For progress to happen, change is usually going to occur. Jay Dickson, Manager at Center Ranch in Centerville, Texas, has seen and made his share of changes in the 26 years that he’s been with the operation, and with the changes have come growth and progress. Finis Welch, started Center Ranch in 1987 with 130 acres. When Dickson arrived in 1992, the ranch had 800 acres, 50 cows and 3 horses. Today the ranch is comprised of more than 10,500 acres, 2,500 head of cattle and 500 horses. It also includes a state-of-the-art equine veterinary center and a haying operation. […]
Category: Breeding/Calving
When Rebellion Pays Off with Extra Calves
With a rebellious attitude, Michael Guazdausky decided to try something different than his dad had done for more than 40 years in the cattle business. And his decision changed his cow herd for the better. Michael, a second-generation cattle producer at Hartshorne, Okla., raises F1, Brahman and Hereford crosses, commonly referred to as “tigerstripes.” Michael’s […]
Tips to Get Your Cows Bred Back
Today’s cow-calf producers place extremely high production demands on their cows for them to remain in the herd. Producers expect their cows to calve without difficulty, provide enough colostrum and milk for a rapidly growing calf, come in heat quickly after calving and conceive early in the breeding season. Consequently, these expectations take their toll […]
How to Improve Calf Vigor in Late Gestation
It’s about to get exciting around your cattle operation. Carefully planned mating decisions, breeding and waiting for those offspring to arrive mean producers will soon have new born calves bouncing around the lot. Or will they? Calf vigor is the combination of many factors with cow nutrition during the last 60 days of gestation topping […]
Quality Mineral Helps Young Cattleman Achieve His Dream
Most youngsters dream of what they will be when they grow up – teachers, doctors, professional athletes. But for Trey Johnson, Royal, Ark., his dream was to raise cattle. As a kid his dad had a handful of cows, but then decided to build the family home on the farm, tearing out the fence that […]
How to Increase Profit with More Calves and Pounds Weaned
It isn’t every calving season that a producer gets 100-percent calf crop, and accomplishes that in just one month. But this fall, brothers Carter and Locke St. John at Dry Creek Farm in Pell City, Ala., did just that. During breeding season, 31 of their 33 cows were successfully bred, and then all 31 of […]
Ways to Improve Conception Rates in the Cow Herd
Profit in the cow herd starts with reproductive success. If your cows don’t get bred, you’re not going to have calves to market. And feeding an open cow is just not much fun. However, reproductive success is not guaranteed. Several factors go into getting cows bred and keeping them bred. One of those factors is […]
Preparing Cows for Embryo Transfer
Embryo transfer (E.T.) is an important tool to propagate outstanding genetic influence within the herd, with the potential to produce multiple offspring of the same mating in the same year. Because of the time, labor and expense involved in creating these genetics, we reached out to Trans Ova Genetics, a leader in reproductive technologies, to […]
“One More” Embryo is Worth Money in the Bank
Bold letters on the back of each VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® bag, read, “What’s one more worth?” For one cattleman that “one more” embryo resulted in a pregnancy he sold to Nine Mile Ranch in Washington, and that “one more” pregnancy produced a bull calf that sold for $105,000, the highest dollar amount paid for a Red […]
Breeding Season Prep: Focus on Bull Health and Nutrition
Breeding season is just around the corner, you’ve got your cows on a good supplement program and they are in great shape ready for breeding. But what about your bulls? Are they ready to service multiple females during the next few months while contributing 50% of your next calf crop’s genetic material? For optimal performance, […]
