HeartBeat Winter 2017 | Page 10

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