Current News
The Midwest Escape
In early November Kevin and Linda took a trip to the Midwest to view progeny of bulls we were considering for our fall breeding program. We feel it is very important to get off the ranch and view other operations and cattle. Visiting with other breeders regarding breeding philosophies, day to day challenges, learning how other operations run, and striving to lead our industry forward is a great learning opportunity. We try to do this at least once a year and feel this is time well spent.
We flew into Kansas City and spent the night with friends. The next morning we headed to Audobon, IA to visit the Wiederstein Pure Angus Farm. Our visit here was to see progeny from BR New Day 454, a recent acquisition of Select Sires. We had a great visit with Ed and Nicki Wiederstein. We saw some really good cattle out of 454. Outcross pedigree, great carcass, right size. We were impressed with what we saw.
Our second stop was Sydenstricker Genetics in Mexico, MO. This was our second trip in three years to visit Ben, Darla, and Eddie. Always an educational experience at this first class operation. Lots of sire groups to view there as they were preparing for their upcoming sale. We were interested in progeny from Connection, CC & 7, and Connealy Forward. Our first Connection calves were born this fall and are doing well. CC &7 was another consideration as we have been watching him since he was a calf at our last visit. Bryce and I saw him on a visit to Origen in Montana last spring. He is a very impressive individual and feel he has a great future ahead. Cattle are looking excellent and doing everything right. Connealy Forward was another sire under consideration. Once again these cattle show a great deal of promise and we will be using him this fall.
Our third visit was to Dalebanks Angus in Eureka, KS. The Perrier family has been breeding Angus cattle for many generations. It is an operation very similar to ours - Breeding cattle to supply the commercial cattleman with high quality bulls. It is a very balanced program with strict requirements for female retention and using some of the same sires as we do. We had a great visit with a great family!
Our last stop was the Stucky Angus Ranch in Kingman, KS. Gordon is currently serving on the AAA board of directors. His program once again is similar to ours – Retail Product, Predestined, 6I6, Net Present Value and others. Gordon has a nice set of bulls that will sell in the spring. We had a good visit regarding the challenges facing AAA, i.e., genetic defects, lower registration levels, and other challenges. I feel Gordon is an excellent level head to have on the board. Thank you Gordon!
In conclusion, we had an excellent trip and had some great visits. We were able to spend a little time with friends in Hutchison as well. We learned a great deal about other opportunities and thank them for allowing us to visit. Plus we got away for six days!
Spring Weaning
Three weeks after the bull sale we started preparing for next years. The first week of October we weaned all spring calves. This year we used a new idea from Darrell Silveira by weaning both heifers and bulls at the same time. We placed bull calves with the heifers’ mothers and vice-versa, as well utilizing fence-line weaning methods. Calves did quite well without any major problems.
What a calf crop! I am very excited to see what is in store for us as both heifers and bulls mature. There is not one sire group that really stands out above all others. Bulls ended up with an average weaning weight of 698 lbs while the heifers averaged 644 lbs. The bull calves are now on test and gaining very steadily. They are a exceptionally consistent group of calves that have a lot of appeal. The heifers look like they are on the way to make great cows as well.
This calf crop did still contain AM and NH carriers due to breeding decisions from over a year ago. All carrier bulls were pinched in addition to any calves that ratioed below a 95 at weaning or did not fit the phenotype that we are after. Heifer calves with the same criteria will be marketed at a future date.
Fall 2009 Sires to Breed With
This fall we will be using the sires listed below. Most of them we have not used before but we feel they should have something to add to our program. All sires are below a 2.6 BW EPD and have performance written in their pedigrees. Even though they have not been tested in our program, we have seen progeny out of all of them.