Only about 3 weeks away: Our 10^th annual bull and bred heifer sale will be held Saturday, March 14 at 11 am at the farm.

Full disclosure: We put ALL our replacement animals in this sale and bid for the ones we want to keep. We don’t always win the lots we bid on. Ashley and I identify what females and bulls we hope to keep in the herd, and Ashley bids on them during the sale. I believe we have identified 22 heifers and 1 bull we plan to bid on for this sale. If we bid, it doesn’t mean they are the “best;” that won’t be determined for several years. If we don’t bid, it doesn’t mean they are “bad.” We bid on the heifers we think we need to build up that part of our herd. We are trying to build the registered blacks, reds and Herefords. We don’t really need more composites. We bid on bulls we need for clean-up/herd sires. I would prefer to be wrong (in the sense they bring above base price), but I expect a lot of animals to be available for the base price. Our base prices this year are historically high, nearly impossible to believe in my opinion, but sale barns around the country are confirming cattle prices to be unprecedented.

SUS: Ashley (402-257-7587 or [email protected]) is the best person in our program to visit with about individual animals: the “trees.” If you want specific animal perspectives, please call her. She can also talk about philosophies and management, but if you want specific information about that, I can answer questions about the “forest.” Ashley will also handle all our sight-unseen bids. We hold these bids in strict confidence. If you prefer not to attend or bid online, Ashley will bid as your proxy, and she will NOT bid one amount higher than necessary to procure the animal.

Calving Dates/Vaccinations: Heifers are bred to calve in May/June. Potential sires are listed in the catalog. Ashley can answer specific questions about that if you have them. All these animals were vaccinated with an 8-way and respiratory as calves and were poured with Cydectin on our work day in December. The heifers have been bangs vaccinated.

Dumb People: If you are like me you spend some of your time pondering how dumb people can be…or act. Maybe it’s being behind an impaired driver, not intoxicated mind you, just slow, unable to use a turn signal, won’t turn right on red, won’t leave the left lane on an interstate…you get me. Fortunately for me I’m often convicted about how dumb I am and ponder that. For instance, in March our cattle look the worst (poorest condition) they do all year. They have been grazing nothing but dead cornstalk/soybean and cover crop residue since October. We have just recently started putting out some hay(y) for the sale bulls and heifers; they graze the same way all our cows/calves do. And when do I have a sale? D-U-M-B! Here’s my confession: I have a hyper-sensitivity to disappointing our customers. Our most common prayer these weeks before the sale is that nothing sells that our customers won’t eventually be pleased with. I’d rather buy (or not sell) all the heifers that slip a calf, have calving trouble, have whatever trouble, than have any of our customers have to deal with that. I don’t want to sell any bull that doesn’t work well; I pray they no-sale. I put as much pressure on our cattle as I can and still stay in the realm of humane animal treatment because I want the problems sorted out before they get to you. If you buy a bull or bred heifer from us, it’s only going to look better in your care, especially after a summer of good grass. Yeah, I’m kinda dumb…but it is intended to be in your best interest.

Motivations: Speaking of incentives, would you rather buy your seedstock from a producer that “feeds to breed,” propping up their cattle with supplements, hay and other feedstuffs so they look good on sale day? Or…one that pressures their cattle to sort out, not cover up, problems? I am highly motivated to get rid of problem cattle and get them into our grass or grain-fed beef program. What are most seedstock producers motivated to do? icemeats.com

Health Papers: Most of our cattle stay in Nebraska. Because of this we no longer have health papers available on the sale date. On Monday, March 16^th our vet will come out to process and then write health papers for whichever animals need them. The papers are typically ready by the Friday after the sale, in this case the 20^th. We happily feed and care for the animals while this process plays out, but we ask that you pick up your animals as soon as possible after the health papers are ready. For people who are in Nebraska and for those who bid online, this policy has not been a problem. For people who want to pull a trailer and who live out of state, we can work with you; please call to discuss.

Shared Loads: Before, during, and after the sale, Kristin tries to connect buyers with animals going the same direction.  We cannot always find shared transportation but will work with everyone as best we can and are frequently able to find arrangements that benefit all parties involved. For any animals that will spend an extra week with us while health papers are finalized, there is typically sufficient time to help people contact each other to make arrangements. Sale day is hectic, however, and in the busyness of the sale fog, we might miss something, so advance communication is very helpful. If you plan to be at the sale with a trailer and are willing to haul for others, please message Kristin as soon as possible (402-984-3890 or [email protected]).  If you won’t need health papers, be sure to get in touch with Kristin ASAP so she can be on the lookout for someone that might be hauling your direction on sale day to whom she can give your contact information.  We’ve had people make the trip to our place to pick up their own animals when the animals could’ve gone with someone else on sale day had we known early enough. We love getting to meet our customers in person, but we prefer saving you the miles, gas, and time if we can.  And PLEASE…if you have someone haul your cattle, be GENEROUS compensating them for their trouble.

Wisdom for your World:

A university did a study that lasted over 70 years. In it they determined only one common factor that was true in the overwhelming majority of people who had a HEALTHY self-esteem. That factor was whether or not they worked as a child.

You get paid more for your value than for your time. Triple your value (or more) as soon as you can because you don’t know how much time you have.

Everyone is jealous of what you’ve got; no one is jealous of how you got it. Everyone wants the view, but no one wants the climb. Effort requires zero talent.

Are you the type who would have told David to pray for Goliath or would you have picked up a rock?