The-Ledger_Summer2018

Michigan Cattle Company AN ENTREPRENEUR’S JOURNEY TO RAISING ABERDEENS

S ix years ago, David Brewster found himself walking through a field full of Aberdeen cattle contemplating what it would be like to have some of his own. After recently selling the farm where he raised and trained Standardbred race horses for more than 20 years, he and his wife missed having animals around. “We were so used to having some property with animals,” he says. “Just being there that day, I could feel my stress level drop and I said to my wife, ‘Let’s look into this.’” Brewster has been in the restaurant business in Michigan since he was in high school, working his way up to owning a small fast-food franchise and a bar in the area. His business savvy evident, he says he approached owning cattle just like any of his other business endeavors. “I did a lot of research, and not just on Aberdeen but everything,” he says. In the end, he was drawn to the breed’s docility and size. “They’re not quite as intimidating for somebody who has never been around cattle before.” In 2012, he and his wife, Deb, bought property nearby and, shortly after, they added two Aberdeen pairs from Colorado, thus launching Michi gan Cattle Company, which has since expanded to around 50 cows and a packaged-beef business. “If you’re good at business, you can do any type of business,” Brewster says. “It’s all numbers and we have had some success with this already, so I’m really happy with it. I like that you can get as big as you want or stay small.” When Brewster owned race horses, he was studious of genetics and performance correlations. Because of that, he says the transition to raising high-quality cattle was a bit easier. “I want to try to fix things. For example, if I have certain cows that I would like to add a little more length to, I try to find those features, maybe even to a fault, in a bull to add length to those cows,” he says. “I try to get my herd better with every breeding season and improve efficiency.” Consequently, Brewster uses a cou ple dozen bulls to artificially insemi nate his cattle. He says he isn’t always after the “latest and greatest” thing on the market because he prefers the BY HANNAH JOHLMAN, FREELANCE WRITER

older look of the heritage-type cattle. That perfectionist attitude toward his breeding program has helped Brewster develop a reputation for show-type livestock. Although he and his wife don’t show their stock, he tries to get the top end of his calf crop into the hands of individuals who can be successful with them in the show ring. “I think it was last year, we sold what ended up being a reserve grand champion heifer in Denver to Heather Fanning,” Brewster says. As he and Deb watched the show, they were ecstatic that a heifer they raised made it so far in the show ring. “Heather has helped me a lot and giv en me some ideas to try and get these cattle into some people’s hands who show cattle,” Brewster says. “But usually I market them with social media. If I can get some of my best-looking calves every year to someone who shows, I try to keep the price reasonable.” Always the businessman, he knows if people see what his cattle can do, busi ness will eventually pick up. “I don’t really fixate the cattle busi ness on one thing, which I probably should because I do like going to the shows, but the biggest part would be the packaged beef,” he says. “It’s excellent beef and I’ve got a lot of customers.” He knew that going to the sale barn with his calves wasn’t going to bring the kind of money that finishing the cattle on grass and selling beef would bring. “If I am raising a product, it’s all about the bottom line,” Brewster says. “Right now, we can retail it ourselves and we are small enough that I can sell everything. Someday we may get to the point where we have a lot of extra, then we’re going to have to find another outlet.” When he reaches that point, he has ideas to incorporate the grass-fed beef into his restaurant or bar menus, but in the meantime, that means more cattle to buy. “A lot of the cattle have come from the University of Findlay and a lot come through the Aberdeen sales and a few private treaty,” he says. “We’ve met so many nice people. I really like going to the Aberdeen auctions; it’s kind of like a community.”

From never owning a cow before to owning 50 head, Brewster looks back on his time owning and racing horses as a good precursor to the more laid back cattle industry. “Out of all the businesses I’ve had, horse racing was exciting and fast money, but I really enjoy the cows,” he says. “It’s a lot the same, but it’s not fast money like the horse business. It’s slower paced and longer term.” But that doesn’t mean the cattle industry comes with less stress. When Brewster began purchasing cows, he says having animals around was almost like therapy. He could feel the stress drop out of his body just by looking at them. “The stress is different,” he says. “I like my animals so much that if I’ve got something going on out there, I can’t even sleep. There have been nights during calving I come home and go to bed, but I have to get up and go check. You’ve just got to take care of them.” If he could sell his other busi nesses and build his small cow herd into a larger ranch, Brewster would do so in a heartbeat. Only six years into the cattle industry and he says he is hooked on cattle and especially hooked on Aberdeens. “There’s nothing like doing what you like to do,” Brewster says. “If a person is lucky enough to be able to make a living or supplement their income doing something they really enjoy, it’s not work. And we do, we enjoy it.” TL Aberdeens’ smaller size and good nature have been a perfect fit for first-time cattle owners David and Deb Brewster.

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