Goedken continues tradition of raising mini beef cattle


Dave Goedken of Monticello owns and operates Timberland Cattle LLD. Located along W. Sixth St., he raises mini beef cattle. Raising mini beef lowline and Herefords, Goedken said the meat is leaner and tastes better. (Photos by Kim Brooks)

The mini beef calf was just born on Saturday morning, March 18, hours before the photo was taken. Goedken said three calves have already been born, and he is anticipating eight in all this spring.
NATIONAL AG WEEK FEATURE
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     Several years ago, before he passed away, Steve Ehrisman raised mini beef cattle. Carrying on his business, Dave Goedken of Monticello has picked up where Ehrisman left off.

     Located within city limits along E. Sixth Street, Goedken is raising nine mini beef cows, two different breeds: black lowline angus and purebred Herefords. Just over the weekend, a calf was born to one of the lowlines. Goedken said three calves have already been born, with about five more to come.

     “We’re expecting about eight calves this spring,” he said.

     Goedken took over the business about three years ago, going into the operation with his wife, Jamie, and brother Jeff Goedken of Robins, Iowa.

     “We’re all partners in the operation,” said Goedken of the Timberland Cattle LLD.

     Goedken is at the farm about twice a day every day.

     Mini beef cattle stand about 4 feet tall. Goedken said they are easier to work with than full-sized cattle.

     “They don’t jump the fence,” he said. “The minis are more docile animals than the full-size.”

     Goedken started working with the cattle with Ehrisman to get a handle on things.

     “Steve tried selling the operation,” he said. “But he had no luck. So I bought it from him and rent 20 acres from Joyce (Ehrisman).” Goedken said he makes hay off the crop ground.

     So one would imagine that mini beef cattle produce less meat than a full-size. Goedken confirmed.

     “The cuts are sure smaller,” he said.

     Half a full-sized beef would be between 700 and 750 pounds. Goedken said half of a mini beef would only be around 450 pounds.

     “With the market right now,” he said, “you’d pay $800 for half of a full-sized.” So clearly the cost would be better with half a mini.

     If Goedken were raising full-sized beef cattle, he said he would only maintain about five at a time. With the minis, he could manage up to 10 or so.

     This isn’t Goedken’s first rodeo when it comes to raising livestock. He grew up on a dairy farm in Castle Grove.

     “I’ve always loved animals,” he said. “Once a farm boy, always a farm boy.”

     Goedken said there are a lot of rewards in this business.

     “You learn to rely on Mother Nature,” he said.

     For Goedken, this time of the year is the best, seeing the calves born.

     The Beef Show at the Great Jones County Fair is an opportunity for local 4-H and FFA youth to show off their best. Goedken said mini beef cattle could certainly qualify for the show.

     “As long as they work with the calf,” he said,” it’s possible. There have been minis shown in the past, and in the open show.”

     He said one good thing is a mini beef cow is smaller, perhaps less intimidating to work with for a young 4-H kid.

     “It’s easier to work with Herefords,” he encouraged. “They are more gentle.”

     The black lowline beef, unlike the Herefords, exhibit a more motherly instinct, explained Goedken.

     Unlike some beef operations, these minis are not penned up.

     “It’s not like a commercial cattle operation,” said Goedken. “It’s like free-range.”

     Those that were born last spring, in 2016, will head off to the locker before this Thanksgiving.

     “By 18 months,” said Goedken, “they’re ready to be butchered.”

     In comparing the meat of a mini to a full-size, Goedken said minis produce leaner beef.

     “If you put cuts side-by-side,” he said, “there’s a distinct difference.”

     He said that is one of the reasons Ehrisman got into the business.

     “The taste of the meat is just different,” he said.

     

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