Our cowherd is primarily straight bred Angus. While we give up some hybrid vigor, it allows us the flexibility to produce F1 replacement females for our clientelle.
The cows begin calving in May and are checked daily. Calving occurs on large paddocks and trouble is minimal.
Cows are vaccinated on the Express-Verified program roughly 2 weeks prior to the breeding season. This provides a level of protection against BVD types I and II and provides a guarantee that any feeder calves are BVD-PI free.
Our young cows are bred Angus and contrary to most operations, all of our replacements for our own herd come from this portion of our program. Our older cows are bred Simmental and these calves are marketed either as F1 replacement heifers, or feeder calves.
Cows go from native rangeland in late summer through fall and early winter, onto swath grazing in mid winter and bale grazing, prior to spring turnout onto our tame pastures. This approach allows us to graze cows year round, and helps to control our costs while allowing expression of the cows’ natural tendencies.
