|
|
|
Purebred producers take commercial approach"Cows really aren't the focus here. The focus is the grass and the cow is just the machine that can utilize the grass," said Angus producer Jim Werner. By Jennifer Bremer
Raising purebred cattle takes intense management, but the practices that work for them are more that of a commercial producer. "We do it our way and it works for us, but not all purebred breeders would do it this way," said Ann Werner. Jim and Ann Werner and their four grown children and families are all involved in the family's southern Iowa purebred Angus herd. Their herd of 460 bred females all calve on pasture and timber, with very few cows being brought to the barn during calving season. The spring-calving herd consists of 230 cows and 70 heifers and the fall-calving herd consists of 160 cows. Very rarely will they calve heifers in the fall. "It just takes too much feed to keep a heifer and calve her in the fall," said Jim. "We want our females to be able to maintain themselves on minimal supplemented feed." Calving begins in mid-March and continues through May. The spring cows are bred for 70 days. Cows are artificially inseminated once and then sent to pasture. A select few may stay in to be guaranteed AI bred, if they are selling them. The fall cows are generally just turned out with bulls for a shorter breeding season. Winter care The Werners make sure their cows get plenty of exercise in the winter and thus have very few calving problems. Cows are wintered on stock-piled pastures. "It's amazing what they will graze through. They will dig through 6 to 8 inches of snow, but ice is a problem," said Jim. "We like the 'f' word down here--fescue," said Ann with a laugh. "It works for us especially for the winter grazing since it's such a tough grass." They have added some interseeding of other grasses for summer pastures but, in general, have not had any problems with their fescue pastures. For nine months of the year, they consider it good pasture. During June through August, cows are rotated to pastures with other grasses present. "Cows really aren't the focus here. The focus is the grass and the cow is just the machine that can utilize the grass," said Jim. Their fall herd was started from a few spring cows that came up open and they wanted to give them another chance. Jim said if the cows have another problem with getting bred, they will then sell that cow and they don't hold over any fall-calving cows to the spring herd. The fall breeding season is much shorter than the spring--50 days as compared to 70 days in the spring. They have found a tremendous demand for fall bulls for breeders to turn out in the spring. "Buyers like the bulls that are a bit older and don't feel as uneasy about turning them out with cows," said Jim. "Plus, those bulls are easy to maintain and don't take as much feed." Most of the yearling bulls that are sold on their annual bull sale are born in April. Pasture weaning All calves are weaned over Labor Day, which may be sooner than most producers wean, but the process has been working for the Werners since the mid-1990s. "We pasture wean, which we started doing after hearing about it at an Iowa State Extension field day," said Jim. "We really do everything wrong at weaning. We wean, commingle and vaccinate," added Ann. "It might put a lot of stress on the calves normally, but we have done it for years without problems." They rarely treat a calf for illness after weaning, which might also be due to the lush grass the calves are on. Since they don't creep feed their calves, it takes a little extra time to get the calves on feed. The cows are on a pasture adjacent to the lot where the calves are weaned and feed isn't introduced to the calves until about day three or four, at which time they are ready to eat and go on feed fairly easily. It took two or three years for the Werners to get a good system with the pasture weaning, but now they are happy with how they manage their weaning process. Vaccinations are boostered at weaning, as the calves already would have received some vaccinations at day two of life and again prior to being moved to grass post-AI season. After the calves have been weaned for about 30 days, they are sorted according to sex and the Werners start developing their heifers to be bred the next spring and bulls to be fed for the bull sale. In general, most male calves are kept as bulls, unless they show a soundness, disposition or structural problem, at which time they are castrated and put in a feedlot on the farm. Some heifers are put in the feedlot for the same reasons. Weights are taken on the calves at weaning time, which is used as the on-test weight for the bull calves. Calves are weighed again at sorting time to get a 205-day weight to send in to the Angus association for further data. Bulls are developed and an off-test weight is taken at the end of January, at which time they sort the bulls into price groups where the bulls will stay for the selling season. They will sell about 150 bulls each spring. In the past they have had an open house the first part of February, which they may return to in coming years. "Preparing for an open house can take a lot of work, but with more help around here now, we may return to doing that," said Jim. He said through the years he has seen changes in his bull sales; it used to be smaller herds where a producer would buy one bull and now, with concentration of herds, he has more multiple-bull sales. The Werners sell the bulls with a guarantee against injury for the first year, which Jim said requires about 10 percent being replaced, but he also believes in making his customer happy. Traditionally, they have kept all of their spring-born heifers as replacements, but with their herd growing, they have also sold groups of bred heifers and second-calf heifers. The herd has been closed since the 1990s, when a couple cows were purchased. No bulls have been brought into the herd for 25 years; instead, the new genetics are brought in via AI. Horses and crops Horses have been a big part of the Werners' operation, especially when working or moving cows. "We do use 4-wheelers once in a while, but horses are preferred when moving cows as the cows will stay calmer and move more easily with horses. With higher feed costs and the need to reestablish hay fields, they planted 30 acres of corn and 80 acres of soybeans this year. "This is the first time in several years that we have had crops. We normally have our ground in pasture, hay and CRP," said Jim. Many months during the spring through the fall are spent in the 500 acres of hay and, in some cases, making hay on some of the 400 acres of CRP they have. They also take advantage of using dry distillers grains and syrup from ethanol plants to extend their corn and hay. "We rely greatly on ethanol co-products to feed our cattle and make the feed costs more economical," he added. Rotational and strip grazing is also an important part of management at Werner Family Angus. Jim said the cows will eat the best grass first and they will let you know when it's time to be moved. Their paddocks are generally about 20 to 30 acres in size. The addition of 25 ponds on the farm in the past 15 years and numerous tire water tanks have also allowed for a successful grazing system. "The key to a good rotational grazing system is the water. We want to eliminate cattle going to the ponds and eliminate open water on our ground," said Jim. "Open water just leads to problems and environmentally it is better for them to go to a water tank." Environmental stewardship is very important to the Werners. Through the years they have been able to heal washed out ditches by strategically placing hay bales in the ditches and the cows do the rest of the work, according to Ann. Family network Family has always been an important part of the Werner operation. The herd originated from Ann's father and was started in 1928. Ann grew up in north central Iowa and Jim, very near where they currently live. Jim jokingly said, "It was love at first sight. I love the cows and she loved the southern Iowa grass." They feel fortunate to have their family all live within a few miles. All four of their kids, along with their families, help on the farm and they are also in the process of working the kids into the operation. "The kids are buying into the operation through time. We have always felt it is important to provide them the opportunities on the farm and teach them how to take care of it, but not just give it to them," said Jim. "It means more to them if they have to and want to work for it." Their oldest, Becky, and her husband, Craig Hays, live on a farm just down the road. Craig is the owner of Critical Insights, Inc., a beef cattle ultrasound scanning business. Becky owns UltraInsights Processing Lab, Inc., a centralized ultrasound-processing lab for interpreting ultrasound images. Bonnie and her husband, Will Larson, also live nearby. Will works with his father on the farm and has a construction business, which is handy when it comes to needing bulldozing work done. Will owns an interest in Critical Insights, Inc. and travels the country scanning beef cattle. Bonnie works for UltraInsights Processing Lab, Inc. as well as Critical Insights, Inc. Clint works on the farm and is also a trained diesel mechanic, which Jim said is very helpful. He has an 80-acre farm of his own and works daily with the cattle. He also enjoys hunting and takes people on guided hunts for many different kinds of wildlife. Joe is very involved with the ranch work. He likes to work with his dad and learn management practices from him. All four kids have agriculture-related degrees, which is important to Jim and Ann as well. "A good education is something we always fall back on," Ann added. Besides their children, the Werners are also blessed to have seven grandchildren ranging in age from 1 to 6, who fill up their days, as well. "Our grandchildren get off the bus here and we are so lucky to have them close," said Ann. The Werners have a deep faith in God, as well. They feel fortunate to be able to care for the animals and grass He provided for us. "We are here as caretakers of the land and animals and we do our best to do that," said Jim. Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120 or by e-mail at jbremermaj@hotmail.com. 11/3/08 Date: 10/30/08 Advertisement
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2009. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
Market Snapshot Inside Futures |
