Beth Mullen

LB Porteus Farms is a diverse multi-generational family operation near Coshocton, Ohio, that consists of row crops, a cow/calf herd with a 900-head feedlot and two contract hog facilities. 

Family matters

The growth LB Porteus Farms has experienced in recent years wouldn’t be possible without every member of the family. Beth’s father, Brent Porteus, and sister, Amy, manage all aspects of the cattle business. Beth’s uncle, Knox, and her husband, Cole, are actively involved along with their two daughters, Rylee and Harper. 

Beth helps wherever and whenever she’s needed on the farm. She does anything from helping process calves or loading pigs to field work in the spring and fall. She is also responsible for feedlot billing and maintaining cattle records. “My family knows I want to be involved and makes sure I can be,” says Beth.

Data-driven decisions

“When the farm is your first love, I don’t think you ever feel like you have a real balance,” Beth says. “Between my full-time job as an environmental manager at a local ductile iron foundry, two active kids and the farm, it’s a constant juggling act.”

Beth and her family rely on technology to streamline the day-to-day management of their expanding operation. Two years ago, they built a new facility and started custom feeding cattle, the need for precise data became essential.

“We want to be very data-driven,” Beth says. “Performance Beef has helped us more accurately track costs, understand cost of gains, and see how the cattle are performing so we know where our break-evens are.” 

Today, the Porteus family uses a Lely Robotic Vector feeding system and enter feed data manually into the Performance Beef software to ensure precise, real-time management.

Performance Beef records the health of each individual animal along with tracking feed costs so Beth and her family have accurate data to use when making decisions.

“Like a lot of other folks, we are always short on time, so the more data and individual animal data we have, the better we can be at making decisions that impact the future of our operation,” says Beth.