Misener Family Harvesters

Today we welcome Emma of Misener Family Harvesters! This family follows the harvest from the Texas/Oklahoma border all the way to the North Dakota/Canadian border!

I woke up this morning in my smaller-than-average sized bed, to the wonderful sound of rain hitting the camper roof. Although it was a day of taking it easy, there are always those few things that can’t get themselves done. The trucks need to be dumped at the elevator, fueling and servicing still needs attention. This may be a nothing-to-do sort of day, but trust me. This day is nothing like a typical day on harvest. My name is Emma Misener and I am a custom harvester. I work with Misener Family Harvesters, Elk City, Okla., where I work for my mother, Kristy and along-side my brother Dan.

In 1971, my father, Ron, started Misener Family Harvesters after serving as an Army Sergeant in the Vietnam War. A few years later he was hired by a neighbor who had just moved to the area. It was that job where he met the farmer’s daughter and the rest became history. Dad and Mom built a family and business, and both thrived. They began traveling south to the Texas/Oklahoma border with combines harvesting wheat from one farm to the next, working their way north to the North Dakota/Canadian border. Once wheat harvest came to a close, fall harvest began and they worked their way back home harvesting as they went. Their tradition still lives on today.

I was born on the harvest trail, raised on the harvest trail, and still live on the harvest trail. I remember taking along my crayons and paper in the combine, riding with mom while harvesting. By the time I reached 10 years old, I had already began to beg Dad to let me drive the big machines, and by then I’m sure he was ready to at least let me try. My first field of wheat I combined was 3.75 acres and I still remember what he said. “You’re doing an excellent job, but it looks like you’re chasing a snake!” I just smiled and said, “I promise I’ll learn to drive straighter. Will you please let me have my own combine?” I’ve been driving big green machines since.

As the business grew the family did, too. I am the youngest of six children. My older sisters Marie, Katie, and Elizabeth and my brother David, soon left and started families of their own. To help fill their void Dad and Mom decided to hire help. By the time I was 15 years old I was training hired men. When interviewing potential employees, one of the questions he asked them was, “can you listen to a 15 year old girl?” They always chuckled thinking he was joking, but Dad was very serious about it.

Two years ago in December, my Dad passed away. His love and passion for harvesting still lives on today in my Mom, my brother Dan and I. Mom, Dan, and I continue his legacy harvesting the trail where it all began. Mom still does the cooking and the business, with Dan and I helping her through it all. Although it is harder to go on without him, we still have the motivation he passed down to keep us all moving forward.

We are in blistery and rainy South Dakota finishing up our fall harvest, combining corn.

Our day begins at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast, followed by a trip to the elevator with trucks filled the previous night, and then head out to the field. Mom usually packs a lunch for us to take in the morning, and once in a while she will surprise us with hot lunch. We arrive at the field, fuel up the combine, and service it by greasing the proper places, checking the oil, and then do a ‘walk-around’ checking belts/chains or anything else that seems out of the ordinary. Then the fun part begins. Once we start harvesting corn we go until the elevator closes, and then fill everything one more time for a morning trip. Once the trucks are full we head home, clean up, eat supper, and get to bed. There isn’t much time for anything other than harvesting.

I love our way of life. I love the smell of the crops, the dust in the air, and the sense of accomplishment when a field is harvested. It makes me want to do it all over again. I’m getting the itch to get back home to warmer Oklahoma, but in two months I’ll be itching to get back on the road.

Our stops on the road become home. Every place is different and has its own unique beauty. The people we hire, the people we cut for, and fellow custom harvesters become family. Even the people at the grocery stores or gas stations say ‘Hey! When did y’all get back in town? We’ve missed you!’

It can be stressful and a lot of hard work, but I wouldn’t choose any other way of life. The U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., go by the motto ‘we harvest the crops that feed the world’. This sums it up. I’m proud to be a custom harvester. We really do feed the world.

(L to R) Me, my brother Dan, my Dad Ron, and my Mom Kristy. This was the last family photograph before my Dad passed away. We were at the John Deere Fall Festival in Waterloo, Iowa celebrating antique tractors. My Dad loved restoring the ‘Ol’ Girls’ and went to every antique show we could go to.

We load our semis and move to our first stop on the harvest run. Most of the time we haul the combines because our stops from farm to farm are far enough away, that it’s cost efficient to haul them.

Other times, our farmers are closer together so we drive the combines from one farm to the next. It just depends on how far our farmers are from each other.

Cutting wheat in Oklahoma! We make rounds all day long in a clockwise motion so that we can always unload on-the-go.

We unload each combine one by one, then dump the grain into the waiting semis, where they then take it to the elevator.

My Dad was a very patriotic man; something that he has definitely passed on to me and the rest of my family. Every year, we put new American flags flying from each of our machines.

Every day of my life is a blessing. I love what I do and wouldn’t change a minute of it!

Thank you Emma and the folks from All Aboard Harvest for this great feature!!! If you’d like to follow along with Misener Family Harvesters during our summer harvest - visit www.allaboardharvest.com, or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MisenerFamilyHarvesters . You can reach Emma at emma@allaboardharvest.com.

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Brody Wallis - Oklahoma Brangus Producer

Today we are happy to have a feature brought to us by Brittni Drennan, Communications Coordinator for the International Brangus Breeders Association. Oklahoma producer Brody Wallis is using new technologies and old techniques to ensure success!

Most involved in the cattle industry are aware of a potential threat that began creeping up in the minds of producers across the nation and is gaining speed as it quickly approaches. The question lingering among farmers and producers is, “Who is going to lead the future of agriculture”?

While many producers are ready to hand down the reins of their operations, there are fewer young people willing to take over. However, that does not mean there are not still some out there willing to jump in and give it a try.

Brody Wallis grew up in Atoka found in southeastern Oklahoma and was always drawn to the agriculture industry. He was raised on his family’s small ranch in which a commercial cow-calf operation was in place to manage the property as well as keep family ties to the cattle industry. He then began taking more of an interest in the cattle operation as he was exposed to agriculture through 4-H and showing cattle throughout high school in FFA. He especially enjoyed visiting relatives on larger cattle operations in north Texas where he was able to watch and learn how large-scale commercial cattle ranches operated.

Wallis started college at Oklahoma State University with the intent of practicing large animal veterinary medicine. He later decided that he wanted to be in the beef industry in another capacity. He changed his Animal Science option from pre-vet to business and began taking classes in economics and range management to gain knowledge that would prepare him for a future in the cattle industry. His formal education helped Wallis form the basis for a small herd of cows on his family ranch.

“As a long-term goal, I want to be a producer who can make a positive impact in the industry,” Wallis said. “With an aging industry and aging producers, there are going to be more opportunities for young producers to introduce new ideas and perspectives to advance and grow the industry all while maintaining the values and beliefs that leaders ahead of us instilled.”

Wallis grew up around commercial cow-calf operations, but when he went to college one of his goal was to diversify himself within the beef industry. He worked for the OSU purebred cattle operation while obtaining his bachelor’s degree as well as worked for a year in the OSU meat laboratory on the campus in Stillwater. To gain valuable experience in the cattle feeding industry he worked as an intern for JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC in Hartley, Texas. Wallis is now about to complete his master’s degree at OSU in animal science specializing in ruminant nutrition while doing his research in grazing stocker cattle and subsequent feedyard performance.

“As young people in the industry, we can bring advanced technologies and higher education back to introduce to the operation,” Wallis said. “And with my background and the mentors I’ve had, I want to provide quality genetics to commercial producers whether it’s Brangus bulls and females or crossbred females.”

Wallis bought his first registered Brangus cows a few years ago and now has a small herd on which to build a good, solid foundation of quality genetics. He said his fascination with the breed began at an early age, and as he began to learn more about the industry, he realized the true value of Brangus cattle. Combining the most desirable traits from both Bos Indicus and Continental breeds, Brangus cattle are most well known for their ability to adapt to a variety of climates and the harshest environments. From personal experience, Wallis said he credits them for their mothering ability, longevity and parasite resistance. Brangus cattle also maintain good efficiency in the feedyard and high cutability with the ability to meet Certified Angus Beef (CAB) qualification standards.

Wallis attributes Tinker Ray, also from Atoka, for guidance and assistance in getting started. Upon graduating from OSU, Ray and his brothers built their Brangus program, Ray Brothers Brangus, and introduced new blood lines into the breed. Wallis said Ray was a big proponent of gain tests and helped establish OSU’s bull test station. Operating since 1973, Oklahoma Beef, Inc. is now the second largest test station in the U.S.

Influenced by Ray, his professors and the research he conducted in graduate school, Wallis focuses on performance data and believes EPDs are beneficial in making breeding selections and assist in making purchasing decisions, but he stresses that selecting animals based upon EPDs requires in-depth research on how each EPD will influence a particular herd rather than simply selecting high numbered bulls. He supports breed associations in advancing work to develop genomically enhanced EPDs that will allow producers to select economically important traits based on proven data. Wallis said he believes, as a seedstock producer, his role is to record accurate numbers that improve the breed and maintain the integrity of the breed association.

“You can’t deny their value based on hard data that have proven these numbers as well as developed other genetic selection measurements and indexes beyond simple measures of birth weight and weaning weight, for example,” Wallis said. “The industry outside of your own backyard is progressing so quickly and more customers are realizing the value of these technologies.”

At his own operation, Wallis applies artificial insemination (AI) techniques to be more efficient and better utilize his resources. Using AI with high quality genetics and a clean up bull with good progeny makes more sense to Wallis on his small herd operation, especially when trying to build a foundation for quality registered Brangus cattle.

“AI is my best option because it gives me more flexibility,” Wallis said, “and as commercial producers are becoming more educated, seedstock producers need to be on the forefront of implementing technologies in order to meet their customers’ growing needs if they ever want to grow their market.”

Together, these technologies work to make Wallis’ operation more efficient and help reduce input costs, which has been a growing concern, especially during the relentless drought that has swept the nation the last two years.

“I would like to think that we’re talking about moderation of cow size, maybe moderation of milk production to reduce input costs,” Wallis said. “I feel like the Brangus cow will always be valuable to the industry, but at some point it will come down to reducing input costs.”

Wallis said at his operation he places emphasis on his customers’ needs and strives to provide them with the most data and information possible when making purchasing decisions. As commercial producers begin to cautiously rebuild, Wallis believes they will be more selective and will pay closer attention to genetics, and Brangus producers will have a great opportunity to supply their needs if they have the data their customers will be seeking.

“It will be important for seedstock producers to convey the genetic value and pedigree to commercial producers,” Wallis said, “and because commercial producers will be conservatively growing cow herd size, they will be more interested in the background and quality of the product they’ll be receiving.”

A recent technology, perhaps more useful as a marketing tool, has the industry buzzing. Every day more and more people are realizing the value of online communication and are experimenting with social media as a means to market a product to a larger, more diverse audience. Wallis says he realizes the benefits of using social media and has seen studies that prove more people, especially in the older generations, are using it more than what he initially perceived. One of the greatest advantages of social media, he said, is the ability to reach a mass audience very quickly while building a brand and developing trust when establishing relationships.

“To be successful, it takes balancing old techniques while implementing new technologies,” Wallis said. “By the time printed publications reach your mailbox, they are already last week’s news to the people receiving the same publications electronically, which can be detrimental to producers making business decisions based upon these materials.”

Print media is becoming less common and the public is relying on online sources for information and news. As the public becomes more disconnected with agriculture, it is becoming increasingly more important for agriculturalists to utilize the resources available to educate consumers about the industry. The (delete) cattle exposure Wallis had when he was young was enough to spark his interest in learning more about the industry that eventually led him to his career choice. Now Wallis has some suggestions on how to combat a growing obstacle threatening the future of the agriculture industry.

“I believe that we, as agriculturalists, must take an interest in young people and get them onto our farms and ranches to observe what we do on a daily basis,” Wallis said. “As a science and natural resources based field, we can easily tie our operations into valuable lesson plans.”

Speaking from experience, Wallis thinks even the most minimal exposure will be enough to pique the interest of a student and encourage them to seek a career in agriculture.

“A solution to get younger producers into agriculture is not going to present itself in a way that masses of young people will enter agricultural industries,” Wallis said. “Rather, it is going to be the one or two youngsters that were impacted by agriculture or someone in agriculture in such a way that they develop a passion for an industry, much like I have with the beef industry.”

Thank you Brittni for another great feature!! We wish Brody much success in the future, keep up the great work! You can read more stories about International Brangus Breeders Association members on their blog, and check out their Facebook page.