David Peachey helps manage the day-to-day operations at Eagle Ridge Shavings in
addition to tackling equipment maintenance chores. The operation Peachey owns with
business partner Lavern Ropp produces about 350 yards of shavings per day.
Providing a dry product for the
poultry industry is important to
Lavern and David, despite the
consistency challenge.
“To keep your heat right,
your ventilation right, keep your
humidity down in your barn, you
have to have a dry atmosphere to
maintain a healthy bird,” Lavern
says. “When you start having high
ammonia, the wetter your floor,
the more ammonia you’ll have in
the air. Then, you have to ventilate
more. It just becomes a vicious
cycle, so the drier the atmosphere
the better your bird health.”
IN THE OTHER BASKET
As if running Eagle Ridge wasn’t
enough to keep Lavern and David
busy, both also manage their own
farms.
David’s farm includes a small
cow-calf operation on 20 acres.
10 HEARTBEAT | WINTER 2017
Lavern’s Dusty R Ranch features
a 160-head commercial cow-calf
operation in addition to growing
tom turkeys on contract for
Cargill. Three, 500-foot poultry
barns house about 30,000 birds at
capacity.
The turkeys come to Lavern’s
care as day old poults and are
out facilities. The brooder house
is cleaned and fresh shavings are
added before bringing in the next
flock. Lavern raises about four
flocks each year.
Raising tom turkeys can
be a bit challenging as the birds
grow. At market time, weights
are usually between 45 and 52
pounds.
Lavern’s cattle operation
includes both a spring and fall
calving season. While the herd
is centered around Angus-based
females, the cows are bred to
Piedmontese bulls. At marketing
time, calves are sold off the farm
to Heartland Meats in Mendota,
Illinois.
“We get paid a premium
for our calves,” Lavern says.
“Piedmontese have two copies of
the myostatin gene. They are an
extremely tender beef. They’re
lean.”
The program has proved
fruitful for Lavern. He’s been
“A business is only as good
as its people.”
placed in brooder rings.
“We’ll put about 1,000 to
1,200 birds per ring,” he explains.
The poults stay in the brooder
rings under heat until six or seven
days old. At approximately eight
weeks old, the flock is divided in
half and split between two grow
working with Heartland for about
16 years. The meat is marketed
as hormone and antibiotic free
through farmer’s markets and
high-end restaurants in Chicago.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Lavern first came to know FCS