Liebharts prove beef performance with data
SUBMITTED BY MISSOURI FARMERS CARE
The Liebhart family in Nodaway County operates ELS Livestock, which uses paperwork of thoughtfully designed composite cattle to back up the performance of its seedstock beef. From left to right are Scott, Stacy, Easton and Landon Liebhart.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Scott and Stacy Liebhart, in partnership with their sons Landon and Easton, operate ELS Livestock near Maryville in Agri-Ready designated Nodaway County. The operation includes registered seedstock, show stock, background finishing and direct-to-consumer sales. The Liebharts believe Red Angus genetics are an important thread woven into the tapestry of superior beef genetics that provide the best product for their customers and consumers.
“We believe in developing a variety of genetics to meet the needs of our customers,” Stacy said.
Scott and Stacy responded to customer demand for improved genetics, not by breed or by color, but through data to back up the performance expected from seedstock beef. Composite cattle are the result of strategic crossbreeding.
Instead of purebred claims, the marketing edge of ELS is composite bulls bred with Red Angus or Salers influence and the registration to document the cross. All ELS seedstock are registered, giving customers the assurance of the genetics supporting their investment.
“Red Angus fit the type of cattle that we want to raise,” Scott said. “I believe that red breeds are on the rise. We’ll probably never be able to out compete the marketing of other breeds, but our cattle grade just as well.”
ELS Livestock is home to about 150 head of registered beef, with 50 Red Angus among the herd.
The Liebharts produce beef by type.
“We’re proud to share that one of our bull buyers tops the market with his calves each year and those calves aren’t black,” Stacy said. “The beef production chain sees the value of composite cattle.”
ELS Livestock was born from Scott and Stacy’s partnership with her parents, David and Janelle Frueh, who built Silver Spur Salers. Growth in the operation allowed Scott and Stacy to differentiate their own herd and business, although the two operations continue to work in lockstep just as many multigenerational family farms do.
Apart from seedstock production, all other beef at ELS is raised on the farm to be marketed on the rail. They also sell a lot of butcher beef direct to consumers from the farm and by the cut. Stacy believes that hitting every niche is important for profitability in the beef business.
Stacy is the all-shifts manager at the Maryville Veterinary Clinic where she has worked for 26 years. Scott works for ABS Global, a bovine genetics and cattle breeding technologies company, doing custom artificial insemination.
“My AI customers are bull buyers,” Scott said. “AI customers are clinic customers. Clinic customers are bull buyers. We enjoy a tight knit, overlapping cattle community from business that extends from the clinic.”
Stacy helped found the Nodaway County Cattlemen’s Association, a Missouri Cattlemen’s Association affiliate. Missouri Cattlemen’s Association is a partner of Missouri Farmers Care.
“It really is for our kids,” Stacy said. “We hope our kids can enjoy the same lifestyle we’ve had. We want to pass that down to them and hope to share it with some grandkids someday.”
Scott and Stacy are both lifetime cattle producers.
“Producing cattle is all I’ve ever known,” Scott said. “Every dime I earn is directly related to cattle. When I get to see green grass covered in cattle and calves, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
