West Florida Electric Cooperative Association, Inc.

Curious passers-by on U. S. Hwy. 231 between Cottondale and Campbellton can’t resist stopping to ask about the gigantic red barn recently erected in West Florida Electric Cooperative’s service area. The 8,100-square foot building houses Southern Cattle Company’s new offices and an auction barn where they’ll begin selling their purebred cattle next fall.

Since owner John Downs began operation four years ago, Southern Cattle Company has become one of the largest purebred Charolais and Angus breeders in the Southeast, with a registered herd of 2,800 head on approximately 7,000 acres, according to General Manager David Johnson. "Charolais and Angus are probably two of the most popular breeds there are, and they complement each other," he said. "We concentrate on carcass quality in our breeding."

Southern Cattle Company’s bulls include the last two national champion Charolais and fetch between $1,200 and $50,000, depending on their pedigree and quality. Johnson attributes their genetic superiority to a thorough tagging system and carefully-maintained herd control log, which documents births, deaths, calving ease, lineage and so forth. "This is like our Bible," Johnson explained. "If you lose this, you can turn a herd of $1,500 cows into a herd of $500 cows."

Eight full-time employees and four or five part-timers oversee the ranch’s rapidly-growing herd. "We’re expecting about 1,500 calves to be born between September 1 and next March," Johnson noted. "So far, we have 320 new calves."

The company recently arranged for WFEC to install three-phase electrical service to three pivot irrigation systems in a 380-acre pasture near the auction barn site. "Under irrigation, we should be able to run three to four head to an acre," said Johnson.

WFEC also built electrical service to the fully-heated and cooled auction barn with a one-acre sheltered outside area for pens and two other barns under construction on the property, as well. "One will serve as a show barn where they’ll get cattle ready for exhibition," Johnson said. "The other one will be used for embryo transplant work. We get calls all the time for frozen embryos. We’ll ship them all over the world."

Originally a timber plot, the 400-acre site for the new buildings has required extensive clearing and seeding, as well as other preparations, he observed. "We’ve built 40 miles of fence since January and have laid 18 miles of water lines. And we still have more to clear, lines to lay and fences to build."

Southern Cattle Company’s first Angus sale, of approximately 100 head, at the new auction barn will be Oct. 5, 2002, and the first Charolais sale there is tentatively scheduled for March 2003. "In the long range, we’ll probably also use it to help our commercial bull customers merchandise their calves," Johnson added.

Local cattle company breeds a better beef