I grew to love and appreciate the cattle business by working with my grandfather on our family farm in Bokchito, Oklahoma. In 1981-1982, I served as the State Vice President of the Oklahoma FFA association traveling all over Oklahoma promoting agriculture and encouraging high school students to be the best at whatever they choose to do.
After graduating from college in 1986, I left the family farm and moved to Maryland to pursue a business career. I built a successful business utilizing cutting edge technology and using the skills that I learned growing up on the farm like, hard work, honesty and a 'never give up' attitude. I had always heard the saying “you can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy.” Well this is certainly true with me. My passion for raising cattle and owning a farm remained.
I came to realize that I would never convince my wife and kids to move back to the farm in Oklahoma so I decided to look for land in Maryland. In 2006, I purchased 900 acres an hour outside of Washington, D.C. with a goal of putting together some of the best Maine Anjou’s in the country.
As you can imagine, most breeders would never let go of their best donor cows. As luck would have it, I met Fred DeRouchey and explained to him what I was trying to do. As most of you know, Fred, Joan and the whole DeRouchey Family had spent the past 14 years putting together one of the premier herds in the country and has been a leader in the promotion of the Maine Anjou breed through both the show ring and their yearly bull sales. After a few weeks of negotiations and the assurance from me that I am dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of the Maine Anjou breed, Fred agreed to sell me his entire herd to include his bank of semen from present and past champion bulls, as well his inventory of embryos.
The skill that has helped me to make my current business successful is the ability to pick the right people and trust their knowledge to keep the business moving forward. This is the same approach I am taking with this great set of cows. I have hired some of the best people in the business and with their help, we will continue to produce some of the best cattle not only in the Maine Anjou breed but, in my opinion, some of the best cattle of any breed.
Cory Thomsen will continue to be the head herdsman in Mitchell, SD. Cory has fitted and shown many champions for the DeRouchey’s and was named the American Maine Anjou Herdsman of the Year in 1998. Cory will be in charge of the South Dakota location where all of our Core and Donor Maine-Anjou’s, Simmental, Chi-Angus will reside.
Bob Stoltz from Belgrade, Nebraska, has moved to Maryland to be the head herdsman at our ranch in Knoxville, Maryland where our core and donor Angus cows will reside. Bob has been in the cattle business his whole life and brings tremendous experience to all aspects of the cattle business. Bob’s knowledge of the cattle business and his experience in the show ring will be a tremendous asset in making Bushy Park Farm a dominate force in the Angus Breed.
Tommy Duke is our farm manager in Knoxville, Maryland, where we farm approximately 1000 acres of corn, soybean and wheat in addition to 900 acres of pasture and several hundred acres of hay. Tommy has been farming most of his life and has won several awards for corn production.
I am very proud of the Bushy Park Farm Cattle Co. team. With their help, I feel confident that this herd will continue to produce many show winners, as well as to be the premier producers of Maine Anjou bulls and show winning heifers for many years to come. Also look for us to start making an impact in the Angus Breed as well.
If you have any questions please feel free to give Cory or Bob a call. |
