It’s a damp, early morning and as the fog begins to dissipate with the rising sun, one teenager is setting out to start his daily chores tending to the family’s cattle.

It’s a pretty typical morning for Jake Travis, 16, of rural Union County, whose family operates a cow-calf operation. As with any family business, everyone has a role, and with Travis, he is no exception.

A typical morning for Travis – the eldest child of Clint and Rachael Travis – involves rising early to check on cattle. Today, he jumps in his work truck that is rigged to dispense feed, which helps him move dozens of cattle from one pasture to the next with ease. As he arrives to the pasture where his cow-calf pairs are penned up, he opens the gate and they wait. With a touch of a button, feed hits the ground and he’s able to single-handedly corral the cattle and guide them to the exact location he wants them.

“You have to get to the gates quicker or they’ll just follow you right out with this feeder on,” he said as he hurries to close the gate after them.

When asked about lessons he has learned working with cattle, he said, “Patience.”

“They are not very smart. If you get a crazy one or a stubborn one, it will just make you so mad,” he said.

But, this morning, the cattle follow him without issue.

“I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember,” said Travis.

Travis said each day is a bit different, and depending on what time of the year can have an impact on his work. During winter months, he checks on his cattle more often. Aside from feeding and moving cattle, throughout the year, he is involved with vaccinating calves and “calving out” or assisting in birthing new calves.

Travis said his family’s cattle are purchased in the fall and cow-calf pairs are sold off each spring. As he helps raise and breed them, quality is his main priority, which he achieves through frequent observation and rationed feeding.

While the Travis family doesn’t do anything special to celebrate Beef Month, Travis understands the importance of their role as producers.

“All the cattle we raise is going to meat-packing plants eventually and it’s basically feeding everyone if you eat beef,” he said.

While the cattle operation is serious business, Travis described how tight-knit his family is because of it, as he works closely with his cousins, uncles and grandfather.

“It’s so nice to live so close to everybody and being able to work with them on a daily basis,” he said.

As Travis heads into his junior year at Creston Community High School, he is focused on a future in ag, as he plans on attending Southwestern Community College and looks toward a career in the family’s cattle business.

While 2020 is panning out to be a very atypical year for beef producers with the uncertainties surrounding the potential affects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Travis said his operation continues to do well because of repeat business and increased demand due to panic buying.

“They are selling quite a bit better because people are buying so much meat right now,” he said.

Other observations Travis has made are at the sale barn.

“Nobody can be inside the sale barn. Other than order buyers that are buying for packing plants and stuff, they’re not selling quite as good as they did when people would come in and watch their cows sell, I guess. It’s made it quite a bit different,” he said.

Travis attributes their success to their reputation as long-time, quality beef producers.

“After you sell them for so many years, it does help to have people come back in the future and come buy again,” he said.