Larry, Sophia, Maria, Nicole, and Lillian
Larry and Sophia Martin and their three daughters began their move to Oregon in 2000. They had decided to sell their 1175 acre farm in the rolling hills of Wayne County, Iowa because of a desire to improve the educational opportunities of their girls and Sophia's dislike of the bitterly cold Iowa winters. In the summer of 2001, after a portion of their Iowa farm sold, they purchased 40 acres of the old Higinbotham Dairy farm just west of Central Point. The dairy cows had been gone for over a decade, but hay barns and machine sheds remained for the use of the Martins. They moved in the week of 9-11. The following spring, Larry shipped 12 bred cows and heifers to their new farm that he had selected from their cow herd in Iowa. Those 12 cows were the foundation of the current cow herd now producing. One of those foundation cows, which the girls nicknamed Moon, has several daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters now producing in the herd. She is the light brown cow pictured above with her calf at side.
Although Larry had grown up on a diversified grain and livestock farm in Missouri, graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Ag, and had run beef cows his entire 25 years of farming, the production and marketing of grass fed beef was a little different enterprise. Larry soon found that the climate and relatively green winters were ideally suited to the production of high quality grass fed and finished beef. Several pastures were reseeded and a rotational grazing system was designed and installed with electric fence and stock watering systems. Approximately 30 grazing paddocks were soon being utilized by the Martins' expanding herd of cows and calves and yearlings being finished on grass. In recent years, adjoining farms have been leased and managed as additional pasture and hay ground.
The Martins also started a pastured poultry operation which involved rotating a 500 hen flock of laying hens around some of the same pastures the cattle were grazing. Eggs were sold at the local farmer's markets and at restaurants and grocery stores including the Ashland Food Coop. After almost 10 years of producing eggs with all the labor provided by family, the decision was made in 2011 to discontinue their laying hen operation, mostly because their labor force was dwindling as Maria and Nicole were off to college.
The Martins have been very thankful for their decision to move to the Rogue Valley. Their daughters have received a top flight education in the valley, and who doesn't love the southern Oregon weather? They have made a multitude of new friends, many of whom are now their loyal customers. Larry has also found opportunities to give back to the Central Point area as he is a member of several community and civic groups including being elected to the Rogue River Valley Irrigation District Board.
Although Larry had grown up on a diversified grain and livestock farm in Missouri, graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Ag, and had run beef cows his entire 25 years of farming, the production and marketing of grass fed beef was a little different enterprise. Larry soon found that the climate and relatively green winters were ideally suited to the production of high quality grass fed and finished beef. Several pastures were reseeded and a rotational grazing system was designed and installed with electric fence and stock watering systems. Approximately 30 grazing paddocks were soon being utilized by the Martins' expanding herd of cows and calves and yearlings being finished on grass. In recent years, adjoining farms have been leased and managed as additional pasture and hay ground.
The Martins also started a pastured poultry operation which involved rotating a 500 hen flock of laying hens around some of the same pastures the cattle were grazing. Eggs were sold at the local farmer's markets and at restaurants and grocery stores including the Ashland Food Coop. After almost 10 years of producing eggs with all the labor provided by family, the decision was made in 2011 to discontinue their laying hen operation, mostly because their labor force was dwindling as Maria and Nicole were off to college.
The Martins have been very thankful for their decision to move to the Rogue Valley. Their daughters have received a top flight education in the valley, and who doesn't love the southern Oregon weather? They have made a multitude of new friends, many of whom are now their loyal customers. Larry has also found opportunities to give back to the Central Point area as he is a member of several community and civic groups including being elected to the Rogue River Valley Irrigation District Board.