corteva Archives - American Cattlemen

Commitment to Quality from Pasture to Plate

Posted on August 17, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Commitment to Quality from Pasture to Plate

Roger and Nikki Callison are both multi-generational ranchers who have devoted their lives to agriculture and their ranching heritage. They planted roots in southeastern Oklahoma over 20 years ago and have built multiple businesses that keep them both actively engaged in the industry. Each business operates in multiple sectors of the industry to, ultimately, produce an end product of high-quality beef for consumers.

“We love our cattle and the land,” Nikki said. “Growing up, my family’s ranch motto was: ‘Raisin’ kids, cattle and quality horses,’ and that’s exactly the heritage they passed on.”

The Callisons have a deep respect for their herd and their land, which is evidenced by their dedication to the stewardship of both. Roger was raised helping his father and grandfather with their cattle operations; Nikki was raised on a sizable ranch as well. They cherish the ranching lifestyle and understand the accompanying hard work.

“When Roger and I were dating, I would go with him to feed his small herd of heifers every evening,” Nikki said. “We dreamed of building a family and a ranch of our own. Over the last 20-plus years, we have built a life together and have significantly expanded our herd. Roger is known for literally doing anything it takes to meet the needs of our cattle.”

After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Roger took a job in the grain and feed industry in Guthrie, Oklahoma. After seven years, he started an agricultural commodity business in Ada, Oklahoma. The company: connects feed ingredient and fertilizer manufacturers to farmers, ranchers and end users; and provides agricultural commodities to producers and businesses across the Midwest. 

For the Callisons, diversification is a foundational component of their business plan. In addition to the commodity business, the Callisons operate a feed store, their commercial cow-calf herd, a stocker-calf operation and the direct-to-consumer beef business.

Nikki’s grandfather Ray Tucker was an Oklahoma rancher and a state representative. Her grandparents saw the need and benefit of families buying beef directly from the ranch. They called their business “Rancher’s Beef” and sold it directly to consumers as early as 1970. The Callisons continue her grandparents’ legacy today by offering beef directly from their ranch to consumers across the country.

The Callisons’ direct-to-consumer beef business started in 2018. They had a surplus supply of beef in the freezer and multiple local consumers requesting beef by the quarter or half. Initially, they started selling beef to friends and neighbors. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, demand skyrocketed; the Callisons amplified their outreach and the business flourished.

When the Callisons wean their home-raised calves, a portion of them get shipped to the feedyard and another portion are finished on the ranch and butchered locally. They pride themselves on the diligent care of their herd. They don’t take shortcuts. The Callisons produce high-quality, high-marbled beef that is grass fed and grain finished.

Their priority is their customers’ confidence in the origin, care and quality of their product. Callison Ranch ships beef all over the nation, and local customers drive directly to the ranch to buy the beef.

“We diligently care for our cattle and the land they enjoy,” Nikki said. “Our cattle graze wide-open fields and drink fresh water their entire lives. From our pasture to your plate, you can confidently know where your food comes from and how it was cared for.”

Roger understands how important land stewardship is to his livelihood. He emphasizes pasture management, fertility and the relationship to the stocking rates on their operation.

“We’re grass farmers,” Roger said. “We try to produce as much high-quality grass as we can for our cattle.”

Roger knows there are misconceptions when it comes to investing in pasture management and soil fertility. He hears producers question the return on investment, but he knows the value of clean pastures and has seen the return in the form of pounds of beef in his operation.

“You have to get rid of the weeds, so you can grow more forages and add more pounds to your calves,” Roger said. “With the price of cattle in the last few years, you can’t afford not to do it.”

He justifies the input costs by their additional forage availability.

“Our goal is to raise the highest-quality forage we can and have an extra two weeks in the spring to graze, because we have winter annuals and add an extra two weeks in the fall to graze,” Roger said. “We’ve taken good care of our pastures, so we’ve got more grass out there.”

Clean pastures and quality forages support their beef business. Roger relies on GrazonNext® HL herbicide to control weeds like buttercup, cocklebur and ragweed in their pastures. He deploys Remedy® Ultra herbicide to tackle tough brush problems like hedge and hackberry. These herbicides can be tank-mixed to broaden the brush control spectrum and control understory broadleaf weeds.

He also values the time and money saved by using impregnated fertilizer on his pastures with UltiGraz℠ Pasture Weed & Feed with DuraCor® herbicide. He encourages local producers to adopt the practice through his feed store as well. Retailers and custom applicators offering UltiGraz, like Roger, complete extensive education and training to become certified by Corteva Agriscience, committing to the highest standards of blending and application for consistent results. 

“When we started to mix fertilizer with herbicides, it changed the game,” Roger said. “The practice keeps gaining traction every year because of the monetary and time savings.”

The Callisons are immersed in agriculture from all angles. They have developed their businesses from the ground up. Their goal is unwavering: Honor the ranching heritage, be good stewards of the land and produce a high-quality, trusted product for the consumer.

To learn more, visit RangeAndPasture.com/AC.

Back to Home

Keeping It Simple

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Keeping It Simple

For Alabama-based TRM, staying the course and avoiding trends has been key to success.

From the offices and pastures of Tennessee River Music (TRM), high on the Lookout Mountain plateau above Fort Payne, Alabama, you might not be able to see the farm’s namesake river, 30 miles to the west. But like a slow, steady 3/4 waltzing beat, the flow of the river exerts a subtle, but powerful, influence over the pace and quality of life on the farm. It’s an influence that manifests as a matter-of-fact approach to problem-solving and an unbending commitment to its seedstock customers.

That steadfast dedication to operational simplicity and to delivering a quality product is reflected in TRM’s motto, tagline and promotional language.

“Do it with passion or not at all.”

“Stout, sound, functional Angus and Hereford bulls.”

“TRM cattle are bred [to] perform in real-world environments.”

“We stay [in the] middle of the road and let the extremes pass us on both sides.”

John Starnes, who runs TRM with his wife, Randa, and in-laws, Randy and Kelly Owen, explains what that philosophy means in day-to-day terms.

“What we mean by ‘middle of the road’ is: We don’t pay attention to trends,” Starnes says. “Cattle get bigger. They get smaller. They’re bred for this trait or that. But, for us, we have the ability to grow forage, so they’ve got to be able to do as much as they can with that forage. We’ll supplement when we need to, like during the winter. But I think about it like a race car. If you go to the gas station and put 87–octane gas in a race car, you’re not going to get the performance you want. But we look for animals that can get it done on Southeastern forages, so we can use that 87–octane gas and still get the herd to perform.”

Here on the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau, that 87-octane gas is tried–and–true fescue. The pasture standard performs well in conditions that can range from summer drought to an icy winter mix.

“Ask anybody in the southeastern U.S., and they’ll say, ‘We’re grass farmers,’” Starnes says. “We’re no different. Our crop is grass, and our primary forage is fescue. We’ve improved some varieties, but during the last bad drought we had back in 2016, our pastures looked like dirt roads. And, unfortunately, what survived and came back was good ol’ Kentucky 31. So that does present some challenges.”

Those challenges include shedding and the ever-present threat of fescue toxicosis. But simple solutions and a reliance on the cattle to do the hard work help mitigate the threats and allow the herd to flourish.

“We run a good mineral program,” Starnes says, “we keep our pastures clipped, and our culling criteria is pretty strict. So I wouldn’t call our cattle fescue–tolerant, but they can absolutely handle what we have here on Lookout Mountain.”

Weeding and Feeding

To help keep those pastures clean and green, Starnes has to fight off a familiar list of weeds, including old favorites like thistles, horsenettle and dogfennel, along with the occasional pigweed.

“We try to do a good job of staying on top of the weeds,” he says. “We want to get the thistle early, when the days get warm enough and it’s time to do that first fertilizer application on some of the winter grazing ground.”

UltiGraz℠ Pasture Weed & Feed helps put valuable nutrients into the ground while controlling some of the most damaging pasture weeds.

“We’ve been doing that for a couple years now,” Starnes says. “We’ll inoculate the fertilizer with DuraCor. And as long as we can keep those thistles small and it gets on those rosettes, we’ve had good luck with that. We’ll also use Remedy on some of the woody, brushy stuff.”

Regenerative — On Their Own Terms

And while TRM’s practices may not fit the classic definition of “regenerative,” sound stewardship has a heavy influence on daily decision-making — and on the results. Turkey, deer and other wildlife flourish at TRM, even as wildlife officials note countywide declines in populations.

“Whether or not we’re ‘regenerative’ or ‘sustainable’ depends on how you define them,” Starnes says. “We and everybody else who are in this business have had to figure out how to do more with less. To me, that’s true sustainability.”

As for pasture management, Starnes says, TRM may not hold to the traditional practices of rotational grazing, but neither does it let cattle graze the grass to the ground.

“When you talk to people who are serious about rotational grazing, they’ll talk about moving tape fences or dropping gap panels every day,” he says. “That’s not what we do. But we do rotate pastures every week. We want to keep grass under the cattle and then move them off and let it grow.”

Yet despite TRM’s commitment to simplicity and no-nonsense operations, it’s not beholden to outdated beliefs or practices. While Starnes admits TRM may not be the most technologically advanced operation, neither is it afraid to change course and adopt new technology when it makes sense to do so.

“Technology has impacted every facet of what we do,” he says. “As a result, we’re seeing less herbicide use, increased average daily gains — I love being able to incorporate new technology and new thinking where it makes sense.

“In this business, we tend to dislike change. We say things like, ‘Granddad did it this way 70 years ago, and that’s how we’ve always done it.’ But you have to be honest with yourself and admit when things aren’t right and to be open to other ways of working.”

Corteva Range & Pasture: Built on Legacy

Posted on June 17, 2026September 9, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Corteva Range & Pasture:

Built on Legacy, Driven by Determination

Stuart Ranch honors legacy. Founded in 1868, it’s the oldest ranch in Oklahoma under continuous family ownership. The ranch’s primary focus is its commercial cow-calf and yearling operation. In addition, it operates a successful Quarter Horse breeding program, a bucking horse program, an outfitting service and a direct-to-consumer beef business.

Fifth-generation Terry Stuart Forst leads the ranch operations, along with her sons: Clay and Robert. Her great-great-grandfather, Robert Clay Freeny, founded the ranch. Forst carries a quiet confidence that commands attention. She commands admiration without saying much at all.

Their brand, the 7S, represents generations of grit, innovation and dedication to stewardship.

“The 7S brand is our legacy,” Forst said. “It is our reputation. It means integrity. If you see that brand, you can trust that we will stand behind it and you’ve got a whole family generations deep that will stand behind that.”

Above all, continuing the ranch’s heritage for future generations is the most important thing to Forst.

“Leaving this ranch to the generations that follow and having a place for them to come home has been a mission for Clay, Robert and I,” Forst said. “And we’ve so far been successful.”

She credits much of her success to having pioneering, sharp mentors. People who really became her close friends and shared their knowledge with her.

“I was very fortunate to have some of the best cattlemen and -women in the world be mentors to me,” Forst said. “They were influences who wanted me to be better, to produce the best cows I could produce, and to seek and find cattle that would work on this operation and become efficient, productive and help us create revenue.”

Apart from excellent mentors, Forst has been dedicated to learning. After graduating from Oklahoma State University, she attended a ranching–for–profit school, took range management classes and graduated from the prestigious Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program.

“I have wanted to make whatever I was involved in the best it could be,” Forst said. “Mother Nature doesn’t always agree with me and makes it extremely difficult, but I understand that and accept the challenges.”

Stuart Ranch has tailored its program over the years to be the most efficient, effective and economical for its location. Forst uses Corteva Agriscience™ Range & Pasture products, such as Remedy® herbicide and Sendero® herbicide Powered by LandVisor® Advanced Brush Management as tools for weed and brush control, along with prescribed burning and rotational grazing. The ranch faces challenges, including mesquite, blackberries and musk thistle. Forst develops a burn schedule a year in advance and works strategically within her budget to spray pastures when it’s advantageous.

“I think to be a good steward of what God has given us, we have to access all the available tools to make it the best possible,” Forst said.

Forst scouts her pastures on horseback. She monitors closely and understands the mechanics of rotational grazing and letting pastures rest. Forst is also committed to nurturing the native grasses on the ranch.

“We trotted through a pasture last fall that we were going to calve in, and I literally had big bluestem as tall as me on horseback,” Forst said. “I got goosebumps.”

Big bluestem is a native, warm-season bunchgrass known for rapid growth during mid-to-late summer. It develops a deep, extensive root system that improves soil structure and provides highly nutritious forage for cattle.

Forst fearlessly forged her own path to get to this point. She is determined and focused. She knew going in that she had a lot to prove, and she has. When her father asked her to come back to the ranch, she developed a five-year plan to change the trajectory of the business. She set a goal of the ranch financially supporting itself within those five years, and she achieved that goal.

“This is what I’ve wanted to do my entire life,” Forst said. “There’s nothing else I want to do.”

Back to Home