In 1890, brothers Derek and Douglas Williams’ great granddaddy settled on what is now their Turnpike Creek Farms. Nearly 135 years later, in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, Hurricane Helene did her best to wipe it out.

She also attempted to annoy the Milan, Ga., Angus breeders to death. While most of their perimeter fence was still in one piece, Helene claimed at least part of the fence on every one of their 25 pastures.

Then there were their seven wells. No power, no water. There was also their new working facility, or what used to be their working facility, covered and smashed with downed pecan trees.

In the category of the most damage to their nerves, however, the clear winner was the impassable lane to their bull test facility. For two days, they couldn’t get to the 60 young bulls except with an ATV. Then it was four days before they could get there with a water wagon. Thankfully they had put out extra feed and water before the hurricane. They also had a generator in place so they could power a temporary one-strand fence until they could repair the permanent fences.

In Adel, Ga., M.J. Taylor Farms is a newcomer compared to Turnpike Creek. The commercial cow-calf operation has only been in operation since 1934. Austin Taylor is also quick to say he and his father, Phillip, the current owner-operators, didn’t have near the damage of some farms. They had enough, though.

In the feedlot, used primarily to supplement calves at preconditioning and to develop replacement heifers, the hurricane wiped out one of two 100-foot sections of wooden troughs, the roof over the troughs and the auger that moved corn silage from the silos to the troughs. It had stood in place since 1968. Says Austin, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Austin was also trying a new venture and feeding out 27 of their Angus-sired steers and heifers for freezer beef. One steer was killed, along with a cow who fell in a ditch. Austin found her alive with only her head above water and got her out, but she was so weak she died shortly after.

There was also the center pivot end tower pulled out of the ground. Austin says, fortunately, only the tower itself turned over. But the last time he talked to the irrigation repairman, he had 200 pivots in front of the Taylors.

In the nerve-damage category, the Taylors can probably one-up the Williams. Austin and his wife, Katie, have a newborn baby, James. Thankfully, all three of them were in one piece after sheltering in place, and their house was still intact, although there were enough downed pine trees in the yard to keep them busy for days.

Taylor is undecided about selling cattle, but says, “I’d prefer to keep them.” They have both a spring- and fall-calving herd, and the spring calves are due to be weaned and preconditioned. He is considering putting a metal roof over the whole feedlot instead of just over the troughs, but the last he was told there was at least a 16-week wait. Still, it’s business as usual at M.J. Taylor Farms. Phillip is planting winter grazing and Austin is scheduling breeding soundness exams for his bulls.

Back to the Williams, Douglas says he briefly considered selling cows, but his outlook improved when friends brought fuel to run the 10 generators and water for the cattle.

Between family and extended family, they also were able to make headway on fence repair and clear out the lane to the bull test facility. His 83-year-old father, David, was able to come up with a pipe and install it to make the road navigable again.

“He thinks he is the only person who can run the backhoe,” jokes Douglas.

He’s also able to laugh about one of the more obvious, but minor, challenges. “The hurricane blew the door off the chicken coop. We have chickens everywhere.”

Editor’s note: Becky Mills is a freelance writer and cattlewoman from Cuthbert, Ga. [Photos by Becky Mills.]

Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 16, No. 10-B