Hometown Stories – Farming dream comes true

Craig Hammond — even his name around his home in Glade Spring is synonymous with cattle — has taken farming to a whole new level, buying and selling as many as 100,000 head of cattle each year to some of the nation’s largest cattle feedlots.

During the fall when sales are at optimum levels, Hammond can ship anywhere from 50 to 80 tractor-trailer loads of cattle each week to feedlots in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado, with a majority of his livestock going to Fredin Brothers, a feeder cattle procurement operation in Springfield, Minnesota.

His success and know-how in the cattle industry are daunting, especially since the livestock dealer and cattle farmer comes from parents who never farmed.

“My dad was an education administrator. He was never a farmer,” said Hammond. “He still sometimes helps me on the farm and he’s 82 now. But, I had a few relatives and neighbors who farmed when I was a kid. My grandparents had a small farm with a few cows.”

Hammond’s wife Lori, who is an integral part of the business, speaks highly of her husband’s success. “I’m so proud of what he has accomplished. Hardly anyone today starts out without any inherited land. He started out from scratch with nothing,” she said.

“Now, he eats, breathes, and sleeps cattle,” said the wife with a smile.

Hammond grew up in the Plum Creek community of Washington County, just two miles from where he and his wife and three daughters live. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to be a farmer. I guess I was just born with it.”

After Hammond got a taste for raising the first two bottled-fed calves, the next year he bought four calves to fatten.

“My whole life, it just seems like I always wanted to double my herd,” he said.

By the time he was a senior at Patrick Henry High School in 1989, Hammond was growing four acres of Burley tobacco. Ten years later, that number had increased to more than 100 acres of tobacco.

In the mid 1990s, he focused on renting small farms in the area. More land meant more cattle he could buy and sell.

By1998, Hammond purchased his first tract of land from the former Allison dairy farm, nearby property that had been split into different tracts and sold individually. His first purchase of 127 acres continued to grow as he eventually was able to buy more tracts and put the original farm back together.

“Growing up, I dreamed of owning this farm just down the road from where I was raised,” he said. “I rode by it on the school bus every day. I rode my bicycle by it. I kept up with what was going on with the dairy farm my whole childhood.”

The 550-acre farm that took him 20 years to put back together now serves as the main headquarters for his cattle business, and also where Hammond and his family live today.

Westward bound

The cattle farmer started out making a name for himself by purchasing and grazing weaned stocker calves that weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The next step, he said, was to become a supplier for the feed lots in the western parts of the country which buy the fatten cattle once their weights double.

It was a big jump for the cattle farmer, but one that would pay off in the end.

“I had always wanted to ship cattle to feed lots out West,” said Hammond, who as a young farmer began traveling thousands of miles every year to the sites to make connections with people who would eventually become his business partners.

Turns out, those connections became the foundation for his business today.

CH Cattle Company was built by Hammond from scratch in 1999, a diversified cattle operation that offers buying, selling, and grazing programs.

The cattleman embarked on a new way of selling livestock in 2010.

In alliance with Fredin Brothers, the cattle company formed a local buying facility at Hammond’s Glade Spring farm, allowing cattle producers to bring their cattle directly to Hammond’s facility instead of selling them at the livestock market. The cattle are unloaded, sorted, and weighed from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Wednesday throughout the year. All calves, yearlings, and slaughter cows and bulls are accepted.

“The weigh-up program has been a big success,” said Hammond. The program allows local producers to sell their cattle as well as purchase farm-fresh cattle to take home for grazing.

“We feel this process is such a great benefit for the producer and for the feeder calves because there’s less stress on the cattle. It prevents health issues that can occur during marketing,” Hammond said.

‘You learn it on your own’

Hammond credits unwavering perseverance for getting him where he is today.

“You gotta love it,” he said. “I’ve always said Harvard doesn’t teach what we do. You can’t get this education at school. You learn it on your own.”

He laughed and added, “You can’t pay somebody a million dollars to do this kind of work, but for me, I love it. I look forward to getting up and doing this every day. If I’m not productive, I’m failing. I’m always thinking about the next deal. Even when I’m on vacation, I’m on the phone trading cattle. That’s my job and that’s my hobby, too.”

Hammond wakes at 6 in the mornings, drinks a cup of coffee, and heads to the farm office where he and his employees make a plan for the day. His wife Lori helps to manage the financial side of the business.

“We have a lot of long days and put in a lot of hours on the farm. It’s not a 9-to-5 job. My employees and I enjoy it. It’s what we like to do,” said the cattle farmer.

“I’ve had some of the same employees for years and years. We’re just like family. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.”

More land, more cattle

Another of Hammond’s hobbies is buying land for the many head of cattle he accumulates.

“I guess I have a land-buying addiction,” he said with a laugh. “I love taking mismanaged land that’s grown up and turning it back into something productive. Pretty much, I’m restoring land,” said Hammond, who owns more than 2,000 acres locally and leases several thousand acres.

Some of his employees serve on a construction crew for the cattle operation, remodeling barns on newly purchased land. Other employees build roads and fences, install water systems, and sow grass over cleared land for cattle to graze.

“There’s always something that needs to get done —making hay and planting corn for the livestock,” said Hammond.

As he surveyed the farm behind his house and the cattle that grazed on the hill, Hammond reflected on what it’s taken to grow the farm in leaps and bounds throughout the years.

“I just turned 51. I’m not sure how much more growing I want to do,” laughed Hammond.

“I guess I’ll keep on buying land and keeping cattle until I’m dead. That’s about what it will be.”

Carolyn R. Wilson is a freelance writer in Glade Spring, Virginia. Contact her at citydesk@bristolnews.com.