And the cow goes moo

By Kenny Mitchell

Publisher

*Republished by request. The original story ran in August 2014

Cattle production is big in Texas and it is big business. It is no different for local producers, but for one local cattle rancher, it is much more than just a business.

Andrea Barfield has been raising cattle since she was in school and though she sticks to the tenets of top quality production and the theory of “If they aren’t producing, they have to go,” she also adds a personal experience to the business that few others allow themselves.

Barfield says she has always given names to each of her cattle and builds a personal relationship with each one of the cows in her herd. She says, “It’s very personal to me, they are more like pets. There is just no feeling like going through a pasture and finding a new baby. It’s like Christmas.”

Maybe none of those “pets” have touched her more than Hannah.

Barfield bought Hannah’s mom in 2007 at the Ft. Worth Livestock Show and in 2008 Hannah came along. The cow got her name from the same-named Hurricane that came along in September of that year.

Hannah was a tiger-striped, white faced black baldy that Barfield says “was right in my pocket all the time.”

She says that though the cow had huge horns and tiger stripes can be a wild breed, Hannah was always gentle, and could even take a cube right out of her mouth.

Early on Barfield bred Hannah to a Brahma and that is where the trouble began. The cow had trouble in the birthing process and Barfield was told by local vet Michael Baird that she might never produce.

Hannah did go on to produce, but sporadically, and this year, after two years of not producing a calf, it was time to let her go.

“I bawled and squalled all day,” says Barfield, “It was very hard. I watched her be born and raised her from day one. I get attached very easily and I spent a lot of time with her.”

So, it was off to sale for Hannah and as barfield calls it “going to see Jesus” but she will not be the last.

Barfield says raising cattle is something she enjoys very much and she will continue to do so for a long time.

She says, “I enjoy the whole process, the feeding, the taming, the raising and I love the feeling I get when I see what my cattle have produced. We raise gentle, genetically sound cattle and get a lot of repeat customers because of the kind of cows we produce. I love to see what I get from cross breeding. You could get anything.”

Barfield gives a lot of credit to her success to her cousin and mentor Denise McDaniel.

She says,  “I got started showing cows because I was not good at band, dang sure wasn't an athlete and my grandfather ( my father figure) encouraged me to show cows and with the help of my cousin Denise McDaniel who was the Ag teacher at De Kalb at the time I was able to succeed. I even call Denise now for advice.”

Barfield keeps her herd spread around the area with cows at Daniels Chapel, Godley Prairie and at Hart Farms in Hooks.

“We always buy the best we can and get to know them and spend time with them in our efforts to produce better cattle. We want to create gentle cattle and raise a top quality cattle. That’s why we keep our herds small, so I can get to know each one. Dr. Baird gives me a hard time for giving them names, but they are more than just cows to me, they are my babies.”