Sam Enloe

The Enloe family's farm journey began in 1996 when Richard and Linda Enloe purchased the farm from Richard's parents. Since then, the operation has grown steadily from 60 to 600 milking cows and evolved into a true multigenerational business. Today, Richard and Linda's children – Sam, Abe, and Kate – work with their parents to manage the dairy, youngstock and steer operations. 

"It's been a growth period over the last 20 years," says Sam. "We raise all our own heifers and finish every steer born on the farm." 

Everyone has a Role

Each family member has found a place in the operation. Sam manages the dairy, overseeing breeding, herd health and cow movement. Abe runs what the family calls “the steer farm,” managing the cattle they finish. Kate handles all bookkeeping while Richard handles all the feed mixing for the dairy and has become the most enthusiastic user of Performance Beef.

“We’ve got multiple herds across multiple sites, even separate business entities,” Sam says. “But we all stay connected through Performance Beef.”

Keeping Cattle and Rations in Sync

With so many moving parts and rations, Performance Beef has become a central part of their daily workflow, especially for tracking feed and managing rations.

"I used to work in nutrition, so I do all of our own ration balancing," Sam says. "We've got cattle on 15 different rations. I can input everything from my phone and update as feeds change. I don't have to hand out paper or worry about people making mistakes." 

Managing Across Enterprises

Performance Beef also helps the Enloes manage feeding and inventory across more than just their home operation. Sam partners with his father-in-law to feed out purchased feeder cattle under a separate enterprise, using the same Performance Beef subscription.

"It's nice because we use the program differently across each site," Sam explains. "At home, I use it to manage rations and inventory. At my father-in-law's, we track cattle in and out, feed and closeout data – it's more of a traditional feedlot setup."

From Pen and Paper to Precision

Before adopting Performance Beef, feed records were tracked manually – if at all.

“Sometimes it was just in someone’s head,” Sam says with a laugh. “If we needed to know how much silage we used in a year, we had to guess. Now I can just pull up the weights.”

The shift to Performance Beef has created measurable improvements in accuracy and decision-making.

“We don’t have a yield monitor on our chopper,” Sam explains. “So now I use feed data from Performance Beef to reconcile inventory and get a sense of yields. That kind of accuracy has made a big difference.”

Seamless for Anyone on the Farm

Whether it’s Sam, his dad or a part-time hired hand, Performance Beef ensures feeding stays accurate no matter who’s behind the wheel.

“My dad does 95% of the mixing,” Sam says. “But we’ve got a guy who helps out about once a week. With Performance Beef, it’s easy for him to hop in and go. He grabs the iPad, and everything’s there.”

Advice to Other Producers

“If you want accuracy and an easy way to confirm that, this is it,” Sam says. “You can track your inventory, catch mixing errors and answer questions quickly. It doesn’t have to be complicated – it just has to work.”

Even with 15-plus rations and cattle spread across multiple locations, Sam says Performance Beef keeps everything organized. 

“It takes a little training at first, but after that, it’s smooth,” Sam adds. “It’s just a great organizational tool.”