Once a Cowboy…
The road to the Bailey Ranch began on a small
mid-Missouri farm and switchbacked through
rough stock and rodeos across the country.
Along the way, it traveled alongside a
successful 34-year construction business that has
built Casey’s General Stores throughout a fair
piece of the Midwest.
Dan Bailey got bit by the rodeo bug, riding
bulls and bareback horses on a college rodeo
team, in regional associations, and ultimately
as member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s
Association (PRCA). He started his construction
business in 1981 but the cowboy in him
demanded a place in the saddle and a herd to
take care of.
“When Susan and I got married, we each
had two heifers. It all started from there,” he
explains.
Dan Bailey
The Sedalia operation has blossomed into a
good-sized herd of commercial cows and a backgrounding program that counts on about 5,000 acres of owned and leased
pasture to pack on pounds of beef.
His sons, Jacob and Jeremiah, handle day-to-day management of the ranch, which includes a set of black cows and a set
of reds. A breeding rotation with Angus, Red Angus, horned Hereford and red and black Gelbvieh Balancer bulls delivers
steers and heifers that are backgrounded for four to six months, as well as replacement females.
Bailey prefers moderate-framed cows and bulls and artificially inseminates replacement heifers.
Pastures are predominantly fescue with added clovers and orchardgrass and the Baileys put up all of their own hay. They
also breed and raise cow-bred Quarter Horses for use on the ranch.
“We do everything horseback,” Bailey says.
Bailey’s relationship with FCS Financial began with a Country Living loan in the late ‘80s. From there it expanded to
providing credit for the cattle operation and today all agriculturally related financing is through FCS Financial.
“As we grew, we grew with them,” Bailey explains. “They require good records and I feel like they’ve been a big part of
our success because those records have really helped our management — we know what’s going on in the business.
“And the service is exceptional,” he adds. “We work with Danny Young (vice president in the Sedalia office) and he has
good business sense. He understands agriculture and he understands our needs — it’s nice not to have to explain to a banker
what a tractor’s used for.”
Dan Bailey would readily tell you that the road from rodeoing to ranching has not been without bumps. With a
committed family and committed lenders, though, it’s taken him where he wanted to go.
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