Built to Last
Quality, integrity and commitment are the foundation of Mississippi-based 7L Farms.
Getting started
When looking to get into the cattle business, Jimmy Levens stayed true to his identity – he is a builder. So with Quality, Integrity and Commitment as his tools, Levens built a foundation that would support his new Angus business for years to come. And with that, 7L Farms was born in southern Mississippi.
"Those three words – Quality, Integrity and Commitment – are pretty important around here; they're the driving force of how we approach doing business, how we interact with our employees, and the relationships we have with customers and other breeders," says 7L Farms managing partner Dr. Michael Bishop.
The high standards that Levens and his wife, Lucy, and their five children have applied to the development of their 7L Farms are rooted in the family's success in their construction business, J. Levens Builders (JLB). JLB's mission statement, "Big enough to tackle large projects without sacrificing small company ideals and focus," also applies to the development of their Angus farm.
7L started in 2001 with 30 acres in Long Beach, Miss. and five head purchased from longtime friend Irving Favre, the father of NFL quarterback Brett Favre, who worked for Levens for two summers while attending Southern Mississippi University. Levens then began hitting the Angus circuit, researching pedigrees and studying expected progeny differences (EPDs). During the next two years he added 80 head and relocated the growing herd in 2003 to a new 350-acre tract.
As the herd grew again over the next two years, Levens says they were already looking to buy new land when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and jumpstarted their plans. "After Katrina, we had to relocate the cattle as quickly as possible, because our grazing resources were depleted. Being only 14 miles from the Gulf Coast, all our grass was burnt by the salt air," Levens recalls.
The 7L herd found its current home on 3,000 acres in Wiggins, Miss., in 2005. The newly built 7L Cattle Development Facility includes offices for the farm staff, a research lab, show and sale center, and a commercial kitchen and meeting room, which are opened to community and industry organizations.
The cattle at 7L come from farms such as Kahn, Southern Cattle Company, Limestone, Three Trees, Express, Vintage and a variety of other genetically power-packed establishments, locally and across the country. "Our cattle have to be hardy, because we fight two environmental challenges in the South – high temperatures and humidity," Levens says. "If an animal can make it in our climate, we believe they can make it anywhere in the world."
A team approach
The day-to-day operation of the 1,000-head 7L Farms is entrusted to the accomplished hands of Dr. Bishop, an expert in bovine genetics with several years experience in stem cell cloning, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and DNA research.
"Mike is the best asset I've ever put on the books at 7L," Levens says.
With master's and doctoral degrees in animal breeding and genetics from The Ohio State University, Dr. Bishop's prior career experience in bovine genetics is extensive and impressive. For example, at the Roman L. Hruska Meat Animal Research Center (MARC), Dr. Bishop was senior author of the research team that developed and published the first genetic linkage map for cattle. Later, as director of research and technology at ABS Global, he released the world's first bovine clone from a non-embryonic-derived cell and cloned such notable Angus bulls as EXT and JLB Exacto 416.
"With those kinds of credentials, Mike is using his experience to genetically position 7L to make long-term contributions to the Angus breed and the entire beef industry," Levens says. "Aside from the technology, he's also put together a team of talented, educated people that I am very proud of. We couldn't be where we're at today without them."
"We've carefully selected a team of skilled and knowledgeable people who have gained their knowledge through a balance of hands-on experience and advanced degrees," Bishop explains. "With that level of education, we have a team that has learned how to learn and is committed to continuing to learn."
As a team they share their expertise to create a system of management that is efficient and effective.
Progressive breeding
The breeding program of 7L aggressively employs technologies such as DNA marker-assisted selection, IVF and embryo transfer (ET). With Dr. Bishop's leadership, 7L is also building a multi-generational database of DNA samples of all the animals in its herd. As DNA technology is becoming more commercially feasible, Dr. Bishop says that he is working to identify animals within major Angus cow families that are genetically predisposed to express certain desirable traits.
One thing that sets the 7L breeding program apart from others is that they have their own on-farm DNA laboratory capable of handling DNA sampling and embryo manipulation.
"We do a lot of embryo transfer now, and with our new lab I intend to increase our use of in-vitro fertilization. It's an effective tool to accelerate genetic progress generationally," Dr. Bishop explains. "IVF can be used on virgin heifers to acquire eggs without reproductively or hormonally upsetting the applecart, so to speak."
7L currently ETs about 10 cows per month while operating 10 months out of the year. July and August are excluded because of the extreme heat. "When you consider all of our females that respond, we're averaging more than eight embryos per flush," Dr. Bishop says. "For example, in January 2007, our 14-cow average was 12.5 embryos per flush. As you can imagine, we're extremely happy with our success rate."
Females are artificially inseminated (AIed), because "it offers tremendous economic value and consistently high quality," Levens says. "When you look at the cost of buying a high-quality bull that has a highly desirable genetic package compared to the cost of buying his semen straws, AI is an easy financial choice without sacrificing quality."
With such a high-tech breeding program, it's no surprise that 7L's marketing program is rapidly expanding. Though private treaty bull sales historically averaged about 40 bulls per year, the sale of 7L bulls to commercial cattlemen will be growing steadily over the next few years. Offerings of elite females and commercial cattle are also growing, and the first production sale was held in October 2007.
Nutrition and herd health
Balanced nutrition and a rigid herd health program are important to the success of any breeding program.
"We've tried to set up a situation where both our donors and our recips are getting mineral in their feed everywhere they turn. Whether it's in a liquid feed supplement, in their forage feed or in lick tubs, they're always getting macro minerals added to their diet," Dr. Bishop says.
In addition to growing dryland corn silage, 7L is experimenting with seeding pastures with a mix of forages. For example, a typical mix might include sweet peas, crab grass and clover. By combining new warm-season grasses and legumes, they are able to capitalize on the legumes' ability to fixate nitrogen and return it back to the soil.
Through wet forage analysis, Dr. Bishop is able to determine feed values and detect possible deficiencies. "We focus on getting the soil right, so the plants are delivering as much macro minerals to the cattle as possible. We want the forages to complement each other nutritionally," Dr. Bishop explains. "We've been focused on getting a better harmony between the animals and the soil. To have good cattle you have to raise good forages. It's a symbiotic relationship."
7L has also introduced exotic grasses, such as Ethiopian Teff grass. "It's allowed us to increase tonnage and the number of cuttings; the quality of the feed has been exceptionally good," Dr. Bishop says.
Other experiments have included fertilization, plant nutrient supplements and foliar feeding. He's also experimented with planting a combination of rye grass and turnips. "This place is really starting to look like a research farm," Bishop notes, a quality that no doubt sets 7L apart from other Angus farms.
With Dr. Bishop's thorough use of scientific experimentation to increase the production efficiency of the land and the cattle that inhabit it, it makes sense that 7L's herd health program is just as comprehensive.
"We have a written herd health program that we revisit frequently with our consulting veterinarian out of Nebraska and our local veterinarian here in Mississippi," Dr. Bishop says.
The 7L herd is a Brucellosis accredited-free herd and is continually tested for Johne's disease, bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), tuberculosis (TB) and bovine leukosis virus (BLV). Modified live virus (MLV) vaccines are systematically used to prevent other diseases.
"Rigid health testing is neither easy nor inexpensive," Levens says, "but it is necessary to offer customers a product they can trust."
What's important to you
To ensure their progressive program meets the needs of their customers, 7L instituted an interactive web site survey, titled "What's Important to You," to establish an open dialogue on the values, concerns and ideas of other cattle breeders. Angus enthusiasts can complete the short survey anonymously at www.7L.com.
"The survey will help us understand the big picture of our customers' wants and needs," Levens says. "The results may even help us make breeding decisions, so we can provide the genetic package that our customers are looking for."
"In an unbiased and anonymous way, we want to understand what is really important to Angus breeders and commercial producers, so we can make the right decisions at 7L," Dr. Bishop says. "If you make decisions based on half truths and biased information, you can't make the right decisions if it's based on the wrong facts."
Ever the researcher, Dr. Bishop says he'll closely analyze the data that's received from this survey and seek input from other 7L team members to make fact-based decisions to improve the business.
Investing in youth
Although the cattle certainly are special, Dr. Bishop is quick to point out that this is a people business, and they are the most important asset to invest in.
"I'm a firm believer in supporting youth. If we as Angus breeders don't take the leadership role of keeping them active in the agriculture industry, who do we expect to take on that role," Levens asks. "Offering an internship program feeds into our goal for young adults to stay involved in the industry, and we get some wonderful help around the farm."
The 7L internship program started in 2006 through Dr. Bishop's connections in academia. Animal science and pre-veterinary students from multiple states across the country have participated in the program, usually for a three-month period each. By seeking to understand each student's unique set of interests and skills, 7L tailors internship experiences to each student. In addition to normal chore duties around the farm, interns are each assigned a research project, which, according to Dr. Bishop, provides 7L with useful information while giving the students the field experience they were looking for.
"These students are going to go on to great things, and we want them to be able to look back and say, ‘I got my start at 7L, and it was a great experience.' To me, that is just as valuable as the genetics in the cattle that we produce," Dr. Bishop says.
"We are always interested in having new interns join our program," he continues. "We encourage interested students to visit our web site and contact us for information about applying."
7L is also looking to start a local cattle club for "people who are interested in the educational side of the industry," Dr. Bishop says. "We'd like to choose a topic each month to learn about and host meetings here at the farm that include guest speakers. We want to create a situation where we socialize and learn together."
Markets of the future
"Our long-term goal is that 7L becomes vertically integrated with full retail capabilities directly to the consumer," Dr. Bishop says, noting that they already sell freezer beef. "We'd like to merge multiple cooperator herds in a full-scale business that operates from the farm level to the consumer's plate."
But regardless of the path 7L takes in the future, you can be sure that Levens' core values of Quality, Integrity and Commitment will be at the forefront in producing beef cattle. After all, with that kind of solid foundation, 7L Farms is Built to Last.