Nine members of the Twin Lakes Cattle Assn. recently completed a beef tour through Georgia and South Carolina. The trip offered seeing a couple of the finest beef cattle operations in the south, a commercial peach and vegetable wholesaler, Civil War landmarks and the museum in Chickamauga, GA., and a large meat packing plant.

DAY ONE: Touring members left bright and early in two vehicles from the home of Paul Conner in Albany. The first stop on the trip was at the Chickamauga National Park Battlefield museum in Chickamauga Georgia. Members watched a 28 minute video detailing events during the Civil War that occurred at this location. A tour of the museum followed. The largest rifle exhibition in the eastern United States was on display along with many actual war relics that had been found by locals.

After a short drive through the battlefield, we arrived at our next stop, TJB Gelbvieh farm.

Farm owners Todd and Alisa Bickett had lunch prepared on our arrival. Grilled half pound beef burgers hit the spot for a hungry bunch of Kentucky travelers! Following lunch, farm manger Mitch McLaughlin gave a walking tour of the working facilities for the Bicketts embryo transplant operation. He explained the role recipient cows play in the ET process and how the flushing process works to get the embryos. The farm tour was completed by viewing a group of the Gelbvieh and Balancer yearling bulls that will be sold in their fall sale on November 1.

DAY TWO: After leaving TJB Gelbvieh, the group traveled eastward to Augusta, Georgia to spend the night. Following a hearty Waffle House breakfast it was on to South Carolina where the next stop would be Yon Family Farms in Ridge Spring, SC.

Yon Family Farms is true to its name in that the entire family is involved. This wonderfully managed Angus/SimAngus operation has become a leader across the south by producing exceptionally high quality cattle.

Owners Kevin and Lydia Yon are somewhat unique in that they started cattle farming in 1997 without the assistance of inheriting a farm. Kevin and Lydia were employed as managing partners for the Congaree Angus Farm in Columbia, S.C. When the owners of Congaree decided to disperse, the Yons were faced with the decision of starting their own operation. They purchased 100 acres and 20 cows in the Ridge Spring area in 1997 and have never looked back. Today they operate over 2,000 acres and have a herd of over 1,000 Angus and SimAngus cattle.

With eight full time employees and about 15 seasonal temporary people, Yon Family Farms incorporates many of the most cost efficient grazing and feeding methods for cattle. A summer time forage that plays a vital role is rotationally grazed pearl millet. With over 400 acres in production this summer, the excess forage will be harvested for hay and silage. The Yons dutifully use several miles of polywire to create grazing paddocks for alfalfa, Bermuda grass, and millet.

Our guided driving tour of the farm concluded in a field of 188 two year old Angus and SimAngus bulls that will be offered in their fall sale at the farm on Novemeber 1st.

Upon leaving the Yon Family Farm, the caravan now headed just a short piece down the road to the town of Monetta, South Carolina. In Monetta ,our band visited Watsonia Farms Inc., a large vegetable and peach producer.

Joe Watson, owner of Watsonia, provided a tour of the packing plant for the group. Watsonia is a fourth generation operation that has set the standard for most vegetable and peach producers in South Carolina. Working closely with horticulturists at Clemson University, they became the first major peach producer to grow organic yellow and white peaches. Today they are an industry leader in the production of many organic fruits and vegetables.

Watsonia today grows 550 acres of apples, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries. They also have over 900 acres currently in peach production.

Following our plant tour we were treated to some of the finest homemade peach ice cream you could get anywhere!

DAY THREE: The final leg of our three day southern beef swing brought us to Gaffney, S.C. and the home of Brown Meat Packing plant. Reed Brown, vice president, gave a walking tour to the group. The tour covered the entire processing procedure beginning with the kill and hide removal and ending with the boxed beef packaging ready for shipment.

On the day of our tour, Brown Packing plant was processing slaughter cows. Slaughter cows are the primary item processed at this plant. Brown is the 23rd largest beef processor in the United States and processes nearly 98 percent of the slaughter cows in South Carolina. They are major buyers of beef throughout the southeast ,including buying in Kentucky.

The tour was extremely informative as our guides were welcome to answer any and all questions from our group of cattle producers. Although photography was not permitted (for obvious reasons) the group left knowing the traceability and inspection process of USDA is second to none throughout the world. We were extremely impressed and proud to be considered a part of the beef marketing process.

From there it was time to load up, head back to Kentucky, and get back to work in the cattle business. From the perspective of everyone who took the time to work these three days into their busy schedules it was definitely time well spent and we all gained valuable insight and knowledge to the cattle industry.

Until next time, keep putting on the pounds.

Steve