Cattlemen of the Year
Johnny and Blane Laramore were honored as the 2012 Cattlemen of the Year at the 39th annual Farm City Day Celebration held on Friday, November 16. The Cattlemen of the Year are selected by the Jackson County Cattlemen’s Association.
Blane and Johnny Laramore are the 3rd generation of Laramores farming and ranching in Jackson County. Their grandfather had a hog and row crop farm. Gordon and Herman Laramore took over the operation of the farm and made the transition from a hog and crop farm to the Bar L Ranch, one of the largest commercial cow-calf operations in the region.
Gordon’s sons Blane and Johnny have invested their whole lives in the success of the Bar L Ranch. They were driving tractors and helping with pasture planting at 10 years old. As teenagers, Blane and Johhny worked hard, serving as the labor to develop the ranch. They remember walking through plowed fields carrying roots to clear much of the land that is today wide open pastures. For the past 30 years they have worked full-time handling much of the daily operation of the Ranch.
Today the Bar L has 1,000 head of momma cows on 2000 acres of pasture. In the winter it takes 50 bales of hay per day to keep the herd fed. Much of the growing season is spent managing and harvesting hay and round bale silage. The brothers each have their areas of specialty. Johnny is the mechanic, keeping all of the equipment running; and Blane is the vet, A.I. technician, and herd records man, tagging each calf shortly after birth, so that each animals performance can be tracked and evaluated. Most of the work is shared with the entire family coming together to vaccinate, A.I. breed, and wean and ship calves. The work is year round with miles of fence, large cowpens, and acres of pastures to be maintained. With the help of two full-time employees, these two brothers count on each other so the daily work gets done.
Working together as a family has its challenges, but they put their differences aside and pull together to make the Ranch a success. This is really the only life these two men have ever known, but they both say this is where they want to be. The future may well include a 4th generation of Laramores as Johnny’s son J.K. and Blane’s daughter Mikayla are also involved now at the Bar L.
0
