Written by Kerry Hoffschneider
Hello everyone. This time, I am going to introduce you to Larry Hafer of Hafer Cattle Company, Impact Solutions, and leader of the Graze Master Genetics® Certification program. The Graze Master Group is made up of the following family of businesses: Hope Sojourns, Impact Solutions, Graze Master Genetics® Certification Program, and Transitional Ag Consulting – Powered by Graze Master. All these brands make up our leadership team and work independently, but in tandem, to make a difference for agriculture in the areas of profitability, soil building, water conservation, livestock husbandry, communications, marketing, and more.
ABOUT LARRY:
“I guess you could say, you don’t get to where you’re supposed to go without doing it,” Larry Hafer said. “Because you have to.”
Hafer grew up in Seward, Neb. on an acreage. His family didn’t farm themselves, but they worked tirelessly with farmers and livestock producers all over the area. He knew in order for him to make it in life, he was going to have to earn it.
Sometimes that meant helping when people were going to be away from their livestock for an extended period of time. Those opportunities meant even more responsibilities and more management skills were being developed. “I called on a lot of the veterinarians and worked with them. Then the vet clinic in Seward offered me a job when I was 12 or 13 years old. I did a lot of small animal work, helped with surgeries, ran the phones, made appointments, and manned the office on Saturday mornings. I honestly always thought I was going to be a veterinarian.”
The course of life would take another path, though – building his own cattle herd, “I started being around the show cattle world when I was 14 with some friends who were showing, and I was helping them. I would travel with them and showed the livestock no one else wanted to show. My family couldn’t afford to buy animals or keep animals yet because we didn’t have a place for them where we lived.”
“I got to travel the country and met thousands of people – movie stars and musicians with cattle, and most importantly salt-of-the-earth awesome people,” he recalled.
A keen eye for the best cattle led to Hafer breeding even better cattle to show, and also an opportunity to be a livestock judge. “In the early 1980s, the Hereford Association had its junior field day, and they used to hold those on people’s farms and ranches. The first field day I went to, I signed up for the judging contest. People didn’t think I knew anything yet at that time, and I wasn’t a member of the association. I ended up winning the contest.”
“When I studied at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and was earning my degree in Agricultural Sciences, our college livestock judging team went to the National Western Stock Show College Livestock Judging Class in Denver. There were 12 classes, and I had 596 points out of 600 in placing.”
Hafer aced all 12 classes, and no one had done that since the 1940s. “I ended up being third or fourth overall out of 200 kids. At the American Royal in Kansas City. In 1992, I earned the high individual spot and won the entire contest out of everybody. Another one of our team members placed fourth at that contest, and another one in the top 10. Our team in Louisville ended up in the top 10.”
Hafer said his family operation today, with the support and help of his wife Julie and their kids, is really based on many decades of pursuing that perfect animal that has the makeup and ability to thrive anywhere they send them. “Our base of Red Angus genetics is the cornerstone of our program. We market bulls and females across the US, as well as offer a diverse selection of semen and embryos to our customers. The focus has always been on the cow and those real-world cow traits that come from those proven cow families. Fertility, udder quality, soundness, phenotype, and built-in longevity are the basis of everything we do.”
“As we continue to advance that superior animal, we have been focusing on more crossbreeding systems to not only enhance our product but to have our customers benefit from the heterosis that comes with these systems. As we look to the next chapter at Impact Solutions, it arose out of my own experience at Hafer Cattle Company, tirelessly seeking innovation around every turn that would actually save me time and help me make a better living. When it comes to making an ‘Impact’ that truly makes a difference on your ranch or farm, we’re your premium source hard at work seeking more effective tools, technology, and cutting-edge resources every day.”
Contact Larry Hafer
(402) 937-2585
