A RETURN TO CATTLE ROOTS
While Andrew Beavers didn't grow up on the family farm, he came home as an adult to continue the legacy.
Andrew Beavers
Sherwood, Arkansas
Andrew Beavers' roots run deep in agriculture. "Some form of farming has been done on the property between hogs and crops for several generations," says the Sherwood, Arkansas, beef producer. "My father's family has always done cattle, pigs and horses. My mother's family did row crops."
Given that background, it's natural that agriculture runs in Beavers' blood. However, he didn't grow up on the family farm. Beavers was raised a city kid in Little Rock, about 10 miles away from the home place. While he would occasionally visit the farm and help his grandparents, as he grew a little older and got involved in school activities, his visits to the family farm became less frequent.
But the seed had been planted, and his destiny was to return to his roots.
He went to college at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, down the highway from Little Rock, and moved to the farm as a college student. Beavers graduated with a degree in English and taught high school students for several years.
He changed careers along the way and is now a mental health therapist with a practice in North Little Rock, "which is kind of a hop, skip, and a jump from the farm which I live on now."
He and his wife, Velvet, have been back on the farm for around 30 years, working to develop the infrastructure and improve the pastures. He built a home, fenced in the pastures, built a barn, and added a squeeze chute. "It's an operational farm," he proudly says.
Initially, the Beavers raised and bred horses, buying some and rescuing others which had been abandoned. He keeps a few horses but transitioned to cattle in 2018.
"We decided to go into cattle because they're easier to maintain and manage than horses. But the horses gave me a chance to learn how to move herds, how to manage herds, and how to feed them in the winter."
The cattle herd of around 30 is largely Angus-Hereford crosses bred to an Angus bull. He splits the herd into smaller herds of 15 each. "That way I can manage them a little easier, rotate them weekly because there's still more we have to do with our pastures."
The farm consists of native pastures, which Beavers is renovating and improving. "There are lots of weeds, but it's working out because we're improving the pastures, growing more grass, and have brought in water," he says. Working with his local office of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS, he burned some of his pastures in early spring to control the invasive weeds and give the soil and grass a head start.
The cattle have pretty much paid all the bills from rebuilding and renovating the farm, he says, "so I can't complain."
Long term, his goal is to increase the number of cattle the farm can handle. "We keep all the heifers," he says, along with buying a few bred cows, and bull calves are sold at the local auction barn. He prefers to buy bred cows because they'll drop a calf, which will generate immediate ROI, and he knows they're fertile and will breed back.
Looking at heifers, he wants one with a long, straight back and plenty of depth and width, particularly in the hips. "You want good hips for delivery of the calves," he says, "and a long, straight back to put meat on the bone."
Wintertime means hay feeding time, but because Beavers has a full-time job in town, the cows and calves must rustle the groceries themselves from round bales he puts in the pasture. And that's where Riomax has become an important part of his weekly routine.
Beavers started using the orange tubs in September 2024 and immediately saw the difference Riomax makes. "I put the hay out on Sunday, and it lasts until the next Sunday," he says. "And I make sure I have a Riomax tub out, and it lasts a month or more." Then the cows get some sweet feed twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday. "And that's enough to keep them fat and healthy."
He buys his hay and Riomax from Yancey Garringer, who farms and ranches with his family in the same area. "He sold me a couple of Riomax tubs, and it just made everything different. The cows put on weight quickly, and it carries me through the winter, and it made calving easier."
Where he really noticed the difference is in hay consumption. "The cows ate the hay, but they didn't waste it," he says, "and they ate less during the winter without losing weight. And they don't fight over the hay. I put enough hay out so the cows can eat all they want. They eat, they'll back off, then come back and eat later. There's no fighting over the hay. It's just more peaceful, not crowded, and the hay lasts."
Not only are the hay savings an obvious benefit of adding Riomax to the diet, but he also knows it is improving digestion by observing the manure. "It's firm, not runny," he says. That's particularly noticeable in the spring when the cows are grazing a lot of early weeds, which are tender and succulent. That succulence, however, means those early green weeds contain a lot of water, which loosens the stool quite a bit.
Not so in the spring following the introduction of Riomax. "I used to get runny stools from the cows, but not now," he says. "Riomax just changes the diet. It just makes the diet more efficient."
Long term, his goal is to run around 60 to 65 cows. "That's enough for my wife and me." He doesn't plan to retire from his therapy practice because he likes what he does, and there's certainly a need. But a herd of this size will provide a good second income, sustain the farm, and support the improvements the couple has made and still has planned.
His advice to anyone looking to get started in the cattle business? "Patience and faith are important. Just sticking with it and being patient is going to work because people are not going to stop eating meat," he says.
And to his way of thinking, that's what's most important. "There's a market for it. If you have enough space to manage your cows and you have the grass, in time it just works out perfectly."
And don't forget the Riomax.