Breeding Program
Currently there is a lot of genetic information available to the seedstock industry. The American Angus Association offers 25 EPD and index measures for your evaluation. In addition to that there is a lot of gene-marker data available from various companies. While we embrace technology and study all available information, sometimes it is easy to “miss the forest for the trees”. Anyone can breed cattle with better EPDs. However, we think it is more productive to focus on breeding better cattle with a balanced approach and strong understanding of what is needed for each segment of the industry.
To achieve our genetic goals we think it is best to keep it simple. Instead of trying to make 25 EPD measures better on paper our selection decisions revolve around 5 foundational criteria for true improvement in the pastures and pens.
A live unassisted calf at birth is essential to profitability due to the time and labor constraints of most operations. This calf must be vigorous to get up quickly and nurse on its own. Our cows and heifers are calved out 25 miles from home and are checked once per day or sometimes every other day while calving. Therefore, maternal calving ease is critically important to us and we believe it is the most overlooked trait in many breeding programs. We do not want to manage this situation with extreme low birth weight bulls that leave frail and dinky calves, instead we want to produce a cow that has the proper pelvic and hip structure to lay down and have a good size calf. The cow must do this every year on schedule or she is culled. We put selection pressure on this with a short 45 day breeding period.
Reproductive and Calving Efficiency
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We don’t breed for the show ring, however this calf shown by Garrett Stamm at the 2013 Dundy Co. Fair did quite well. He was sired by a bull purchased from us and out of strait bred Angus cow that was from Emulation, Traveler and Rito breeding. He graded Choice at 1400# with a 14.4 ribeye area and .47” backfat, and 2.9 yield grade, proof that the right genetics can work for all segments of the industry
After feed, replacement cost is the largest expense for a cow-calf operation. A cow can be forced to leave the herd for several reasons including reproductive failure (open), udder failure, structural or joint breakdown (poor feet and legs), and poor disposition among others. You can rest assured that we monitor all these traits closely.
Cow Longevity
Depending on the year we may have abundant or scarce feed resources.
If possible we like the cows to graze year round, however at times it may be advantageous to feed them a ration. If feed is scarce, the big, high milk cows will not breed and if feed is abundant the smaller lower milk cows are very inefficient in their production. Therefore we prefer to keep our cows in the middle of the road for size at 1200-1400#. Most of this weight comes from length and thickness, not frame.
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Adaptability
Our bull customers sell their calves by the pound. We like to purchase and feed cattle sired by our bulls; therefore it is extremely important to us that the bulls we sell have superior genetic potential for gain bred into them. Occasionally we purchase and feed cattle sired by our bulls that will grow rapidly to a year and have the ability to properly finish at a minimum of 1450# as calf fed steers. We prefer they bend the growth curve shortly after that to keep mature size in tact.
Rapid Growth
Ultimately we are raising cattle to produce beef. It is important to us that the beef we produce be tender, juicy and flavorful. Our Angus cattle will do that extremely well. We believe that meat and carcass quality also requires muscling and trimness. We want our cattle to have muscle down their top as well as bulge in their lower quarter. This will improve yield grade and cutability. By injecting SimAngus genetics into a crossbreeding program we can achieve this with regularity.
Meat Quality
We strongly believe that a carefully designed and executed crossbreeding program with parent stock originating from time-tested well proven genetic lines of cattle can consistently deliver on the criteria above. Hybrid vigor must not be ignored as it offers the commercial cow man a huge advantage in bottom line profitability.
We are excited about the opportunity to work with each of our customers. Our services go beyond selling bulls. We can also assist in marketing calves, provide turn-key artificial insemination programs, and nutritional consulting with our bull marketing partner Jeremy Martin, Broken Bar M Ranch. If you would like to learn more about our operation give us a call or read more about us in the archived bull sale catalogs under the For Sale page.