I have always believed that there is something larger than the moment and the individual. You won’t always know what that is but if you belong to or create a system for operations, you are in a better position to manage through the unknowns. When Blake made the decision that we would again be calving in December and January, he …
From the time that a female is born until she has a return to the operation is at least 2.75 years. Now I said that she had a return, I didn’t say that she returned a profit. Profit comes with “Stayability!” Stayability is a word that represents the amount of time that Females stay in the herd. Females that …
Here we are 25 years since it all began. Our first decision was to make a breed choice. After studying the strengths and weaknesses of several breeds, we felt that the Gelbvieh Breed had more to offer to compliment other breeds through a Cross Breeding system than any other breed. After 25 years, we still feel that way today. We …
As many of you know and some of you don’t, I am also employed off our Ranch as a Legacy Consultant for First Dakota National Bank. I lead the division called, “Keep Farmers Farming.” What we do is work with Farmers and Ranchers across the Midwest with “Estate Planning”, “Family Transition Planning”, implementation of “Best Business Practices” and facilitate “Strategic …
Last year I mentioned in my welcome that the cattle industry is right on the edge of being “Really, Really Good!” I really believed that because all the fundamentals of the cattle industry were pointing towards a cattle inventory that would continue to decrease because we are still culling the cow herd. We have killed too much of the factory, …
I had an opportunity to be part of a Strategic Planning Group a few weeks ago. The information was so good and at times so specific that I would like to share some of it with you. We have really come through some uncertain times in the last 3 years. The one thing that we could count on was instability …
Pursuit Of Excellence is defined only by you. Only you can set the goals and objectives that make sense for your operation. Whether you live in an area that requires only 1 acre of grass for each animal unit or 40 acres of grass for each animal unit, these are factors in your environment that will need to be considered …
Recently at the National American Gelbvieh Convention, Lee Leachman spoke at a luncheon and he said, “Tell the world. Make sure they remember these things when they think of Gelbvieh cattle: Gelbvieh is the #1 breed for profit at weaning! Crossbreeding works—especially with Gelbvieh crossed with Angus or Red Angus genetics. Gelbvieh’s strengths are for the cow/calf producer! I couldn’t …
Often when I am talking to cattlemen they ask me what would be the best kind of a bull for my herd. Everyone is looking for the quick easy answer but the answer is much more complex than that. Several factors need to be considered and I generally find myself asking a lot of questions so I can make a …
I get asked all the time, “If you were raising commercial calves, would you have purebred Gelbvieh?” My answer is always No. Would I have Purebred Angus? My answer is always No as well. Whenever you straight breed anything, you are single trait selecting and this almost always leads to problems that will need to be corrected down the road. …