Mountain Beef Feeding
Irons and Long get their premium calves ready for weaning

Charlie Long, center, and Bill Irons, right, of Lewisburg, W. Va., enlist the help of Bob Webb, their Southern States livestock feed specialist. The men prepare premium calves and yearlings with a diet of custom Southern States feeds.

A drive through the West Virginia mountains brings tomind the John Denver tune, "Take Me Home Country Roads," with its signature line, "Almost heaven, West Virginia."

And if there is a heavenly valley among the West Virginia mountains, it is the Greenbrier River Valley. At more than 2,000 feet above sea level, the valley is prime cattle-raising country.

"The limestone base of the land is ideal for good pastures, and our altitude means summer evenings cool down nicely, giving the grass a break from our summertime hot spells," notes Bill Irons of Lewisburg.

Irons, along with his partner Charlie Long, run Irons and Long Partnership. They manage 1,000 Angus-based mama cows on more than 6,000 acres of the Greenbrier Valley. It is one of the state's largest beef cattle farms.

Irons and Long work hard to get calves and yearlings ready for their customers in the West who'll pay a premium for animals that are ready for the feedlot.

Southern States helps prepare those premium calves. "We creepfeed and precondition using Southern States custom starter rations so they know how to eat when they get out West," says Irons. That's worth a little extra money to the buyers who find that animals from Irons and Long adjust to the feedlot quickly.

"With the stress of shipping, the feedlot owners want to be able to get the cattle on medicated feed as soon as they're in the lot," explains Long. "If the critters won't eat, they can't be medicated."

Irons and Long get their feed directly from the Southern States feed mill in Roanoke, Va. The mill is about 75 miles and a two-hour truck ride over curvy mountain roads from their farm.

"We get a shipment of bulk feed at least weekly," says Irons "When we need feed, we just call the mill or our closest Southern States store in Troutville, Va."

If they need an adjustment in their ration, they call on their Southern States livestock feed specialist Bob Webb. Webb is a 34-year veteran of the Southern States system and has worked with dozens of customers all over the Southeast.

"These Southern States folks have been very good to work with," says Irons. "We just pick up the phone and get first-class service."

Irons and Long's calves perform well in Western feedlots. "The people that feed these cattle come back year after year," says Long. "That wouldn't be happening without our feeding program from Southern States," adds Irons.