To keep a business rolling for 115 years, this family ranching legacy relies on a positive outlook, fresh approaches and perseverance.
Fourth-generation operators, Lori Hallowell and her husband, Paul Johnson, have diversified their Palmyra, Nebraska, enterprise, added new equipment and technology and reimagined and refreshed the cattle genetics. They focus on their strengths and are quick to draw on expertise of trusted specialists.
Paul and Lori met in 1987 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Paul is a farm boy from Mead and grew up farming corn, soybeans and hogs. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in ag economics. Lori has always been around beef cattle. The Hallowell Farm in Otoe County was homesteaded by her great-grandparents in 1907. Lori’s grandpa, Adin Hallowell, gave her two cows before she learned to walk. Those cows, and more homegrown animals from the family herd, became 4-H and FFA projects, which helped finance her college education in ag journalism.
“We both graduated from college when the ag industry was still reeling from the farm crisis,” Lori says. Paul went into farm management and Lori focused on public relations at an advertising agency. Around 2010, the couple ventured into raising beef by purchasing a few Black Angus cows from a local seedstock provider. They incorporated their business, HJ Bar Ranch, building off the legacy of Lori’s dad, Allen Hallowell’s, ranch and brand, AH Bar Ranch. Allen is retired and retains ownership of some cattle. Paul handles the bulk of the daily work schedule and Lori spends evenings and weekends helping.
“We are true partners and rely on each other’s strengths,” Lori says. “Paul is left-brained, numbers oriented and has wide-ranging mechanical abilities. I’m right-brained, creative and use my long-term ag industry relationships to help our business.”
Decisive steps
During the past two decades, Lori and Paul have been genetically testing their entire herd and maintain data on each animal. They can easily access their database from their iPhones while in the pastures. They measure 90-plus genetic markers and base herd-building decisions off the information. Most of the time, they rely on artificial insemination and clean-up bulls for their breeding program with all results focused on advancing the genetic pedigree on every animal each year. Their commercial herd has been named Igenity Elite for terminal traits and is in the top 25% of all animals tested through Igenity.
They take their role as cow-calf producers seriously and want to pass a good animal on to the next cattle phase. “We follow industry-proven protocols, including Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) practices and use the latest animal health products and services,” Lori says.
All HJ Bar Ranch weaned calves are preconditioned for at least 45 days at their ranch. The steers are sold direct to feedyards. Weaned heifers go to a Professional Development Facility in Miller, Nebraska, called Key Cattle Development. The owners are experts at growing great replacement heifers. This management practice frees up pen space and labor for Paul and Lori. The following fall, the heifers return to the ranch to drop their first calves in early February.
Two years ago, Paul and Lori calved the first-time heifers during a week when the temperatures didn’t rise above zero degrees Fahrenheit. “We had five heifers calve the night it hit negative 35 Fahrenheit,” Lori says. “I didn’t think we could save every calf, but we didn’t lose even one. Our calf warmer was running 24/7 that week. When my dad told me he had never calved in such extreme weather, I felt proud that Paul and I did meet the challenge. However, we don’t ever want to deal with those conditions again.”
Roadblocks and challenges
Like other parts of the country, variable weather can throw curveballs out on the ranch. Drought has resulted in a lack of surface and groundwater, which presents formidable challenges. For example, they use old hand-dug-shallow wells that have dribbles of water and operate them with battery-powered pumps 24 hours a day to water some of the cattle. Water must often be hauled to some sites year-round, even in sub-freezing temperatures.
“Even though there is tillable land planted in row crops and marginal acres for forage production and pastures, we face feed shortages, primarily due to subpar rainfall,” Paul explains. “Some grass hay is purchased and cattle are fed distillers grain, a byproduct from a local ethanol plant. Roller-coaster commodity prices and rising input costs always keep us on our toes.”
Hay handling
At HJ Bar Ranch, timing is critical for making quality alfalfa and grass hay. Top-notch equipment, teamed with a dependable dealership for service around the clock, pays dividends.
“Our New Holland T6.165 tractor and front-end loader works well in tough conditions and needs to be ready when it’s time to go,” Paul says. “That machine truly helps to round out the daily activities on this operation.”
Direct to consumers
The COVID-19 pandemic and the emphasis consumers placed on knowing where food comes from spurred Paul and Lori to begin marketing home-raised, corn-fed, dry-aged beef. They sell USDA-inspected individual cuts of beef to mostly local customers. Find their business on Facebook at HJ Bar Ranch.
They also have a retail location on one of their farms and sell at a local farmer’s market in Bennet. “I think a lot of people wonder why we do it,” Paul says. “The best part for me is that we can help the beef industry by letting consumers understand how much care and passion we put into raising beef.”
Comfort zones
The couple’s home is 13 miles from the heart of the cattle operation. This requires plenty of road trips day and night. To alleviate the time constraint, four years ago they built a bunk house, just five minutes from the main calving spots.
“Its been one of the best investments for us,” Lori says. “It’s a cool Western-style place where we can stay, have meals and take showers during calving time. It is functional, fun and the relaxed atmosphere has become a perfect place to blow off steam with friends. It’s also handy when you are checking cows that are calving every hour and a half.”
The close proximity, about 25 miles, to the University of Nebraska ag campus is another plus for the business. In the second semester they often hire students to help with calving and feeding chores.
“These young people teach us as much or more as we teach them. And they become lifelong friends,” Paul says. “We can also count on a few terrific local folks to help at calving, branding and calf processing at weaning time. We also have good nutritionists, A.I. technicians, feed mill operators and cattle vets. We hope more young people will go into large animal vet practices. It is important.”
Customers can find HJ Bar Ranch on Facebook to order genetically tested, home-raised, corn-fed, Black Angus beef.