Hot off the Press!  The latest internet sensation, “Fluffy Cows” are now available in t-shirts.  Sizing runs small to xl, but custom sizes are available on request.

Click Here to view them Now on Matt Lautner Cattle Shop.

I generally don’t build that many websites for clients (I have too many unfinished projects of my own), but I do enjoy to do so if I get the chance.   I am going to put together a series based on the initial consultation to the finished project.

My first step after talking to the client ( Jason from Hankins Farms, located in Willard, MO) is try to get a feel for the overall color scheme and design.  I asked if they currently have a logo and if they have any preferred colors they like to use.   In this case, I was provided with an photo of their logo on a banner as well their preferred colors of silver, red, and black.

I went ahead and recreated the logo in photoshop, saving it in multiple formats, including .png  which gives the logo a transparent background (not shown below).  This is very handy when you are overlaying, because you can change the background without changing the logo out.

From Matt Lautner Cattle

I grew up in Ames, Iowa and had very little interest or access to livestock opportunitys for most of my youth. At a certain point I was hanging around Ames and I was getting into a lot of trouble. You have heard the story before but I was hanging around the wrong crowd.

My parents decided to build a house in the country. We moved into the rural community of Slater, Iowa and the first group of friends I made all had farm & livestock backgrounds. I thought they were cool for showing cattle!! That sounds like a weird statement to me now after I have been around cattle for 15 years, but at that time that it is easily the best way to describe my energy and excitement to learn more about steers, heifers, pigs and other show livestock. It was different from anything I had previously been involved with. I didn’t know a thing about cattle or how much work it would take, but I wanted to try it! My best friends parents paid for my first calf, it was a heifer and we named her “Bunny” because she was born on Easter Sunday. She wasn’t an expensive calf, but she was mine! Every chance I got I was on my way out to the barn to work with her and my biggest sense of fulfillment came from the fact that she was “mine.” When you are that young, there are very few things you can call “yours.” I learned a lot that first year: from feeding to grooming to showing and a lot in between. I never knew how much work and time it took until I started caring for my 4-H project. It was worth it and I loved every minute of it. That next summer after spending countless hours getting her looking the best I possibly could I was rewarded by being named champion commercial heifer. There were 30 other heifers in the division and to me it felt like i walked out with the state fair champion banner.

The point of this short story is that we all weren’t born into this great industry. Many find it just by chance similar to the way I did. Now 15 years later I make my living from this great industry. If I hadn’t met Bunny or that magnificent family that got me started it’s tough to say where I would be today. I fully support the opportunity that has been given to the cattle industry with these show calves on the Internet sites in 6 different continents. If there is anyone out there with ideas on how we can use the platform to connect with non agriculture people feel free to give me a call at anytime this summer.

Respectfully,
Mat John | MLC Sales Director
515.509.3552

We are booking auctions for the fall.  Reserve your date now and only your auction will be on that day.

Savings of up to 80% of over other online auctions.

More Info – Found Here.