2020 Henry County Cattlemen of the Year raises top-notch beef in the county

The 2020 recipient for the Henry County Cattlemen of the year award was Mike Moothart and his son Mitchell. The Henry County Cattlemen did not have a banquet for the year of 2020 due to COVID-19. Mike and his son were presented with their award at the dinner held Feb. 3 in Mt. Pleasant.

“The award as Cattleman of the Year for 2020 means a great deal to me,” said Moothart. “My boys have always worked beside me in the business. I have three sons, Marcus, Matthew and Mitchell. They have all went through 4-H and all three of those boys have won that award with county raised steer.”

“To me, hard work is the key,” said Moothart. “And picking out the best steer from our own herd, and not going out and purchasing a high-dollar steer makes all the difference. Making something from what you have is how it should be done. And if you can have the best steer that came from your county, I take a lot of pride in that.”

“We are basically a cattle and grain operation here in Henry County with my oldest son, Marcus,” said Moothart. “I started with my first cows at the age of 13. I have always enjoyed raising cows and calves.”

To date, the Moothart’s have one of the largest cattle operations in Henry County with about 460 cow and calf pairs. Of those, 350 calve during Feb. through April, with about 110 to calve in the fall months.

Moothart will then pick out the top heifers and keep them at their ranch, these are later sold out as heifer pairs after they have their first calf. Moothart also will feed out 40 to 50 head every year as the market demands.

“We have a business also where we have been selling a lot of half and quarter sides of beef,” said Moothart. “We started doing that in 2013, and it has been going strong. Last year we did 39 calves to be butchered for individuals. That’s a lot of beef. It’s been doing well for us, especially with the pandemic and the price of meat in the stores, I have lockers booked a year in advance.”

“We farm 1,300 acres of row crop, with corn and beans. We have about another 1,000 acres in hay and pasture ground,” said Moothart. “Last summer we made 1,500 round bales of hay for the cattle that we have. Some of which we may be able to sell. We have a fairly large operation.”

“Each of my sons have won this award with steers that we have raised here in the county,” said Moothart. “That means a lot to me. We buy the top genetics for the bulls and we have a very good cow herd. Our cattle come in at the top of the sale each year. And the kids learn a lot by having the cattle come off of our farm.”

Contact Michelle Hillestad at michelle.hillestad@southeastiowaunion.com