Our Staff

The B.H. Cooper Farm Story and Philosophy

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We three sisters are blessed to be the fourth generation to own B. H. Cooper. The farm,

consisting of almost 600 acres came into our family in 1871. Our great, great grandfather was a miller

and designed and built a water ground mill. Our grandfather replaced that mill after a series of incidents

that made the mill unusable. Our grandfather, who had only a third-grade education, but in our day

would have earned a degree from VA Tech, took the design of the mill to the next level. It was a

laborious process which required the building of a form to take to Danville to have it filled.  Later he

would bring the part back to the mill, build another form to accommodate the part that had just been

caste and drive back to Danville.

               When the mill itself was finished, the next job was to build a dam to hold back water. The race

was designed to stop the water at the top of the big wheel that ran the belts, cogs and stones which

ground the corn into meal. After years of production of water ground meal, the dam up the

creek broke and Daddy bought an electrically operated grist mill which the bootleggers loved on

Saturday afternoon.

               Mama and Daddy were true partners on the farm. Mama’s shtick was putting newspapers into

gullies. Because of her work, she and Daddy received a Conservation Award from Farm Services many

years ago. Daddy had earned a Master’s Degree in Animal Husbandry immediately after the War. It is

said that Mama proofread and edited his papers, something Daddy vociferously denied.

               Daddy developed a cow herd and we can remember growing up how he used to pour over

magazines with pictures of bulls and select those whom he wanted to have artificially inseminated into

his cows. Over time, he was known to have the finest herd of cattle in the area.

                When Mary Sue moved back to the farm in 2002 the fences, breeding facilities and soil needed

more that she and her sisters could manage. At the suggestion of one of Daddy’s former ag students

who was then a County Agent in Henry County, we were directed to Farm Services. Over the next 7

years the farm was transformed with new fences, two wells, 22 pastures, 24 waterers, and eventually

five working facilities.

               Next came the cows. Mary Sue determined that the pastures were not big enough to market

calves based on volume. The solution? To pursue a value added herd based on artificial and later

embryo transplants. For the past 12 years the farm has engaged the services of Dr. Allen Strecker of

Lexington, Virginia. Allen is a well-known and highly regarded vet who practices in VA, NC and WVA.

Allen has helped us develop the prototype for our cows based, of course, on good feet and legs. But

beyond that and importantly, we want our cows to be deep bodied, thick, with tight udders and small

teats. Any cows with that profile are easy keepers. We have developed the practice of feeding grain to

our heifers so that they may weigh over 1100 lbs at the time of giving birth. Their size helps reduce

complications from calving and their first calves can more than compete with those calves from older

cows.  Equally important all of our cows, including first calf heifers maintain their body scores

throughout the year.

               Mary Sue has gotten a lot of flak over the years for talking to her cows. We’re tire of hearing her mantra: GENTLENESS, GENETICS AND GRASS.

                We are now so fortunate to have Jonathan and Danny Wood leasing the farm and owning the

cows. Mary Sue often says that the cows don’t know they have been sold. That’s important to her. It

brings her much satisfaction that Jonathan and Danny are committed to continuing the breeding

program under the tutelage of Allen, believing that together they can take the herd to the next level.

We realize that we haven’t said much about Bulls and we should. Jonathan and Danny now

own two outstanding Bennett Bulls, one with an EPD of 125 and the other with an EPD of135.

               Finally. each bred heifer which leaves the farm leaves with the B.H. Cooper farm imprimatur.

She has been handled with mutual respect without losing respect for her handler and looks forward to a

new home where she will be respected as well. At least that’s what she has told Mary Sue.