Hard work and attention to management helped reclaim this Ozark farm.

When they moved from Kentucky 15 years ago, Gerald and Nancy Campbell were retracing the trek of earliest settlers to the Missouri Ozarks-most of whom came from the highlands of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. And the Campbells brought with them the pioneer ethic to make the best use of resources they acquired in the Texas County hills just south of Licking.

"When we came here, the place didn't have any cross fences. This was one big 670-acre field," said Gerald, of the first parcel of land that would become Whisperin' Pines Ranch. "The predominantly fescue pastures had been neglected and were overgrown with weeds and brush. We had a lot of potential timber resources, but they hadn't been managed. We had a lot of work to do."

The couple started by building fences to exclude cattle from timber and to subdivide the forage land into smaller pastures for rotational grazing. To remove the heavy over-growth that was choking out more productive grasses, the Campbells employed a tool often used by early settlers-fire.

"We began building up the fertility and pH of pasture soils and over-seeded ladino and red clover," said Gerald. "We applied an average 4 tons of lime per acre the first couple of years we were here, and we have kept the pH up since then. We re-seeded some of the better soils with orchardgrass, but tall fescue is predominant. Fescue holds the soil in place.

"We also began timber stand improvement by thinning trees and cutting some mature trees out of the pastures," he added. "In fact, we cut enough trees to provide the lumber for the new home we built. We sawed the logs into dimension lumber, stacked it under roof and air-dried it for 2 years. We probably didn't save a lot of money on materials for the house, but we've got better quality material, plus the satisfaction of knowing that most of the lumber in the house came from this place.

"We manage our trees as an agricultural crop," Campbell added. "I go through my trees regularly and catalog what we've got. We take out mature trees and sell them locally. And I work with a buyer who has special orders for pine timber. We have a good market for post-and-pole size logs; we make regular sales and keep a good cash flow from our trees."

The Campbells earn another cash crop from their trees by leasing deer and turkey hunting rights to a limited number of hunters.

Building stock
In the beginning, the Campbells started with 50 crossbred beef cows, which was about all their rundown forage base would support. After 18 months of pasture improvement, carrying capacity had more than doubled. Today, Whisperin' Pines Ranch comprises 1,122 acres, plus another 800 leased acres.

"We have focused on cows with Angus and other British-breed backgrounds," said Gerald. "We cross them with Limousin or another exotic terminal breed. That way, we get maximum heterosis and good growth potential from the sires.

"We're strict with culling the cows," he added. "We select for productivity but disposition is important. We don't want an animal on the place that may hurt somebody."

Whisperin' Pines cows calve in two seasons. About two-thirds of them are bred to calve in late winter; a third calve in late summer. Over the past several years, with help from their daughter, Chanda, the Campbells have developed their "Triple C" replacement heifer program.

"Actually, we got into replacement heifers in self-defense, in a way," said Campbell. "We developed the kind of heifers we wanted in our own herd, and a market for replacements grew out of that. Now, we're selling 150 to 200 bred heifers each year, most of them in the late second or early third stage of pregnancy. We're selling more fall heifers all the time, too. There's a growing demand for fall-calving females."

The health and management of Whisperin' Pines heifers qualifies them for the Show-Me Select heifer program. And Campbell has considered enrolling his heifers in the statewide program.

"But we started our Triple C heifer program before the Show-Me Select program came along," he observed. "By the time the Show-Me Select program began, we had already built a pretty wide clientele for our heifers, so we have decided to stay with our program."

Campbell keeps detailed records on the health and management of all Whisperin' Pines cattle.

"Good records are essential," he said. "Genetics, forage and health are all equally important in a beef cow operation, and you cannot know what you're doing in any area without complete records. Good records help our management, help the reputation and price of the cattle we sell, and are a source of pride to us."

With each calf crop, the Campbells gather cattle when calves average 4 months of age. The herd gets a good looking over; male calves are castrated.

"Then I chart the projected weaning date and gather the calves three weeks before that date," Gerald added. "We immunize all calves against respiratory and clostridial diseases at that time. When we wean three weeks later, calves get booster shots and go on MFA Cattle Charge for at least 45 days."

At the end of 45 days post-weaning, heifers go into the Triple C development program. Their steer mates are either sold at that time or backgrounded further.

"We usually background steers to 700 to 800 pounds and then sell them," Campbell explained. "In the past, we have retained ownership in custom feedyards, all the way to slaughter. But since we've been putting more emphasis on the heifer program, we don't often keep steers to finished weights."

Whether it's trees, grass or cattle, the Campbells manage their renewable resources to produce what the market demands. And, they are proving that those resources can be both profitable and sustainable. Their husbandry of the land, plants and animals at Whisperin' Pines Ranch last year earned the Campbells a nomination for the National Beef Cattlemen's Association environmental stewardship award. They were nominated for the national honor by the Texas County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).

In his cover letter to the nomination application, Tim Whetstine, chairman of the Texas County SWCD, wrote: "The Campbells are deserving of this award, in recognition of their conservation efforts and achievements, and their demonstration of natural resource stewardship as they conduct their day-to-day ranching operation...The Campbells represent the new progressive ranch owner in our area...[They] demonstrate that through determination, careful financial management and open minds, we can take care of our land and resources while making an income for our families..."