Cope Family Farms Keeps the Next Generation in Focus

Forage management isn’t just about producing feed for the coming year; it’s about protecting the future of the operation. Many cattle producers share the same long-term priority: leaving the land in the best shape possible for the next generation.

Cope Family Farms is operated by O.D. Cope and his sons, Glen and Matthew, and their families. The century-old farm is a commercial cow-calf and stocker operation located in the rolling hills south of Aurora, Missouri. The determination of generations of Copes has built the business into what it is today.

“Like a lot of farmers, we’re standing on the shoulders of giants,” Glen said. “We’ve got a long legacy here in these hills, and they aren’t for everybody. It’s steep and kind of rough, but we call this home. And it’s been good to us.”

More than a century of history

O.D.’s grandparents settled on the original property in 1911, close to the natural springs, as most farmers would have done at the time. His grandfather would farm for a time and then go to work in the mines to make enough money to come back and continue farming.

One time after returning from the mines, his grandfather got ill and passed away, leaving O.D.’s father to care for the farm and the family — which included 10 children — at age 17.

When the family first purchased the land, it was untouched and mostly timber. O.D.’s grandfather and father worked tirelessly to clear the property and make it profitable for the family. His father’s goal was to clear 40 acres per year. He used bulldozers to clear the ground and then sowed the cleared acres to cane in the summer, the kind used to make sorghum molasses. Being mindful of prussic acid poisoning, he would wait until after the first frost to graze cattle there. Cattle could graze the cane until midwinter. O.D. recalls how many cattle producers also raised goats to try to help control the brush.

“Dad had 300 or 400 of them,” O.D. said. “They were hard on the brush. They wouldn’t get it all, but they got quite a bit of it. We’ve used everything from a chopping ax and the billy goat to drones, dozers and brush hogs to clear this gound.”

In the 1960s, the Copes started planting fescue where they used to plant cane. The hardy, cool-season grass worked well for their operation.

“We started sowing fescue where those cane patches were, and we’d sow it in February and we’d crank it on with a hand seeder, the hard way,” O.D. said. “You know, it’s all we had to use. I’ve cranked many a mile. That fescue would come up, and he’d go clear 40 acres the next year; and that’s how a lot of this got cleaned up.”

O.D. said the farm is all he’s ever known.

“My daddy wanted me to farm, and I want these boys to farm,” O.D. said. “I want them to have it and take over. I’m fortunate to have my boys work with me. They are good hands, and I couldn’t do it without them.”

New growth, new challenges

O.D. mentioned that as soon as they started to grow good forages on the cleared land, they immediately had to deal with encroaching weeds and brush like musk thistle and poison hemlock.

“I’ve fought these hills and the brush all my life,” O.D. said. “It is a constant battle. This is pretty good cattle country if you keep the brush off, but you spend a lot of money fighting the brush; and everything is hard in these hills. It’s home, and it’s a good place, but it’s hard country to make a living in.”

They were early adopters of using pasture management technologies to help control weeds and brush. The Copes run cattle, but they truly consider themselves grass farmers.

“We’re in the cattle business, and we spend a lot of our time managing our cow herd. At the same time, I think we would argue that we probably spend more time managing our forages,” Glen said.

Years of hard work on the unmanaged land has transformed the farm into a productive and beautiful piece of property. The Copes use UltiGraz^℠ Pasture Weed & Feed and DuraCor^® herbicide to keep it that way.

“We’ve had a lot of success with UltiGraz,” Glen said. “DuraCor kills those thistle rosettes. Thistles have always been our nemesis, but we’ll have residual protection that takes care of ragweed later. We’re also seeing a lot of perilla mint encroaching from the wooded areas. We can spread the impregnated fertilizer into those areas — those hard-to-get-to places. It’s been a game-changer for us. It has been the tool in our toolbox that we use the most. For us to be able to apply fertilizer and control weeds at the same time, we’re going to sign up for that all day.”

The Copes implement all the pasture management programs themselves. O.D. mentions the wear and tear saved on equipment by eliminating a pass across the field and through the steep hills. Matthew likes knocking out weeds with impregnated fertilizer because of the time saved and results he has seen with the program.

“It’s more time to do anything: Work cattle, work on hay or spend time with your family,” Matthew said. “If you had weeds and after you treat them they’re gone or dying, that makes you feel good. If you know you’ve prevented ragweed from coming up later in the year, that makes you feel good too. It’s that much less work and good, clean grass.”

Soil health and stocking rates

The Copes understand the importance of soil health and fertility when it comes to forage production. Glen emphasized the economic returns he’s witnessed from raising quality forages for his herd.

“We need to be feeding grass rather than weeds if we’re going to spend time and money applying fertilizer,” Glen said. “We’re going to have the expense of spreading fertilizer, and we’ve found that UltiGraz is a good tool to help enhance soil health and increase our stocking rates at the same time, which is incredibly important — especially with cattle at record-high prices. It allows us to put some more money toward our bottom line.”

Along with impregnated fertilizer, the Copes utilize drone technology to apply pasture management products on their farm. With the limited availability of aerial applicators in the area, Matthew can perform the drone applications to help the Copes reach places on the property that a tractor simply cannot safely reach.

“There’s oak and hickory in hard-to-get places that you couldn’t get to with a tractor,” Matthew said. “There are some places that are pretty dangerous to get to, and the drone just eliminates that risk.”

O.D. has witnessed the increase in usable forages with these products and can justify the return on investment.

“It’s as different as night and day,” O.D. said. “You know, if the old-timers came back and saw this grass, they wouldn’t believe it. It’s amazing.”

Prior to utilizing these products, Glen would see weeds out in pastures they’d just fertilized and know how many valuable nutrients the weeds were robbing from the grass. A pound of weeds was taking away a pound, or potentially even more, of usable grass from their herd.

“To look at those clean pastures with a sense of pride because we’re just growing grass and the added production that entails and how it helps our bottom line, it just can’t be beat,” Glen said.

Glen emphasizes the importance of stocking rates and productive forages and how those relate to the bottom line and sustainability of this business.

“With the kind of forage production that we see from using these products, we can increase our stocking rates, which puts more dollars in our pockets,” Glen said. “This also creates more opportunities for our kids to return to the farm with the land that we have. Really, strategically managing these pastures has been a great opportunity for us to grow the operation and increase our income.”

Productive partnerships

When it comes to weed and brush control, the Copes consult with their local Corteva Agriscience Range & Pasture Specialist to determine a plan based on species and timing to get the most success out of an application.

“I think a lot of Corteva,” Glen said. “They are great people to work with who support us and give us good information. The products are excellent, and we’ve got a specialist who is a phone call away, especially when we’ve got a stubborn species that we’re curious about which products, the application timing and at what rate we need to apply.”

The Copes have seen excellent results and added production with the products they have been using on the farm, but they’re always prepared to adapt with emerging technologies and differing management needs.

“We’ll always look for efficiencies,” O.D. said. “I’m not a very good predictor of the future, but where there’s things that work and are practical, we’ll try to take a hold of them.”

Cope Family Farms is truly an all-hands-on-deck business. O.D., Glen and Matthew mention the vital support their wives provide to them on the farm. They pitch in where needed and keep things moving behind the scenes, whether it’s in the hayfield or in the office.

“She’s a lot of help, and it’d be hard to get along without her,” O.D. said about his wife, Pam.

The bottom line

Like a lot of cattle producers, the Copes’ primary goal is to continue the legacy of Cope Family Farms for generations to come.

“We have a generational legacy here on this farm that we’re proud of,“ Glen said. “Certainly, we’re going to try to make opportunities for our children if they want to come back. It’s a great life. It’s not an easy life, but it certainly is very rewarding. So that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Matthew has children who are learning about the hard work it takes to run a farm and the opportunities a good work ethic can provide. He’s planning to teach them what he knows and then let them decide which path is right for them. Glen’s son, Orran, is set to graduate from college soon and has plans to come back to the farm.

“We take care of the land and, hopefully, we can leave it better than we found it,” O.D. said. “We put about all we make back into the farm to try to improve it and try to sustain our kids and grandkids. You always have to keep improving.”

Glen has a firm grasp on how land stewardship supports his family’s long-term goals.

“Pasture management is such an integral part of our operation,” Glen said. “Whether it’s applying fertilizer, controlling weeds, harvesting hay or feeding that hay in the wintertime, forage production is extremely important to our business. If we’re going to have the kind of cattle herd that we need to sustain multiple generations on our farm, we’ve got to produce quality forages. These products allow us to do that.”

To keep reading producer stewardship stories, visit RangeAndPasture.com/Steward.

Under normal field conditions DuraCor® is non-volatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage.  UltiGrazSM with fertilizer is available for use with specific herbicides in the states of AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, MI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, and WY. All products are not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.