By Laura L. Valenti
OFN Contributor
Joe Hardcastle on the best way he’s found to feed his Angus and
Brangus crossed with horned Hereford cattle: Using GoBob’s hay
feeders
When Joe Hardcastle took home a
new insert for his GoBob hay feeders,
he did not expect to be quite as
impressed as he was. “I saw them at a
Springfield show and brought one
home to try,” he stated while standing
in his barn, surrounded by trucks from
his main business, JH Excavating.
“After
working
with their
demonstrator, I liked it so well, I
immediately ordered four more.”
As Bob Studebaker, owner of GoBob
Feeders explained, “we were one of the
first to offer a hay conserving feeder
and the first to offer a square-shaped
feeder for round bales. Sometimes
something new is difficult to get
accepted by the public so we offered an
unconditional money back guarantee, if
the customer did not feed 25 percemt
less hay than they were previously
feeding with a ring feeder. This winter
(2008-2009) we have surpassed over
6,000 feeders sold since its inception.
We now confidently offer the same
money back guarantee and have upped
the anty to 30 percent less hay fed. Joe
Hardcastle was the very first to
purchase one and then called back to
order more.”
“I run about 140 cattle, on three
different pieces of property,” Joe
Hardcastle continued. “I came to
Lebanon 40 years ago, working in the
lumber industry, and now I run this.”
He waved an arm to take in the lot in
front of the barn, filled with trucks of
varying sizes and descriptions, all
associated with excavation and
construction. “I grew up on a farm in
Ozark County, along the Missouri-
Arkansas line. I did 4-H as a kid, and that life is something I’ve always loved.
My wife,” he laughed. “She doesn’t care
for the cows, but I do.” Sherrill
Hardcastle
runs
her
own
monogramming business, all on the
same property as Joe’s excavating
business and the majority of his cattle.
“This is a hobby that I love. That’s
the best way I can describe it,” Joe
continued. “I moved to Lebanon from
Springfield in 1969 and worked in the
lumber yards for 26 years. You know,
you’d go to work every day, with all the
hustle, and have people yelling at you
about this or that, but then to come
home and work with the cows, now to
me, that’s relaxing. The only problem
now, with these cell phones, is that
they can find you anywhere, even out
in the field. The only way you can truly
find any peace is if you shut this thing
off,” he added, as he pulled his cell
phone out of his coveralls front pocket.
He shook his head, with a smile. “I
run a Brangus-Angus mix and breed
them to horned Hereford bulls, which I
get out of Kansas, and that gets you
black baldy calves. I’ve been doing it
that way for years. I feed straight hay in
the winter, with salt mineral range
cubes and they winter real well that
way. And the GoBob feeders, all I can
say is that they really do save on the
hay. There’s not a lot of money in the
cattle these days, but well, they really
are my therapy at the end of the day.”
Back to Hay Conserver Bale Feeders
Sold exclusively by:
GoBob Pipe & Steel Sales 1-877-851-2365
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