Browns NC 2018 Farm Family of the Year

By Staff, 06/14/18 3:31 PM

BODCAW – This year’s Farm Family of the Year does things a little different.

The Todd Brown family of Bodcaw, is primarily a cattle ranch, focusing on Brahman cattle, mixed with Herefords. Brown said he knows what he wants, and is working to get it, primarily through trial and error, but he’s getting close.

The farm is a combination of land they own and rent, with 75 acres owned the first year. The farm has grown and they now own 349 acres and rent 260, including a section of land used to grow hay. Brown expressed concerns about needing to possibly start feeding hay next month if the area doesn’t get some significant rain soon.

At this point, the family has 68 head of registered Brahman stock, 28 head of registered Black Hereford, four head of registered Hereford and 28 head of grade cattle. The cattle are mostly marketed through consignments in special livestock sales, though some is marketed on the internet and via Facebook. The grade cattle are marketed through local sale barns. They also sell are also sold through private treaty off the farm.

The goal is to produce top of the line F-1 cattle. The farm has had Golden Certified Calves in the past. Brown is starting an artificial insemination program using sexed semen to try and get more heifers.

He said when he started the cattle operation some eight years ago, he didn’t know where to find the best cattle and bought what he “thought” was the best at the time. Since then he’s been breeding F-1 cattle and other producers see what he’s doing and where he’s going. He’s made relationships with the right people who have helped him market the cattle and purchase better bloodlines than he first had.

At this time, the Browns are working to clear a parcel of land for pasture, with new fencing and cross fencing installed. Once the underbrush has been cleared, they’ll begin preparing and leveling the soil to get ready to plant grass.

Brown said he’s a third generation cattleman as his father and grandfather both raised cattle as well.

Todd also works as an electric service provider with the South Central Electric Cooperative. His wife, Kathy, handles APSCN with the Nevada School District, where they’re getting ready to upgrade to a new system. At this time, she said, they’re trying to get all of the APSCN work done so there’ll be less to deal with once the new system is in place. She’s been with the district 21 years.

They have three children, Bradley, who does substitute teaching at Nevada, but also works on the farm. He recently returned from a year-long mission trip with The World Race. Allie and her husband, Drake, exchanged vows on March 17. She is a speech therapy assistant with the Nevada and Magnolia school systems, and has been on mission trips to Nicaragua. Drake is a minister and student at Southern Arkansas University. He works in the summer with the Hempstead County Road Department. The two serve as foster parents, and enjoy the outdoors along with hunting and fishing. The youngest is Zette, who’s nine-years-old, and a student at Nevada Elementary School. She enjoys gymnastics, playing the piano and cooking, along with playing basketball and anything to do with “going”.

Brown is song director at Union Baptist Church, works with the youth program there, is a member of the Union Cemetery board, a member of the Brahman Association, the World Black Hereford Association, the American Black Hereford Association and F-1 Association. He’s been a member of the Nevada School Board 14 years and the Bodcaw City Council five years.

Kathy has been a member at Union Baptist more than 20 years and has taught Sunday school there more than 20 years as well.

Brown calls his style of ranching “out of the box” because he doesn’t follow traditional methods, and is willing to take a few chances and experiment, with the goal to breed the best cattle he can for others. He said he’s gotten burned occasionally by taking chances, but more often than not, his “gambling” has paid off.

The house Todd, Kathy and Zette live in was built in 2006, with them moving in in ’07. It’s a pastoral setting overlooking an 11-acre pond which has bass, bream and some crappie. At one time they allowed others to fish in their pond, but this became problematic when the people who came didn’t clean up after themselves, or showed up unannounced with others.

Kathy had a freshly baked coconut pie waiting for the judges, along with a platter of chocolate chip cookies and fresh fruit. The Browns recently celebrated their 30^th anniversary.