Meet Us
Originally from North Dakota, Florida, and Minnesota, we like to say that Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA song was an answer to prayer coming out of college and helped us choose Tennessee as our home. With its central location to our home states, we moved “from the lakes of Minnesota to the hills of Tennessee” in 1998 and made it our home. Life is not all work and no play for the Five Oaks Farm crew. All of our boys play instruments, play basketball, and are active members of 4-H. Wake surfing is a favorite family activity, and you will often see us out on the water in the warmer months. With five active boys in the house, there is never a dull moment. Scroll down to learn more about the family behind Five Oaks Farm.
The Visionary – Travis.
Get back to our roots. When the boys started piling up, Travis knew it was time. After getting the good job that was advised coming out of college, that longing to get back to the roots that raised him and raise the five boys in the same way was strong. Back onto the land, in the tractor, making hay under the bright blue sky. Though Travis grew up raising sheep, cattle were all around him. So in 2014 after the 5th boy was born the move out to the country took place and the cattle quickly followed
The Glue – Gail.
Mom of 5 boys. That should say enough. But she homeschools the boys, kindergarten through high school. She halter-breaks each of the sale and show heifers and she is the medical expert for both the humans and the cattle. And more often than not she has a milk cow in milk, daily milking by hand, for the pleasure of it. Her big smile and gigantic laugh fill any room and most outdoor spaces. If you have meet her you are instantly her friend.
The Boys - 5 of them! – Grady, Gavin, Gunnar, Gage and Grant.
Hard working basketball playing, Wake surfing, cattle showman! Not many will out work our crew – Grit is built into them.
Grady, the oldest has been leading the way and blazing a new path from his first day. This is the job of the 1st born it seems. Now in college, working on a Bio-molecular, Chemical Engineering degree, his eyes are ultimately set on Dr. of Vetrinarian Medicine, large animals. He is our in house A.I. specialist, having taking the training when he was 16. And he is good at it, often hitting 85% plus and on two occasions hitting 100% success. A testament to him and the cattle!
Gavin, the oldest middle, was the instigator of our jump into Red Angus. Having earned a heifer scholarship from the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association and seeking a 4-H project that was different from the norm here in TN, he chased after the first red angus heifers to grace our pastures. And from him came the words that have forever changed our path, “Dad, how do we win?” Now as part of that continually increasing effort to be and raise them better each new day, Gavin can see them and clip and fit cattle with the best of them. And as well, he is a national champion 4-H livestock judge, having won a national championship in 2022.
Gunnar, the middle middle, is part oldest boy and part youngest boy. He will probably tell you he favors basketball as his past time, after all his first word was ball. But when he has a good one on the halter he knows how to get it done. He was the first of our crew to be on the halter to bring home a division banner and spend time in the champion drive at a national show.
Gage, the younger middle, is our deepest thinker, always with his wheels turning, consistent and methodical in his approach to everything he does. With his heart on his sleeve, he doesn’t like to lose at anything. He plays basketball, shows cattle, plays banjo and loves a couple thousand pieces of Legos to put together in an afternoon.
Grant, the youngest, recipient of the easy life, or at least that is what the older ones say. But in reality, Grant is the grittiest of them all, as he has for all of his life been given little to no slack from the older brothers. Tough as nails, with a determination to succeed. He is competitive on the basketball court and in the show ring and in a game of Parcheesi.
