The Rankins

by: Anna Cooper

Across the United States, there are millions of cattle. Some are raised for beef, and some raised for dairy, but every single one of those herds has a caretaker. Right on the edge of Lauderdale County, there is a herd of about 70 head of cattle owned by the Rankin family.

In 2010, the Rankin’s raised and sold enough sweet corn to buy two cows and a heifer calf from Fletcher Farms in Gilt Edge--a heifer being a female cow that has never given birth. Todd had cattle growing up, something he feels taught him valuable life skills. He wants his kids to have “a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility. It’s the biggest reason Michelle and I wanted the kids to show.”

The shows the Rankins participate in use a particular set of criteria to judge the animals. The judges look at the muscle mass of the animal to determine how they should rank it. The Rankins own Herefords, a type of beef cattle, so judges are looking at the muscle build-up of the animal. Todd and Michelle’s children, JD and Addie participate in the junior livestock show at the competitions. JD began showing as a 4-H member in 2012 at just eight years old, and Addie followed in his footsteps when she turned eight in 2014.  

Both JD and Addie know a lot about raising and taking care of cattle. JD has earned the nickname ‘Beef Camp’ at his church because he goes to a cattle camp in Oklahoma. Addie made sure to emphasize the importance of staying safe around the cows. She told a story about an incident that happened at the last expo she attended, “We had put hay down for my brother’s cow, but she kept kicking it back behind her front legs. So my dad was trying to pull it away from her legs and put it back where she could eat it. The cow started buck-jumping, so dad went backwards and he ended up hitting my cow, going beneath it, like under her stomach. He said he could see her belly button and she was just kicking, so he rolled out. He cut his head and I was so worried, I was crying saying ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’ They called for an EMT, but he was fine. Now we can laugh about it, but we were like ‘That’s why you don’t get under the cows like that!’”

There’s a lot that goes into preparing the cows for a show. One of the first things Mr. Rankin has to do after picking a calf to show is to halter break it The term halter break refers to getting the livestock used to being led around; it can be compared to getting your puppy used to a leash. With puppies, you can pull them along a little until they’re used to it and ready to follow you on their own. With calves and other livestock, it's the same way just on a much larger, heavier scale. The kids also help out when it comes to prepping. During the summer, the show cows are washed once a week. After being washed they are set under the drying fans and brushed with a rice root brush. This brush actually stimulates hair growth! They want the hair on the cows a little long so it can be styled to make the cows look as perfect as possible. If the hair is too long, it may also get a little trim. The cows are also walked every day during the show season. This helps to get the cow used to what they will be doing during the show.

The Rankins have three calves that they’ll show during a season. These calves are picked based on whichever ones look the best and has the best muscle mass. The first three cows the Rankins bought, two older heifers and a calf, were not trained to be in shows. It wasn’t until a year after the original purchase that the Rankins went back to Fletcher Farms and bought another heifer that they made into a show heifer. Mr. Rankin told us that it did help to get that last calf to show, but essentially they started showing from scratch. When asked why cows, he told us that, “I just like cows. Some guys like cars, some like tractors, and I just like cows. I have a degree in Animal Science and I’ve liked cows since I was a kid.”