Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Godwins Earn Top Farm Family Title

The Edd and Mary Godwin family has been named the Nevada County 1997 Farm Family of the Year. The Godwins live near Prescott in the northern part of the county.

Both Edd and Mary come from families with long histories in cattle and farming.

Edd was raised in the cattle business here in Arkansas on his family's ranch. He started out in his teenage years purchasing cattle on his own, and continued from that point.

After Edd and Mary married in 1983 they began leasing their own pasture land and increasing their herd. They now own and manage a cow/calf operation.

In addition to their cattle business, Edd has worked at International Paper Company in Gurdon for 14 years as a debarker infeed operator.

Edd's strong background in the cattle business supplemented with keeping abreast of the latest news and research available through various newsletters and magazines have equipped Edd and Mary with the skills to build a successful cow/calf operation.

The couple currently run about 180 head of grown cows on 615 acres of leased land. The cattle are grouped according to breed in separate pastures. Their herd is made up of Brangus, Brahman, crossbred, Angus, and Hereford.

The Godwins use different breeds of bulls depending on what type of calf they are looking for. The majority of their calves come as black baldie, red/white face or tiger stripe. They use only bulls that are purebred and registered.

At one time Ed and Mary were spending a lot of time pulling calves that were too large to be born naturally. They began to research and study E.P.D.'s on the bulls they purchased. Edd and Mary feel that this has been the smartest move they have made in their cattle operation. They are now only pulling about three calves a winter.

The Godwins control their operation's breeding season at 90 days. Their bulls are placed with the heifers in February and stay out until May. This helps to have a uniform group of calves to sell at market time.

Before breeding season begins the Godwin's feed a mineral high in phosphorus to aid the cow herd in breeding back. Their calves will hit the ground in November through February.

The Godwins have journals on their cattle. Each cow they own has a page containing a tag number, description, brand and year born. When that cow has a calf they record the date of birth, sex, description and any kind of problems (i.e., long labor, hoof bent down, etc.).

After calving season and on into spring and early summer, they work their cows, calves and bulls. Cows are wormed with Ivomec Pour-on or Injectable twice a year. They are fly tagged with two tags and worn, damaged or dirty tags are replaced or cleaned. All cattle are branded for identification. The Godwin's also scour-guard, vibro-lepto, 8-way black-leg with Somnus, and IBR and give their Hereford bulls and cows a pink-eye vaccination.

The calves are ear-marked, the bulls are cut, implanted with Ralgro or Snyovex C, de-horned if needed, IBR, 8-way black-leg with Somnus and wormed with Ivomec Injectable. The bulls are given the same treatment.

In the summer they feed grass booster mineral from Stockade that has high levels of CCT and keep out salt blocks. In the winter the Godwin's feed round hay and evergreen 37 percent protein blocks as a supplement. They also keep out the salt blocks.

Edd and Mary use range and breeder cubes to aid in keeping their cattle gentle and easy to handle. The Godwin's pen their cattle using horses. They currently have eight head of calves on Merck Ivomec Trial with the SR Bolus.

The Godwin's replacement heifers are chosen based on their build, disposition, mother's performance and breed. Their heifers usually calve around 2 to 3 years of age. The heifers are kept in a separate pasture and watched closely.

If they do have sick animals, the animals are penned and doctored by the Godwins. The sick animals are kept separate from the remaining herd. If Edd and Mary are not sure what is wrong with the sick animals, they then take them to Dr. James R. Powell or Dr. Rick W. Perry, their vets.

The Godwin's pastures and hay meadows consist of various grasses including Bermuda, Dallas, Bahia, clover and some lespedeza with a hay meadow yield of two 2,000-pound round bales per acre. Edd and Mary calculate at least three round bales per cow to get them through the winter. They cut and rake their own hay and have it custom rolled.

All pastures are Bush Hogged and sprayed for weed control when needed. The pastures are dragged in the spring of the year to aid in fertilizing and disk up any ruts that were made during winter feedings. They also hand spray for thistle in the spring. Fallen trees are kept piled and burned once a year.

The top 25 percent of their heifer crop is weaned and kept for replacement.

Cows are checked yearly in the mouth for age and condition. The old ones are sold, as are their cattle that are non-efficient for various reasons (i.e., didn't grow off well, no milk production, hard to handle, etc.).

The remainder of the calf crop is sold at the local cattle auction.

In the past, some steers were kept in the Ottawa County Cattle Association Feedlot in Kansas and in the Arkansas Feedlot Program. They were fed-out and then sold to packing houses.

At certain times they have sold some of their calf crop by the trailer load to buyers that came to the farm. In the past Edd and Mary have also sold some calves to local 4-H members to show at the county fair.

In the beginning of their cow/calf operation, Edd and Mary used the record-keeping system designed by the State Extension Service. That worked well for several years until their operation grew. They worked with their accountant and set up a detailed system. The new system has everything broken down into different columns, (i.e., veterinary, hay, gas, lease pasture, etc.).

This helps to show them exactly where their money goes. It is very helpful to be able to go back and compare years past.

Edd and Mary keep all bills and receipts filed individually in file folders in a filing cabinet. This makes for quick and easy reference if they need to research a certain item.

The Godwins also work to improve the environment for their cattle and local wildlife. They have ample woods and covered fence rows that provide excellent shelter for their cattle as well as the wildlife.

Conservation is an important factor in their operation. When a wash develops after heavy or long term rain, they put a roll of round hay in the washed area to keep it from further deteriorating. The Godwins add gravel to pond banks when slippage or cracks occur.

Edd and Mary incorporate various methods in working their cow/calf operation to increase efficiency and reduce valuable energy. Their past