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High Plains Hereford Tour Sept. 10 to 13The American Hereford Association and Certified Hereford Beef LLC invite you to attend the High Plains Hereford Tour, Sept. 10 to 13. The tour will be a great learning opportunity for those who are committed to carrying on the Hereford tradition. Stops will include commercial and registered Hereford operations, feedlots and packing plants. The tour is scheduled to start in Rapid City, S.D. If there is enough interest, a bus may also leave from Ogallala, Neb. The bus in Rapid City will leave Sept. 10 at noon. A bus from Ogallala would depart at 3 p.m. The buses will return at approximately 6 p.m., on Sept. 13. Reservations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost of the tour includes all transportation, hotel rooms and two meals per day. Expenses for breakfast (all motels have complimentary) and other incidentals will be at your own cost. Total cost for the trip is $425 for single-lodging occupancy or $325 per person for double-lodging occupancy. Tours of the packing plants are limited to the first 70 participants. If registrations exceed 70, plant tours will be limited to only one member per family or ranch. Reservation deadline is Aug. 17. Reservation payment can be by check or credit card (Visa or MasterCard). Payment must be received by Aug. 17 to reserve buses, motels and meals. Monahan Cattle Co., Hyannis, Neb., is an extensive ranching operation encompassing 130,000 acres. James, Hil, Bryan and Bob Monahan raise primarily commercial cattle but maintain registered Herefords of Line 1 breeding to produce bulls for use on the commercial herd. The original 160-acre homestead was purchased in 1893 by James' grandfather, J.H. Monahan. Today the ranch is 33 miles long, varies from four to 11 miles wide, and supports 4,000 cows and calves retained to yearlings. Monahan cattle are bred to be well marked and uniform. Yearling steers and heifers not kept for replacements are marketed through the CHB program or sold to a feedlot. Decatur County Feedyard Inc., Oberlin, Kan., is a 38,000-head commercial feeding facility. This family-owned feedyard was incorporated in 1971, and Warren Weibert has been co-owner and general manager since 1977. Decatur County Feedyard was originally built because northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska have a surplus of corn and alfalfa, the main ration ingredients at the feedyard. The feedyard began weaning calves for area ranchers in 1979 and began sorting cattle using chute scales and ultrasound for fat thickness in 1987. It was the first commercial feedyard to use video imaging to sort cattle in 1992. In 1994 the feedyard installed Micro Beef Technologies' AccuTrac system and established the Decatur Beef Alliance. There were 7,700 cattle enrolled in the alliance in 1994 and the program has grown steadily to more than 50,000 head. Participants not only net more dollars per fed animal sold over the cash market, but they also benefit from the individual closeout and the professional, personal consultation. The alliance is not breed specific and is widely recognized as being the most sophisticated, experienced marketing and data retrieval program in the industry today. Jamison Herefords and Quarter Horses, Quinter, Kan., is a family operation that has been breeding top-quality Line 1 Hereford females for more than 60 years. Dale Jamison started in 1946 with the registered Hereford cows and continues to be the senior partner in the operation. Today the Jamison Hereford ranch is managed and operated by Gordon and Rusty Jamison along with their families. Ranching is the family's only business, so they strive to breed genetics that will increase profitability and enjoyment. They market 200-plus bulls annually in their spring bull sale along with private-treaty sales. Additionally, they market approximately 150 Hereford females. In recent years, the Jamisons have expanded their Quarter Horse operation to offer some of the best ranch-bred and broke horses on the market. The Jamisons sell 100 horses in their fall sale, which includes ranch horses and breeder prospects. The ranch horse offering is one of the largest broke saddle horse offerings in the nation with more than 60 head. Ford County Feedyard Inc., Ford, Kan., is a family-owned, custom feeder, with a one-time capacity of 50,000 head. Founded in 1972 by George Herrmann and five partners, the operation has marketed more than 3 million head of fed cattle through the years. Currently the Herrmann family maintains full ownership of the facility, with Danny Herrmann serving as yard owner and manager. Along with the feeding division, the company actively produces a wide array of grain and forage commodities. Additionally Ford County harvests, purchases and processes more than 3 million bushels of high moisture corn annually. In addition to the feedlot and crop entities, Ford County also manages a 3,000-head calf-starting yard. Since 2004 Ford County Feedyard has been a licensed CHB cattle feeder and Hereford Verified participant, responsible for supplying more than 15,500 head of eligible cattle to both the CHB and Hereford Verified programs. Sandhill Farms, Haviland, Kan., is a fifth-generation operation owned and managed by Kevin and Vera Schultz along with Kevin's parents, Ron and Arnita Schultz. The sixth generation includes Kevin and Vera's children--Brooke, Tyler and Courtney. The operation consists of both grain and livestock production. The family's farming operation consists of both dryland and irrigated crops. The Sandhill herd includes registered and commercial polled Herefords. Registered bulls have been used in the commercial herd since the mid 1940s. The registered herd started in the mid 1980s after Kevin returned from Kansas State University. For many years the goal of the registered program was to strive to be "as good as the commercial cows" that had been bred by Kevin's grandpa, Roy, and father, Ron. Retaining ownership of the steers through the feedlot and selling replacement commercial females started the performance program. Through the use of today's technology and the previous generations' wisdom, the registered program is breeding cattle that enhance the profit traits and convenience traits of the cattle. Royal Beef Feedyard, Scott City, Kan., has been home to the Hereford Feedout, formerly Genetic Outreach Program, for four years. In 2000 Irsik & Doll Co., which was established in 1961, expanded its feeding operation by purchasing Royal Beef Feedyard, with a capacity of 40,000 head. The Irsik & Doll families were pioneers in seeing the potential growth in the cattle feeding industry. Through a conservative, yet growth oriented philosophy, the company has built a financially strong organization with key, dedicated employees. The management team of Irsik & Doll and Royal Beef is one of the pioneers of commercial cattle feeding; the team has years of experience to guide producers through the feeding and marketing phases of production. Irsik & Doll and Royal Beef offer cattle financing, feed financing, feed-cost protection, procurement and partnerships. Van Newkirk Herefords, Oshkosh, Neb., is a family-owned ranching operation. The cattle ranching began in 1892 when L.D. Van Newkirk started mating purebred Hereford bulls to his Longhorn-cross cows. In 1944 L.D.'s son, A.J. (Bud) Van Newkirk, started the registered herd of Herefords with the purchase of five females from Erlewine's in Ogallala, Neb. Additional females were added through the years from other area breeders. During the last 30 years, the herd has basically been closed with herd bull purchases from CK Ranch in Kansas and Carpenter-Williams in Colorado and Canadian bulls from Doenz in Alberta. They've also used several home-raised herd sires. Today Joe and Cyndi Van Newkirk and their family manage the operation. Their core business is selling Hereford bulls to western High Plains cattlemen. Repeat buyers are the heart and soul of their operation. The cow herd is managed like any good commercial cow herd operation. The cows graze nine months a year on Sandhill grass and crop residues. The calves receive no creep feed. The Van Newkirks save only the top half of the bull calf crop for their annual bull sale in January. Olsen Ranches Inc., Harrisburg, Neb., is a commercial Hereford operation. The promise of plentiful land brought Lars Olsen to Banner County in the western Panhandle of Nebraska in 1885. The Olsen family has raised Hereford cattle and farmed in Banner County ever since. Today, four generations later, the operation Lars founded, now known as Olsen Ranches, Inc., is managed by Lars's grandson, Arthur Olsen, and his great-grandson, Douglas Olsen. Today the progressive Olsen operation focuses on its commercial cow-calf herd, with 750 cows comprised primarily of Hereford genetics with crossbreeding of Red Angus genetics. Along with the cow herd, Olsens have irrigated and dryland cropland on which they raise wheat and corn. They offer custom backgrounding and artificial insemination services. The Olsens are involved in programs designed to improve Hereford genetics and grow the market for Hereford beef. Olsen Ranches is one of the key Hereford breeders participating in the AHA's National Reference Sire Program and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association tenderness project as well as in the international study sponsored by the AHA to standardize Hereford breed EPDs between the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Date: 10/2/07 Advertisement
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