Kelona Farms Finds A New Niche
This Virginia farming family finds that Southern States is a perfect fit for their custom-beef backgrounding business.

(Left to right) David Moyer, along with son Vernon custom-manage calves owned by the Amelia Cattlemen's Association. The Moyers consult with Southern States' David Baber.

For years, David Moyer's family was in the dairy business. First it was in the Virginia Tidewater country near Newport News. Since the mid-1960s they've been in the Piedmont country, west of Richmond.

Then things changed.

"When we got out of dairying, we pretty much concentrated on our cropland," says Moyer of the multigeneration family's Kelona Farms in Powhatan County. However, by the 1990s, David and his son Vernon decided that a little diversification was in order.

"We figured we'd put our unused dairy facilities and pastureland to use," explains Vernon. In 1997 they began custom-managing calves owned by Target Feeders of Amherst, Va., in conjunction with members of the Amelia Cattlemen's Association.

Under arrangement with the association's manager, Mike Henry, Kelona Farms brings in 500- to 600- pound, just-weaned steer calves in summer. By fall, the steers have put on a couple hundred pounds, they are preconditioned and ready for teleauction sales to feedlots.

But getting ACA's steers ready for sale is only the first part of the program. Each fall, as the steers are moved out (around September), ACA members' beef heifers come onto Kelona Farms in the group's heifer development plan.

This year 190 heifers are at the Moyer's facilities. They came in this past fall and will be ready by spring as "Virginia Premium Assured" quality- bred heifers, either for sale or for moving back into their home herds.

For managing ACA's steers and heifers, Kelona Farms charges a per-animal daily fee and a separate payment for working each animal.

The key to Kelona Farms cattlemanaging business is the family's longtime relationship with the co-op. "Dad did business with Southern States on the Tidewater more than 50 years ago," David recalls. He remembers accompanying his dad to the Southern States store.

For their steer and heifer operation, the Moyers buy their feed from Farmers Cooperative, the coop's retailer in Farmville, Va.

"We use the Southern States 16% Stocker/Heifer feed," notes Vernon. The feeding program also includes pasture, forage and hay. Helping the Moyers ensure that the cattle under their management receive optimum nutrition is Southern States feed sales technical representative David Baber. "We work with David regularly, consulting with him to work up our rations," Vernon says. Baber's service to Kelona Farms includes providing forage analysis. Baber says it's all a part of providing the customer service Southern States is famous for. "We work with Kelona Farms to ensure they are feeding the most cost-effective and efficient rations available for their operation," he explains.

And folks that work with Baber say it's a prime example of the distinct difference of doing business with Southern States. "Building a long-term relationship with fine customers like the Moyers is what my job is all about," Baber explains.