Hello All:

Less Than 3 Weeks: Please consider attending our 9^th annual bull and bred heifer sale on March 15 at our headquarters near Guide Rock, NE or viewing online at DVAuction. I don’t know where the prices will end up, but our base prices should give everyone the ability to participate. I’m seeing people ask $3,250 for commercial bred heifers. Bulls sales are in the stratosphere: https://www.angus.org/marketplace/sale-reports (although I’m skeptical of any sale average that has at least one value included greater than $20,000, above that the money can be “funny”). Calf prices are records. I see a reason for optimism in the industry, but I know we don’t represent the industry. I have no particularly heightened expectation for our sale. We have and will continue to produce cattle in a way we think is “right.” As long as the number of producers who agree with us is less than the number of bulls we have to offer, our genetics are on “sale”…and that’s okay. We have never lacked provision; actually, we’ve never lacked abundant provision!

Another Industry Story: Last update I shared about our experience several years ago with a Grand Champion heifer. The point was to illustrate what many breeders consider important (show wins, high sale prices, feeding for fertility, large frames/weaning weights and on and on) contrasted against what truly is important (profitability, lifestyle, efficiency, low input costs, calving ease, etc.). In the same vein, we recently had an “open” heifer calve in our feedlot. Yes, this is one of the Kareem heifers I mentioned a few weeks ago. The calf was actually the right kind; it weighed less than 70 pounds, was very vigorous and nursed aggressively (heifer musta stepped over the fence where the neighbor had an ICE bull!). I decided to sell the calf and did some diligence settling on the price of $800 (I was shocked off my rocker, had no idea what baby calves are bringing). Within 36 hours I had a call, from a seedstock producer, who needed a calf to put on a cow that lost her calf. Now, I’m not begrudging that protocol as inherently wrong, but I hope that cow doesn’t get to produce seedstock in the future. What do you think was the motivation? I didn’t ask, and really don’t care, I just see this as another view of the “industry” in the back, dimly lit room of what no one is willing to talk about. Our cows must first calve as 2-year-olds and do so every year without missing to remain in the herd. Without doing ANYTHING else, that protocol will eliminate the majority of your problems. Now, did someone run over the cow’s calf with a loader tractor? Yeah, I might be okay with her staying in the seedstock herd. The point is, there are so many protocols in existence, in both seedstock and commercial herds, that keep problems IN the herd. I urge you to seriously consider how to get rid of your problems. Our problems either become beef, are sold at a sale barn (be wary of buying bred cows at a sale barn, there’s a reason they’re for sale) or die. We still have problems, and always will, but have FAR fewer than at any time in our history. I consider it a weighty responsibility to do everything we can to eliminate gremlins so they don’t become your problems.

Fasting and Longevity: There are many online these days linking fasting to health and longevity. I’ll throw my hat in the believer ring. Even secularists believe in the power of fasting, for temporal benefits anyway. I believe God has designed the body to fast and amazing things happen when we do. Christians shouldn’t question whether praying and giving are the right things to do. Jesus didn’t command these things…He EXPECTED them. “When you…pray, fast and give…” as recorded in the Mount Sermon…”do them as follows…”. I’ve wondered how this fasting concept affects our cow herd. We have what I would consider to be somewhat unbelievable longevity in our herd with many cows living into their teens.  Does the “fasting” they do during the winter contribute to this? I don’t know, but I’m inclined to think it does.

Herd Management Tip: After our A.I. project we wait about a week to turn a cleanup bull in. If, for example, we consider the black angus group, we would turn a black angus bull in. After 3 weeks we would turn a Hereford bull into that same group. This multiple bull approach is an insurance policy against bull infertility/injury/etc. It also ensures that we can identify, without genetic testing, who the sire of each calf is. The cows would still have the opportunity to be bred black (Angus) but if a white face emerges next spring we know. The week gap typically allows us to determine if the calf is from the A.I. sire or the cleanup sire (a heavier late calf means A.I., a lighter, earlier calf means clean-up).

Would you rather…have a lean, rough looking 2-year-old bull or a roly-poly fat yearling bull? Our bulls are tougher to look at on sale day, but we produce bulls for the long-haul. We believe a lean 2-year-old will be able to breed far more cows than a fat yearling. Think of what you want a bull to look like at 4 years old rather than right now. How do you cook the toughest of all cuts of beef, a brisket? Low and slow, that’s how we develop our bulls, and like a good brisket the results can be amazing.