Minor Limousin: Passionate Young Limousin Breeders by North American Limousin Foundation

Minor Limousin: Passionate Young Limousin Breeders

Published October 17, 2023
By Sarah Johnson

What began as an FFA project of two commercial cow-calf pairs that his father purchased for him in 2004 is now an elite purebred cow-calf operation Caleb and Tara Minor call their own- Minor Limousin. Caleb and Tara Minor and their two children, Gabe and Reagan, reside in Strafford, Missouri, where they run sixty-five Limousin, Lim-Flex and Fullblood cattle.

After his involvement with that initial FFA project, Caleb was hooked. By 2008, Caleb had fifteen head of his own and began the search for a Limousin bull to use on his commercial cows. His first registered Limousin bull came from Kristy DeOme and that’s when Caleb knew he had to become more involved with the Limousin breed.

When Caleb and Tara met in 2015, Tara had never been around cattle. “I didn’t know anything about cattle when we started and people would comment on the attitude of Limousin cattle, and I would always say, ‘Limousins are the calmest cattle I’ve ever been around’. We have to trust them with our kids, and we do. They’re calm and easy to work with, and we have to have that,” Tara said. Together they decided to transition the commercial cow herd to a purebred operation that could utilize their acreage more efficiently.

In 2018 Caleb and Tara purchased a pregnancy from Pinegar Limousin, which is now their lead donor female, MINO Fiona 001F. MINO Fiona 001F is a daughter of CJSL Creed 5042C and out of the AUTO Callie 403D donor female. “We have a lot of Pinegar genetics in our herd. They do really well for us, and the crew there is so easy to work with,” Caleb said.

“We enjoy the people in the Limousin breed so much. Everyone was so helpful when we were just getting started. I would say the people are what has kept us in the breed more than anything,” Caleb said. “Boyce-Dill Cattle and the entire Pinegar crew have been wonderful to us. Anything we need, they’re there and super helpful. I don’t know where we would be if it weren’t for them helping us,” Caleb said.

“To have those two families steer us in the right direction has meant the world to us,” Caleb said.

Over the past few years Caleb and Tara have worked to build their herd to have a well-established group of individuals. Their main goal is to sell elite show cattle, bred females and bulls. “I like the Limousin breed, I like the people in the breed and just everything about it,” Caleb said. “We would like to become a known source for top quality genetics.”

“The Limousin show family has just been awesome to us. We figured the cattle would be something our kids would enjoy being a part of,” Tara said. Today, the donor females Minor Limousin utilizes are MINO Fiona 001F, AUTO Gitty 269G, AUTO Genevieve 284G, AUTO Strawberry 431D and MAGS Hemera 1641H.

A full circle moment for Caleb and Tara was their Inaugural Online Sale this past March where they sold fifteen lots to seven states across the country. The top-selling lot from their Inaugural Online Sale was MINO King Julian 011K, a 4/5/22, homozygous polled, homozygous black, 60% Lim-Flex son of AUTO King David 120E out of MINO Fiona that sold to Cross Creek Farms of Gray, TN, and Broken Y Cattle of Waynesboro, NC. Minor Limousin retained half semen interest and are excited to see what is up ahead for MINO King Julian 011K.

“We just want to get people into the Limousin breed at the end of the day,” Caleb said. “Anything to help grow the breed is what we strive to do. Younger generations will keep the breed together,” Tara said.

Along with their Annual Online Sale, Minor Limousin consigns to the Great American Pie Sale, the Sale of Sales, the A Night on The Town Vegas Sale and the National Sale. Minor Limousin has sold cattle to over twelve states throughout the county and Canada. “We try to keep our genetics out there more than anything,” Caleb said.

Caleb serves as Treasurer for Missouri Limousin Breeders Association and as a board member for the Heart of Missouri. “We try to be involved in as much as we can be to help the breed and everyone involved. I want the breed to be around when our kids get older so they can have friends in the breed,” Caleb said. At the end of the day it’s truly about family and the people involved in the Limousin breed for Minor Limousin.

“I wish we had one hundred more breeders like Caleb and Tara. They’re a great family- young breeders with vision and dedication to the Limousin breed. Their program is aimed in the right direction for continued success,” said Kiley McKinna of MC Marketing.

ABOUT

Limousin cattle deliver to your bottom line. With superior genetics, a simple crossbreeding plan and state-of-the-art selection tools, the Limousin breed will serve profit-minded cow/calf producers. In today’s competitive markets, taking advantage of all available opportunities is key. The Limousin breed offers a variety of options from Fullblood to Purebred to the Lim-Flex® hybrid (Limousin x Angus cross) to match your program’s needs and market goals. Crossbreeding for the right blend of muscle, maternal ability and profit is easy with Limousin seedstock.