BRODNAX, VA – Ten years ago, Terry and Andrea Grech bought an old dairy farm in Brunswick County and embarked on an encore career of raising cattle. For the first five years they kept commercial cattle. For the past five years they have been raising registered Black Angus.
As smaller and newer producers, the Greches have leveraged the good reputations of established Virginia-wide and regional cattle institutions to accelerate their ability to market their cattle and to provide quality seedstock to the commercial cattlemen of Virginia and beyond.
In particular, they use the Virginia Beef Cattle Improvement Association’s (BCIA) Culpeper Bull Test Program to measure and market some of their bulls; the Amelia Area Cattlemen’s co-mingled feeder calf program to market some of their steers; and the sales of larger seedstock producers such as Knoll Crest to market some of their bred heifers.
“With those programs,” Terry said, “it takes a little guy and almost makes him a big guy.”
TL & AT Farms, as the operation is officially known, is a family affair. Terry’s brother Jeff is the primary equipment man. Andrea and Terry handle the cattle, with Andrea being, in Terry’s description, the “cow whisperer.” Terry, who previously had a four-decade career in sawmill log procurement, makes the breeding decisions.
The farm’s name comes from the initials of the first names of Terry’s and Andrea’s children – Tanner and Lindsay – and the first initials of Terry’s and Andrea’s own names. Lindsay and her family live in a home on the farm.
One thing which sets TL & AT apart is their use of horses for field work. Jeff has long loved working with horses – the farm at present has two Percherons and one Belgian. When the horses are used, Jeff will hitch them either to a ground-drive cart or a forecart with a Pioneer engine and head to the fields to work. With the horses he has mown hay (with a nine-foot sickle bar mower), tedded, raked, moved and unrolled hay, dragged pastures and spread manure.
Jeff Grech does the tractor work on the farm. Sometimes he hitches up draft horses and will do field work that way too. Photo by Karl H. Kazaks
At the same time, the farm also embraces modern technology such as AI and the use of ultrasound to sex the embryos of bred cattle.
“Ultrasound is such a great tool,” Terry said. “Knowing in the spring how many bull calves and heifer calves to expect in the fall helps with the management decisions of what to keep and what to sell.”
The farm’s herd calves in mid-September. This year the herd happened to include a number of first calf heifers.
At present the farm’s total number of mother cows is 33. In the past the number has been as high as 46, but when the Greches moved from commercial to registered they wanted to focus on quality over quantity.
“I wanted to do more,” Terry said, explaining his decision to get into seedstock production. “I wanted to do something more impactful. I also like to compete.”
Like other seedstock producers, the overarching strategy is simple: Make a better dam and match it with a good sire. Specifically, Terry’s goal is to breed bulls which give commercial producers the growth they are looking for, so weaning weight and yearling weight are important. After that, he selects for carcass quality, docility and feet.
“It’s an art,” he said. “It takes time to improve herd genetics.”
The Greches take very seriously their responsibility to be good stewards of their land and their animals. They clip pastures to control weeds and don’t overgraze, regularly rotating between 13 paddocks across 150 acres of pasture. The Meherrin River provides the southern boundary for the farm.
“It’s my job to keep the animals healthy and strong,” Terry said, “so they can put a good animal on the ground and grow them well.”
by Karl H. Kazaks
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