Adams Land & Cattle near Broken Bow is gearing up for a busy fall season as they secure their feed needs for their large feedlot.
The company has a finishing capacity of 125,000 head of cattle, of which 85,000 can be found at their feedlot south of Broken Bow.
Abram Babcock, president of Adams Land & Cattle, explained how they meet the feed demands of their operation by growing silage on 6,000 acres of their own land and contracting corn from about 200 local farmers.
“We grow about two-thirds of our roughage needs on our ground,” Babcock said. “We’re just wrapping up silage over the next 10 days, and high moisture corn is starting to come in. By the end of the season, this pile behind us will be about 8 to 9 million bushels.”
The high-moisture corn harvest is well underway as the season transitions into mid-September, and despite challenges like hail and rapid drying conditions, area farmers are seeing strong results.
Adams Land & Cattle also sources corn stalks and wet distillers, the latter coming primarily from a nearby ethanol plant.
“We feed a lot of wet distillers here, which plays a big role in our operation,” Babcock said.
Reflecting on the summer, Babcock said, “It hasn’t been too bad. Early in the summer, we had a lot of rain, and while mud isn’t ideal for feedyards, overall, the weather was pretty good for feeding cattle.”
Learn more about how Adams Land and Cattle secures their feed resources in the latest episode of Fridays in the Field, brought to you by FNBO, the Great Big Small Bank!
