almost always a breeze in here,” Logan said, “and it’s very shady and cool.”

“On these hot days we’ve been having, it’s a good 20 to 30 degrees cooler in here than it is outside,” Carla said.

“I’m eager to see what it’s like inside when there’s a foot of snow on the ground,” Logan said.

 

NRCS PROGRAM

Much of the cost of the materials and construction in the Taylor Angus barn project was paid for by grant funding from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) environmental quality incentives program (EQIP). EQIP grants are distributed through an application process, and at least 60 to 70-percent of a project’s total cost is typically covered.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”right” content=”<p>Through EQIP, NRCS strives to provide agricultural producers with financial resources and personable help. The goal is improving agricultural operations while also supporting cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat. To learn more about the NRCS and available cost-sharing programs, call Teresa Woods at 417-967-2028 or go online to nrcs.usda.gov.</p>” id=”9c80a6a1-57bd-4b56-b257-dffeaff14f5f” style-type=”bio” title=”MORE INFORMATION” type=”relcontent”}}

NRCS agricultural engineer Teresa Woods – who is based in the Houston USDA office and oversees a nine-county region – was the primary designer of the Taylor’s barn.

“We get a certain amount of money, and it’s awarded by a points system,” Woods said. “There are a lot of things that go into getting points, and many of them have to do with water quality and keeping water supplies clean.”

Woods said NRCS-built cattle feed barns typically have one long floor with a manure compartment at the end, and the Taylor Angus barn is the first to be built with the manure compartments in the middle. It will subsequently be used as a model for the NRCS program and shown to farmers and other interested people.

The word is out, Carla said, and there has already been plenty of interest.

“There have been lots and lots of people here looking at it,” she said, “and lots of potential clients for Teresa.”

Woods said there are more than 40 NRCS program barns in Texas County. Many are far smaller than the Taylor’s unit and have specific duties, like bale ring placement during winter months.

“This one is much larger than most,” Woods said.

As part of his annual “farm tour” around Missouri’s Eighth District, Rep. Jason Smith visited the new Taylor Angus feed barn last Friday.

“This is very impressive,” Smith said. “I’m always amazed by what I see around this district.”

Through EQIP, NRCS strives to provide agricultural producers with financial resources and personable help. The goal is improving agricultural operations while also supporting cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat. To learn more about the NRCS and available cost-sharing programs, call Teresa Woods at 417-967-2028 or go online to nrcs.usda.gov.