Combining Dreaming with Action and Learning
Keith Merritt is an equine veterinarian with a passion for cattle production. While he fell in love with the opportunity to work with horses at an early age, he has made an effort to never give up on his dream of running cattle on his family’s land in Mississippi. Merritt is an example to all about how if you have a dream, you just need to find the right people to support you and go work for it.
C&J Red Angus is named after Merritt’s grandparents, Chester and Jessie, who owned the first registered Charolais herd in Mississippi. Merritt’s primary dream was to be a veterinarian and used his skills to return home regularly to help work cattle for his family and neighbors. When Merritt inherited the family land, it had been converted into farmland. Merritt knew this was his chance to start the cattle operation he had always wanted. Merritt used the cost share program through the USDA to turn the farmland back into pastureland while adding perimeter fence, cross-fence and water troughs. The only thing left to do was to get cattle on the land. Docility was a big driver as Merritt looked at what breed of cattle he wanted to raise, because his back his held together with 51 screws, 4 rods and 3 plates. He went back and forth on whether to buy Herefords or Red Angus to start his registered herd and ultimately settled on buying Red Angus. He purchased his first 13 bred-Red Angus heifers from his former teacher who was going out of business. Since then, Merritt has continued to grow his herd by purchasing cattle and seeking advice from other Red Angus breeders.
Merritt has set an example of how you can grow quickly and still maintain quality. The first 13 heifers he purchased in 2019 have since grown to a herd of around 130 females in 2023. He is proud of the turnaround he has made in the past 4 years but acknowledges that it hasn’t come without a price. “I'm almost 65 years old and I know what I don't know and I'm not ashamed to say am learning from my mistakes. Experience is the best educator, but the tuition isn’t free. So I have learned a lot over the past 4-5 years, but I’ve paid my tuition too.”, said Merritt. Growing this quickly wasn’t his original plan, but he has allowed his plan to evolve as he learns more about the Red Angus breed and how the handle the Mississippi heat and humidity.
One of the main challenges Merritt faces with his operation is that he is not on-site to manage it. He has 4-5 employees who work to keep things going while he focuses on his veterinary practice. He has a couple of great employees right now, but he has had to teach them a lot about cattle management. Teaching employees takes time and not having housing on the ranch itself also presents another challenge as no one is there 24/7 to watch after things. Right now, Merritt currently looks for students who are interested in agribusiness and want learning experiences to try and find part and full-time employees for C&J Red Angus.
When Merritt looks at the future of the beef industry, he is most concerned about the rising costs and what that means for how beef producers will be able to manage their operations, particularly those who fertilize their pastures. On the flip side, Merritt is excited to see commercial and seedstock cattlemen who are seeing the true value of genetics and are willing to pay for higher-quality bulls and females.
Merritt is a true example of how to be a continuous learner and why you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. “I find it true that you must continue to learn every day. If you stop focusing on learning for only a few years, you will never keep up. Do your best to stay ahead of the curve.”, said Merritt.
