Cash cows?

by Susan Gibbs Record Reporter
Published: May 15, 2008

Three pregnant Angus heifers were loaded into a truck at Mountain View Farm in Stanardsville May 1
It was the first leg of their trip to Turkey.
Evan Bowman, son of Mountain View owners Van and Betty Bowman, says it was a matter of “being in the right place at the right time.”
He was at a sale in Culpeper when he met Gordon Thornhill, president of T.K. Exports, Inc. - a Culpeper firm that has been managing export projects for more than 25 years.
Thornhill, who had delivered 1,598 head of cattle to Turkey last year, was looking for more to send over. He’d been getting in touch with “all my contacts throughout the area and the United States,” when Bowman stepped up to the plate.
Bowman let Thornhill know he had some cattle for sale, and a deal was eventually struck.
Both Bowman and Thornhill declined comment about price.
Cattle in Greene and beyond are attracting Thornhill’s attention because the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has been wooing overseas markets.
“The Turkish government wants to expand and improve its beef supply,” says Marion Horsley, spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS).
VDACS marketing experts there have long recognized Turkey as a potentially strong market for Virginia cattle, according to a statement released by that department early this year.
Turkey’s cattle inventories have been decreasing steadily for more than a decade, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA reported in August of 2007 that most Turkish livestock grazed on public land on a first-come first-serve basis and received little or no additional supplements. In addition, the Turkish government placed severe restrictions on the importation of beef or veal.
But the rising demand for high quality beef, particularly from the tourism industry, attracted private investors looking to establish commercial farms. In July of 2007, the month before that report was published; the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture opened its doors to the United States.
T.K. Exports stepped through, selling 198 bred Angus and Hereford heifers and 1,400 Holstein bred heifers to Turkish buyers.
But T.K. Exports did not make the sale all alone.
“The Department of Agriculture helps a lot in this state because (it) has people out in the field working with farmers, and knows who’s doing what (via) word of mouth.
Moreover, says Horsley, VDACS marketing staff, led by Director of International Marketing Keith Long and Director of Livestock Marketing Frank Graves, spent years establishing a firm foundation and building trust to ensure a good business relationship with the Turks. 
In the VDACS statement released earlier this year, Long explained: “Starting several years ago, we began using funds provided by U.S. Livestock Genetics Export, Inc. (USLGE), a nationwide livestock-specific trade association, to help lay the groundwork with Turkish officials, livestock farmers and agribusinesses through an exchange of visits. We have … an outstanding product to sell because the quality of Virginia cattle is well-known and could meet Turkey’s exacting specifications.”
Graves made several trips to Turkey to gather market information, conduct buyer missions, and participate in trade shows. He even gave a seminar at Animalia Istanbul on the “Development of a Foundation Beef Herd for Turkey.”
Serious discussions began in early 2007. The Turkish buyers gave T.K Exports a very definite set of requirements.  The cattle had to test negative for specified diseases, had to be bred for a certain range of time, had to be a certain weight, had to have a strong production history and had to meet genetic standards. 
The VDACS field staff Thornhill mentioned located appropriate beef cattle in Fauquier, Orange, Culpeper and Louisa counties for the buyers’ review.  They also developed an official certificate of identification for each of the beef heifers, helping finalize the sale.  The buyer of the beef cattle was a first-time purchaser of beef animals with plans to use them as a foundation herd. 
Then: VDACS staff was on hand at the Port of Wilmington, Delaware to help move thirty-six tractor trailer loads of cattle onto the ship Frisian Express in a process that took approximately ten hours.  Two weeks later, when the ship arrived in Turkey, Graves and Thornhill were at the port to help reverse the process. More than 100 trucks were required to deliver all 1,598 head to the various farms. 
The two spent a week visiting every one of the buyers. They saw to it that the cattle had arrived in good condition and were adjusting to their new environment … and maintained the face-to-face relationship that would bring more business to Virginia farmers. 
Perhaps as a result, when T.K. Exports put together its second group of cattle for shipment, “ninety-five percent came from Virginia,” says Thornhill.
The Bowman cattle were part of that shipment.