Maxey Farms Receives 2001 BIF Outstanding Commercial Producer Award

San Antonio, Texas – Maxy Farms was named the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) outstanding Commercial Producer of the Year at the thirty-third Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas on July 13, 2001.

The town of Chatham in Southside Virginia’s Pittsylvania is home to Maxey Farms. Henry and Linda Maxey started Maxey Farms in the mid-1960s as a livestock and grain operation. The operation grew over the years adding vegetables and tobacco, but always maintaining a commercial cow-calf operation as part of the diversified farming operation. In 1990, Hank, the middle child and only son, returned to the family farm with his wife Debbie. They added more cattle, land and tobacco and created the family partnership as it is today.

Maxey Farms consists of approximately 1,250 owned and rented acres that support a tobacco and wheat rotation, and from 240 to 280 fall-calving commercial crossbred cows. The cow herd consists of primarily Angus-cross cows with about 40 percent of the cows being one-quarter Gelbvieh. The calving season begins in mid-October lasting 75-80 days and coinciding with the end of the tobacco season. Eighty-five percent of the 2000 calf crop was born in the first 30 days of the calving season. For the past 10 years, all heifers and cows have been synchronized and bred one service A.I. to highly proven Angus sires, and performance-tested bulls have been utilized for the past 30 years. Comprehensive record keeping is an instrumental tool in assisting the Maxeys attain their goals of maximizing percent calf crop weaned, weaning weights, and cow carrying capacity while being a low-cost producer.

Progressive feeder cattle marketing is a cornerstone of the Maxey program. Steer calves are marketed in early August through the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association Tel "O" Auction sales under the VQA program. All cattle are sold with available information – including calving date, weights, health and management program, genetics, and past feedlot and carcass performance.

The Maxeys also participate in the Virginia Retained Ownership Program and the bottom 20 percent of the heifers are sold through the Virginia Feeder Cattle Sales. In 1995, carcass data was received on the entire calf crop. Routine visits are made to feeder cattle buyers to assess the health and performance, as well as likes and dislikes of the cattle sold. Females not retained in the herd are sold as commercial replacements private treaty.

In addition to this full-time, highly progressive cattle operation, Hank serves the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association as a board member and is Past President of VCA. Henry is a retired Farm Management Agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. They are members of the Pittsylvania and Buckingham County Cattlemen’s Associations and the Virginia Angus Association.