The Rick Dean family, Farmer City, not only built two new monoslope cattle barns this fall, they also opened them up over the weekend and invited the neighbors over for a look. More than 350 people came by, toured the barns and enjoyed a ribeye and hamburger lunch, compliments of the Dean family.

"We have always had a few cattle on the farm," said Rick Dean. "We've grown our herd during the last 10 years and now have a 150 head fall calving herd and a 150 head spring calving herd. Building these new barns will allow us to finish out all of our own cattle as well as purchase some calves from local farmers. This is an investment for the next generation of our farm."

The Dean family proudly showcased their new cattle finishing barn and cow/calf barn. Pictured (left to right) – Brack, Randy, Wanda, Rick and Derek Dean.

The Open House was a unique opportunity to tour a new dry pack monoslope cow barn and a deep-pit gable cattle finishing barn at the same time. Other cattle farmers and the general public were able to see the latest products and technologies for cattle comfort and environmental stewardship.

The Deans also hosted a canned food collection for a community-wide food pantry and collected monetary donations to benefit local children through Feed My Sheep at the Methodist Church.

"This is our family's livelihood and an opportunity for the next generation of our family to be involved in the farm. We will work hard every day to ensure that we care for our animals, the environment, and our community," Dean said.

Four generations of Dean family members celebrated the opening of their new cattle barns at the Open House. Pictured are (left to right) Derek Dean, Wanda Dean, Rick Dean, Brack Dean and his two children Scott and Faith Dean.

The deep-pit cattle finishing barn is 48'x293' with a 16' feeding/cattle driving alley. This barn features rubber mats on the slats for cattle comfort. All manure will be contained in the pit and then applied to surrounding cropland as fertilizer. On the west end of this barn is a 48'x40' cattle working facility. Calves will enter this barn at approximately 500 pounds and leave ready for market.

The dry bed pack monoslope cow/calf barn is 450'x64' and will house pregnant cows and be a place for them to give birth and care for the newborn calves. There is a 12'x50' heated calf/herdsman warming room and utility area with heat in the floor. The area next to this will have 10'x12' stalls for keeping cows with new calves segregated just after calving.

There are eight 44'x43'pens and three manure storage bays. The alleyway will be cleaned once or twice a week and the pens will be cleaned as needed to keep animals dry and comfortable. This manure will be kept in the storage bays and then applied to crop fields as fertilizer.

"These barns will definitely be a better environment for the cows and the people caring for the cows," Dean said. "This will be a big improvement for how we have raised the cattle in the past with the cows being outside in the mud and contending with the weather extremes."

"The Illinois Beef Association and Illinois Beef Checkoff helped to sponsor the open house to draw attention to a great operator like the Dean family. Cattlemen were able to come and get ideas for how to expand their own operation and consumers saw first-hand how beef producers work hard to produce high quality beef," said Reid Blossom, IBA Executive Vice-President. 

Live cattle sales alone total more than $5 million every day in Illinois and that number increases many times over accounting for sales of fresh and prepared beef products.

"These new barns will bring additional economic activity to our local economy," Dean said. "We will also be adding additional tax revenue to the county, of which a large portion will go to the local school district."

"The barns will also allow us to better utilize the nutrients in the manure as fertilizer for our crops," Dean said. "We will be applying manure to surrounding corn and soybean fields according to the crops' needs based on our nutrient management plan. It's a very sustainable and environmentally friendly system."

The Open House and Ribbon Cutting was sponsored by many partners including: Longhorn Cattle & Swine Confinement, Illinois Beef Association & Illinois Beef Checkoff, Maurer-Stutz, Roll-O-Matic Curtains, Custom Precast Company, Animat Rubber Flooring, Bloomington Meats and McLean Co. Beef Producers. 

The Dean family has a long history as a successful family business for more than 100 years. Rick, his wife, Barb, and their son, Derek, along with Randy, his wife, Chris, and their son, Brack, are partners in Dean Bacon & Beef, where they raise corn, soybeans, hay, pigs and cattle.