Miles and miles of Texas

I’m a big fan of “Asleep at the Wheel,” a western swing band that has the sound of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.  I have a CD that I play over and over again while I’m “On the Road.”

“I rode up into Cowtown, the cradle of the west;  just ask any cowboy, he’ll tell you it’s the best”…….

Well, I rode up into Cowtown and attended the Texas Angus Association (TAA) annual meeting, banquet, and “Best of the West” bull sale at the Ft. Worth Stock Show.  What a great time!  I have honorary Texas citizenship, given to me by members of the board of that organization.  I think I have attended these for the past five or six years in a row and the friendships I have developed there have been truly a blessing.

I especially like looking through the bulls in their pens prior to the sale, after studying their genetics in the sale catalog.  Several bulls were what I considered “ideal.”  The right look; the right EPD’s, the right bloodlines; those that would do justice for almost any commercial cowman, no matter what the makeup of their herd (well, within reason!).

I usually pick out five to ten bulls that I really like, and would consider as a herd sire; again, they have to meet what I deem the correct phenotype (because you have to look at them every day) and the correct genetic package.  Two of the bulls that I picked out were the #2 and #3 high-selling bulls of the sale. 

Both fit my set of critera for EPDs; must be CED of +7 or higher; average or higher on marbling and I usually prefer REA in the top 25% of the breed; $ B in the top 10%; scrotal EPD above breed average; milk in line with breed average, give or take a little depending on your feed resources at home.  I also get a little concerned about YW EPD’s getting a little too high, so try to moderate that somewhat, especially if you’re keeping females back from that sire, and good docility scores.  Those things, and the ruggedness, muscle, and feet and leg structure; balance, eye appeal, etc.  For more specific information, you might want to look at our “Best Practices Manual,” cow-calf edition.  You can get one by going to our website at www.cabpartners.com.

Lot 50 pretty much fit my criteria.  A two-year old son out of Summitcrest Complete, bred and sold by the Cox Ranch of Peaster, TX, was picked up by Express Angus Ranch of Yukon, OK for  $5,000.  A heavy-muscled, deep sided, rugged individual with the herd sire profile, Lot 50, (or CoX Complete X09, as he himself was named), boased the top adjusted %IMF measure of the sale.  But, he had a LOT of other things to go with that!  His CED was +8; WW of +47; YW of +95, and a Scotal Circumference EPD of +1.1, which is in the top 15% of the breed.  His actual EPD for marbling was +0.94 (top 10%); for REA was +0.61 (top 15%), and $B at $ 84.56, which is in the top 1% of the breed. 

Wow, that’s a lot of fun for me.  Maybe I don’t get out enough, but I guess it’s all what you’re interested in. If you like to talk about what your likes and dislikes are when selecting Angus bulls for your commercial cowherd, please feel free to fire away and post them below.

For now, adios!  I’m on the road to McPherson County Feeders at Marquette, KS to visit Manager/Owner Allan Sents and look over the latest set of steers entered in the Kansas Angus Association’s Carcass Data Project!

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