Hey fellow seekers,

It is so exciting when the first calves start arriving in late winter, but I must say I get a little impatient to be done with that window 60 days later. Preg checking lets us identify a few late-bred cows that already have a strike or two against them to sell before calving season begins. They will fit another herd better than this one. Then there are the unexpectedly late ones, which we may put up with once if the cow is top in all other ways.

More likely, as this year, we mop up with the sorting gate and put such miscellany on a stock trailer bound for town, along with a couple of mystery cases that slunk a calf over the winter.

This year, we sold a few pairs at the cow sale as well, because records finally showed us that one bull’s daughters are consistently below average for our herd.

It is frustrating to think about how long it takes to notice that. At best, the bull is five years old and generating his third or fourth calf crop as we start culling his family.

I know experts who insist it’s all about the bulls, these cow issues will sort themselves out over time and it is pointless to micromanage by culling them sooner. I would disagree with that even if we were not in the middle of such a nice sellers market.  We also sold a couple of decent cows that are just too smart for this herd, as described in a Black Ink column last fall. They had nice calves as usual, but those would serve to catch the eye of a new owner.

That brings up the nature of Special Cow Sales. From my experience as buyer decades ago and occasional seller now,there are a few truly outstanding cows at those events. Dispersals include the best and worst. The very-well-established programs that sell all cows of a certain prime running age each year are the ultimate quality suppliers in most cases. I will admit I keep the best here, but again, some cows do better in other programs than on their ranch of origin.

We looked at every pair in the herd, both on paper and in the pens last weekend, deciding which get to stay and reconsidering their rankings. Ten pair moved home for later AI, trading places with 10 that are going on waivers to the standby herd. It won’t be long till AI season here, as we start the heifers on a heat-synchronizing protocol the day after Easter.

Until next time… let’s aim for profit, target the brand and keep building tomorrow together.

~Steve